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Alzheimer’s Disease (AD)

Definition:

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive, degenerative disease of the brain, and causes 50-70% of all dementia. Ten warning signs of Alzheimer's Disease from the Alzheimer's Association.

  1. Memory loss
  2. Difficulty performing familiar tasks
  3. Problems with language
  4. Disorientation to time and place
  5. Poor or decreased judgment
  6. Problems with abstract thinking
  7. Misplacing things
  8. Changes in mood or behavior
  9. Changes in personality
  10. Loss of initiative

Biochemical hallmarks of AD include the formation of:

Click here to view a high resolution video produced by the University of Calgary, demonstrating how mercury attacks brain cells, and forms lesions including neurofibrillary tangles.

Statistics:

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Click here for more statistics about AD.

Risks of diagnosis: Your lifetime risk of developing Alzheimer's:

Without a reliable treatment or cure, all of these numbers will rise steadily as the average life expectancy increases and more individuals are living into their 80s.

Costs:

Total spending on AD exceeds $100 billion per year in the U.S. and the federal government estimated that it spent approximately $600 million on AD research in 2002. The average cost for standard treatment for AD:

Genetic Factors:

To date, several genes have been implicated to influence the risk of developing AD. However, these genes only account for a minority of well-documented and researched AD cases.

"The genetic underpinnings for up to 70 percent of Alzheimer's cases remain unsolved. . ."

(Rudolph E. Tanzi, director of the Genetics and Aging Research Unit at the Massachusetts General Hospital)(http://www.eurekalert.org).

Scientists feel that customized genetic screening for individual AD patients will be routine in 50 years. Can we afford to wait that long?

Pharmaceutical treatments:

(http://www.alzheimersupport.com) All currently available, FDA approved treatments are cholinesterase inhibitors, which prevent the break down of acetylcholine (important for proper brain function and memory). They are merely treatments for the symptoms, and do not try to address the cause(s).

About half of the people taking the following medications show only modest and temporary improvement in memory and thinking skills, while the other half show no effect. Here is a list of the most widely used drugs for AD. Typically, once a patient starts these treatments, he/she is on them for life.

Drug treatments for Alzheimer's disease
Name Annual cost Side Effects
Donepezil (Aricept®) $1536 nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, trouble sleeping, weight loss, muscle cramps, and fatigue. can worsen certain disorders, including stomach ulcers, abnormal heart rhythms, breathing problems, seizures
Rivastigmine (Exelon®) $1608 nausea, vomiting, stomach upset, reduced appetite, weakness, weight loss
Galantamine (Reminyl®) $1560 nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, stomach upset, loss of appetite, weight loss, dizziness, slowed heart rate
Tacrine (Cognex®) $1884 vomiting, diarrhea, indigestion, loss of appetite, muscle pain, loss of muscle coordination, rash, yellow skin or eyes, changes in stool color, chills, fever, dizziness or lightheadedness, fainting, increased muscle activity, seizures, nervousness, difficulty breathing, increased sweating, eye irritation
Source: Drugstore.com
Mercury link:

Search the government database Pub Med for published studies on mercury and how it relates to Alzheimer's disease

This BioProbe (http://www.bioprobe.com) article examines the science linking mercury exposure to AD. More importantly, it calls into question, the evidence provided by the ADA as to the safety of dental amalgam.

Dr. Boyd Haley, the chair of the Dept. of Chemistry at Univ. of Kentucky and leading anti-amalgamist, has compiled a large collection of scientific evidence supporting the link between mercury poisoning and cases of AD. The TEST Foundation

Dr. Joseph Mercola has written numerous articles about the dangers of mercury and the link to Alzheimer's disease. Read his explanation for the link here.

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Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Definition:

ASD is a complex developmental disorder that typically appears during the first 3 years of life, believed to be caused by abnormalities in brain function and structure. There is currently no known cause and no known cure -- only theories. ASD is characterized by :

Statistics:

There are currently around 1.5 million people diagnosed with ASD. Between 1987 and 1998 there was a 273% increase in the number of individuals receiving services for autism. (http://www.cdc.gov/)The disorder is 4x more prevalent in boys.

In fact, ASD has reached "epidemic" status in California alone. A few stats from the California Department of Developmental Science report on ASD:

(http://www.autism.org/califepidemic.html)
Costs:

Estimates of costs of treatment and care for ASD vary from region to region:

Some current therapies and treatments in practice today:

Mercury Link:

Search the government database Pub Med for published studies on mercury and how it relates to autism spectrum disorder

Dr. Joseph Mercola establishes a strong link between mercury in thimerosal to incidences of autism. He hypothesizes that autism is merely a term used to describe symptoms of mercury poisoning, here.

According to The Autism Research Institute, studies have shown that health and behavior improves in autistic children, once mercury is removed from their system (http://www.autism.com/ari/dan/mercuryconsensus.html)

A 2001 study shows that individuals with autism exhibit significant metal metabolism disorders. This suggests a malfunctioning of metallothionein (MT) which consists of proteins that are known to bind certain toxic elements such as cadmium and mercury and neutralize their harmful affects. (http://www.hriptc.org/metal_autism.html)

Dr. Amy Holmes (Bio) from Louisiana who helped pioneer a new direction in medical detoxification, has successfully improved conditions of children suffering from ASD, including her own autistic son, by utilizing treatment for heavy metal toxicity. She believes in the connection between the two and in her own words:

"Bernard, et al, have written an excellent article comparing autism with mercury poisoning. All aspects of both disorders are examined, including symptoms, signs and findings on laboratory tests. The parallels between the two disorders is disturbingly obvious, even to the most casual reader.

This, coupled with many case reports of clinical improvement among autistic children upon removal of at least a small part of their whole-body load of mercury, seems to indicate that many cases of autism today are, in fact, cases of mercury poisoning.

The early environmental insult, in these cases, is mercury exposure that overwhelmed the body’s attempts at detoxification."

(http://www.healing-arts.org)

This site (autism-mercury.com) is dedicated to the subject, and is constantly updated with information ranging from therapy to lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies.

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Parkinson's Disease (PD)

Definition:

A chronic neurological condition that affects a section of the brain called the substantia nigra. It is believed that a gradual degeneration of these brain cells results in the reduction of a neurotransmitter known as dopamine. This reduction tends to result in the following characteristics of PD:

Statistics:

1.5 million Americans are afflicted with PD. It affects 1 of every 100 persons over the age of 60 and is generally considered to be a disorder of older people. It is not known to be a fatal illness.

There is no known cause or cure for PD and no definitive lab test to diagnose it. It usually begins with tremors in the hand of one side of the body, and tends to progress to more rigidity, equilibrium and movement problems.

Treatments tend to focus on the area of dopamine replacement therapies. Pharmaceuticals include:

Other treatments (Source):

Mercury Link:

Search the government database Pub Med for published studies on mercury and how it relates to Parkinson's disease

Here is one strong study done by Bernard Windham which seems to indicate a definite correlation between PD and mercury poisoning.

Dr. Windham has also documented cases where removal of mercury amalgam has resulted in the improvements in the conditions of people afflicted with PD (http://www.immunesupport.com/)

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