Lightening your load
Q: I’ve read about heavy metal toxicity in several health publications, but when my doctor tested my blood, the results were negative. Does this mean I’m in the clear and don’t need to worry about heavy metals?
Dr. Wright: Unfortunately, the blood tests used by most mainstream doctors are virtually useless (except in cases of acute exposures) for identifying heavy metals that are stored away in your body.
That’s because toxic metals such as lead are rapidly cleared from the bloodstream so that they won’t continue to circulate and damage cells over and over again. Although our bodies were designed to be able to excrete tiny amounts of heavy metals through the kidneys and liver into the gastrointestinal tract, they simply can’t handle the enormous amounts generated by industrialization.
And when those relatively large amounts can’t be excreted, they’re rapidly taken out of the bloodstream and dumped into other tissues, including (but not limited to) bone, brain, and lymphatic tissue. It’s this tissue build-up of metals that’s so detrimental to your body.
Instead of a blood test, doctors should be administering a chelation test, something that is very closely related to chelation therapy. In a chelation test, a single dose of a chelating agent is given intravenously. These chelating agents chemically lock onto toxic metals — not just in the bloodstream, but wherever they find them. The toxic metal/chelating agent complex is then eliminated in the urine and stool (though most doctors prefer to test only the urine because it’s easier and less expensive).
So after the infusion has been given, all of the urine produced over the next six hours is collected and sent off to a laboratory for toxic metal testing. If high levels of toxic metals are found with a chelation test, then the best course of action is to get chelation therapy.
To find out more about where to get a chelation test and chelation therapy, contact the American College for Advancement in Medicine online at www.acam.org or by phone, (800)532-3688.
