066 - Unlocking the Truth: Navigating Mercury Toxicity In Medical Practice with Coach JPMD

Join Coach JPMD in an enlightening exploration of mercury toxicity and its profound implications for our health. In this episode, Coach JPMD unravels the complexities of mercury exposure, shedding light on its various forms, origins, and the diverse array of organs it can impact within the body. Drawing from personal journeys, he candidly shares his encounters with elevated mercury levels and the strategies he implemented to combat its effects. From routine testing to alternative treatments, and the pivotal role of dietary choices, this episode offers invaluable takeaways for safeguarding our well-being against the perils of mercury toxicity. Tune in to empower yourself with essential knowledge and actionable insights.

Mercury Toxicity and Treatment: A Review of the Literature - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3253456/

Comprehensive Review Regarding Mercury Poisoning and Its Complex Involvement in Alzheimer’s Disease

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8879904

Heavy metals detoxification: A review of herbal compounds for chelation therapy in heavy metals toxicity

https://www.herbmedpharmacol.com/Article/jhp-9359

If you are a physician interested in finding out if you qualify for a discounted NurtEval test from Genova Diagnostics direct message me on instagram and I will send you the link - https://www.instagram.com/coachjpmd

 Discover how medical graduates, junior doctors, and young physicians can navigate residency training programs, surgical residency, and locum tenens to increase income, enjoy independent practice, decrease stress, achieve financial freedom, and retire early, while maintaining patient satisfaction and exploring physician side gigs to tackle medical school loans. 

Transcript

Coach JPMD (00:00.81)
All right. Welcome to the Practice Impossible podcast with your host, Coach JPMD. That's me. And I just wanted to remind my listeners and my impossible is out there that the purpose of this podcast is really help physicians decrease burnout, improve physician well -being, hopefully inspiring physicians to find meaning in the work that they do. As you know, I love to share stories. I love to share my stories and

stories that will make your lives better so that you can make your patient's lives better. Today's episode is a little different and it's about things, some things that I've been struggling with and I wanted to share some more medical or physical health things that can help you live your lives more powerfully because they're things that we all wish we learned when we were younger. And if you are in that boat,

I think you're going to learn something out of this episode, at least one thing, and that's my hope, is to teach you one thing about mercury toxicity. And at the end of the episode, I'll share with you why it's important and why it's affected me and how it's affected me. as you know, mercury toxicity is a pretty, it's pretty concerning. Mercury never leaves a body once you ingest it.

There's different forms of mercury and what we're gonna discuss today is what it is, where we get it from, why it's important, and I have some notes here and how we can help you decrease your risk of getting mercury toxicity. Why am I doing this? Well, in episode eight of season two, season two, episode eight with Stacy Robinson, I learned something about my habits a couple years ago.

I decided to not eat any more meat. So I stopped. I was almost a vegetarian and then I said, you know what, I need something. So I decided to be more of a pescatarian. So I was eating a lot of fish, a of sushi. And Asians don't like to have meals without meat in it. So it's interesting because I had to have a fish meal or a seafood with my meals, despite my knowledge of blue zones.

Coach JPMD (02:25.954)
that as you know, most blue zones do not consume a lot of fish. They eat a lot of protein. And so that's, they eat a lot of protein that's in beans or in soy. So that's something I haven't been following. So I learned my levels and I want to share that before the end of the episode, but just a quick background on mercury. Mercury, tough element, as I said, there's two types of.

There's inorganic mercury and there's organic mercury. And of the inorganic mercury, there's elemental mercury, mercurous mercury, and mercuric mercury. The elemental mercury is the stuff that we find in thermostats. There's stuff that's found in dental amalgams, which was probably the largest or the most common

cause of mercury toxicity. But then there's also mercury that you can find in mines, gold mines, copper mines. There are patients or people who have been exposed to high doses of mercury, which is very neurotoxic because the vapors of mercury actually crosses the blood -brain barrier and it can cause some pretty significant neurologic complications and neuropathies as well as immune dysfunction and

Deposition into organs like thyroid, liver, kidneys. So you really want to avoid mercury as best as you can. Mercurius, and that's elemental mercury. Mercurius mercury is not really absorbed, but can be converted and does cross some tissue, that does accumulate in some tissues as well. And then there's mercuric mercury. The mercuric mercury is,

The mercury that is found in preservatives and then film, photographic film, if you're developing film, now we don't develop film anymore, but that's where you could find mercuric mercury. And mercuric mercury doesn't cross a blood -brain barrier to cause neurotoxic effects, but there is some methylation, I believe, of mercury that can occur that can cross the blood -brain barrier. In addition, I think there is some evidence that it does...

Coach JPMD (04:48.11)
accumulate in quantities in the placenta and fetal tissue, in amniotic fluid. So you want to avoid that if you're pregnant. So that's the different forms of inorganic mercury. And then there's organic mercury compounds that can, that's found or called methyl mercury. That's what's found in fish. So large fish eat smaller fish and, and oceans, certain oceans have a lot of mercury.

based due to environmental factors and those larger fish that we consume, then can have, we can then accumulate that in our blood and that's where the problem is. The effects in the organs are pretty significant and I can read to you some of the organs that it actually affects, but the chief target organs of vapor mercury, like I said, are the brain.

peripheral nerve, renal, immune, endocrine, and then there's the organic mercury that... Methamercury reacts with sulfahedral groups throughout the body, therefore potentially interfering with the function of cellular and subcellular structures. And I'll share this review article that I found online. It's written in 2012, but not much has changed.

in terms of what we know about the dysfunction, although there are some studies that are showing that mercury accumulation can be associated with Alzheimer's disease, which I think is very interesting because I can't tell you the last time I checked the mercury level in any of my patients. And so I wonder if that may be something that's, especially in patients who are fish eaters or that consume a large amount of fish, sushi, could that be?

contributing to to Either mental disorders because it can be associated with anxiety and depression, but also with Alzheimer's disease so Something that we definitely need to you can consider So, how do you measure mercury? So there's three ways of measuring it. You can either measure it in your blood your serum blood serum hair there is a there are tests that can actually determine how much mercury is in your hair follicles and then there's urine

Coach JPMD (07:14.082)
The problem with measuring it in the blood is that you have to actually have it circulating in the blood to be able to measure it. Most mercury that's in your blood gets methylated and either end up in tissues like the liver and kidneys or it can be excreted. There's evidence that mercury can be excreted in the sweat glands as well. But then if it accumulates in the brain tissue, it's very little.

way of actually testing how much mercury is in the brain. And that's where things get a little bit more complicated. So that's why some physicians, especially experts in heavy metal poisoning, have come up with a test called a provocation test. And you can either do this with several different agents, but I think the most common agent is the DMPS. DMPS and

I'll share those acronyms with you. But it's an analog of the British anti -luisite, B -A -L, which has a strong affinity for mercury. So when you actually get the pill, ingest the pill, that leeches out the mercury out of the cells. And then you can test the urine, and I believe the blood levels after a provocation test.

The problem with that provocation test is that once you provoke your body or you have the body leach some of the mercury that's in the cells, it then needs to go somewhere. So if you're not on a regimen that is a detox regimen or a chelating agent, then that circulating mercury, because it doesn't have anywhere to go, will accumulate in tissues. So you can then accumulate that mercury in the liver and the kidneys.

and other organs.

Coach JPMD (09:14.018)
How do we avoid it? How do we avoid it? Of course, there are things that you can do to help avoid it. And we'll find out where it's coming from, right? So if you have a dental amalgam, you want to make sure that they're not mercury -filled. That's number one, because as you eat, as you chew, and as you masticate, if that dental amalgam gets irritated, that can cause a vapor. The vapor then gets into the bloodstream and then...

across the blood brain barrier, big problem. Avoiding big fish. So if you look at this sheet here that I found online, and let me share this with you. If you're listening to this podcast, I'm gonna be sharing a resource that I found online that is...

Let me see if I can share that here.

Coach JPMD (10:14.83)
So it's called, the website's called nrdc .org slash mercury. And you can find here that the fish that contain the least amount of mercury are here. they're usually, it's pretty safe to ingest this. And that includes the clams, anchovies, herring, sardines, Pacific or Atlantic wild caught salmon.

haddock, shrimp is safe, scallops. So there's a list here, as well as the highest level fish containing mercury are the king mackerels or the sharks, the tuna is a big eye and the aji tuna, swordfish, marlin. Those are the big fish that usually contain a large amount of mercury.

So you have to be careful when you're ingesting that because then it can find in your blood. So as a disclaimer, nothing said here should be a substitute for medical advice. I suggest that if you're concerned, please seek the advice of your medical provider. I'm just here to give you information really related to what I've discovered in my practice because...

You know, it's strange, I'm 53 years old and I'm finding out these things that I should have probably found out a couple years ago before I decided to do certain things. So I got my levels through a NeutroVal test by Genova Diagnostics. And at the end of this episode, I'll give you some tips and maybe some information that can help you get a NeutroVal test by Genova Diagnostics. But it's an interesting test because it also tests for other things. And so what I did first,

When I found out that I had an elevated mercury level, I my level was five, between five and six, I believe. Normal is less than four.

Coach JPMD (12:19.694)
I did the research. So I did all kinds of research on mercury. I also found out from my dentist that I did not have mercury amalgam or dental fillings. I had one filling that was done in Haiti probably 20, 30 years ago. I'm sure they had mercury in it. So I didn't have that. So that was a good thing. And then I backed off on fish. So as soon as I found out that I had an elevated level,

backed off on fish and now I'm waiting for a repeat blood level to see what it is. But in the meantime, I also found out there's some natural treatments for it. So I reached out to a pharmacist friend of mine and he told me about cilantro, which I did not know about, but cilantro can be a chelating, mild chelating agent. I think there are other agents that are a little bit stronger in terms of natural agents, including milk thistle.

garlic and I'll share that article also with you guys because it's important to understand what foods you can take to help decrease different levels of chemicals in your body. know, Gautam was on the podcast and he told his wife that my mercury levels are high and I guess people know this and people had no, no, this more than I did, but she ended up making a

a cilantro paste for me, which was awesome. I put that on basically everything I ate for the first month. you know, it's just, just a testament to how kind people can be, especially when you share things that are personal. But, you know, sometimes sharing is what allows you to connect with people. And that's what I, I want to share with you that story because Gautam is a true friend for doing that. And I thank his wife for that. So cilantro though.

is probably not tolerated by some. I recently found out about the OR6A2 gene. Fun fact, my son Kristoff cannot stand cilantro. He tastes cilantro and he says it tastes like soap. I'm like, why does it taste like soap? I thought he was joking. thought he didn't really want the cilantro, didn't like it, but having it taste like soap didn't mean anything to me until I...

Coach JPMD (14:44.12)
research that there is an olfactory receptor gene, olfactory receptor 6A2, is coded to, that if you have this deficiency or in this coding of this gene, things like coriander, which I didn't know was cilantro, the way, coriander can taste like soap and taste like a pungent, have a pungent taste in it. So if you have a friend or,

know someone that cannot stand cilantro because it tastes like soap. You know, they probably have this gene that prevents them from enjoying cilantro like some of us. The other thing that I found helps is sonotherapy. So there are some studies that show that sonotherapy helps heat shock proteins and the cells get rid of toxins in your body. So there are some studies that show that you can actually have the same level

of mercury in your sweat as you do in your urine. So in a detox process, you can in a sauna actually detox heavy metals, in particular mercury through the sauna. So I thought that was interesting. So that's the journey that I've been on over the past couple of months. And I think one of the, actually three take -home.

Three takeaway messages. One is routine tests may not be, may not detect some things that we find in our bodies. And I think if you're having a, if you have a patient that has dementia or have memory issues, have depression, anxiety, with no other cause or, you know, that just comes out of the blue, I think there should be a screening for heavy metals because who knows what's going on.

And number two, there are some fairly inexpensive tests that you can do to help understand what your body levels of vitamins and toxins are. And if you DM me and Instagram, I'm gonna use Instagram now, send me a DM on Instagram if you're interested in finding out how you can get a neutral valve test from a local provider.

Coach JPMD (17:06.283)
I'll shoot you some information on that and you'll be surprised at what that company is doing for physicians. number two, and number three, would say consider alternative treatments. It's always a good thing to do initially because I'm trying to move away from taking medications that are going to affect me, that could affect me for a very long time. So.

And maybe I should include number four, know what you're eating. So food ingestion, knowing that your supplements don't have mercury in them, knowing that your tuna fish or tuna doesn't have mercury in them, it's important because simple things like that can help you avoid the potential problems that you're going to have or you could have with mercury toxicity. that's the episode on mercury. That's my story.

Share this episode with a friend. you know anyone that might be interested or might be a big fish eater or pescatarian, give them some warning. It may elevate your mercury levels. So you got to know what you're doing and you got to test the levels. Evidence -based medicine, right? That's what we say. So thanks for listening. Thanks for sharing this podcast with your friend and colleagues. And hope you enjoy this episode.