Site sponsored by Safe Harbor, a nonprofit corporation

Alternative Mental Health News #16


An ezine brought to you by AlternativeMentalHealth.com and Safe Harbor, a nonprofit corporation.

Dan Stradford, Editor
Alan Graham, Assistant Editor
Gloria McTaggart, Assistant Editor
SafeHarborProj@aol.com
www.AlternativeMentalHealth.com

Feedback: We'd like to hear your comments and views. Please forward them to the e-mail address above. Contact information is below.

Did someone forward this ezine to you? You can subscribe for yourself by visiting our web site and using the sign-up form there.


Complete unsubscribing instructions are at the end of this message. Or, you can reply to this message and ask to be removed from the list.

================================================================
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
================================================================

1. ABOUT SAFE HARBOR
2. EDITOR'S COMMENT
3. LETTER TO THE EDITOR
4. ARTICLE: SAFE HARBOR AWARDED $25,000 GRANT
5. ARTICLE: LIVING WITH LEAD TOXICITY6. ARTICLE: ALZHEIMERS, AUTISM, AND MERCURY TOXICITY
7. ARTICLE: AUTISM - THE GUT CONNECTION
8. ARTICLE: WILSON'S THYROID SYNDROME LINKED TO MENTAL SYMPTOMS
9. ARTICLE: SEROTONIN DEFICIENCY SYNDROME AND L-TRYPTOPHAN
10. ARTICLE: DEA REVIEW OF METHYLPHENIDATE
11. ARTICLE: ALUMINUM TARGETED FOR MENTAL ILLS
12. ABOUT ALTERNATIVEMENTALHEALTH.COM

================================================================
ABOUT SAFE HARBOR
================================================================

Safe Harbor was founded in 1998 in the wake of growing public dissatisfaction with the unwanted effects of orthodox psychiatric treatments such as medication and shock therapy. Seeking to satisfy the desire for safer, more effective treatments, the Project is dedicated to educating the public, the medical profession, and government officials on research and treatments that, minimally, do no harm and, optimally, cure the causes of severe mental symptoms. Our primary thrust is education on the medical causes of severe mental symptoms and the use of nutritional and other natural treatments.

Contact info:
Safe Harbor
1718 Colorado Bl.
Los Angeles, California 90041
U.S.A.
(818) 890-1862
SafeHarborProj@aol.com
www.AlternativeMentalHealth.com

================================================================
WE WELCOME YOUR DONATIONS. AS A NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION, SAFE HARBOR IS SUPPORTED SOLELY THROUGH THE GENEROSITY OF THE PUBLIC. DONATIONS CAN BE MAILED TO THE ABOVE ADDRESS. WE ALSO ACCEPT VISA/MASTERCARD BY PHONE. THANK YOU.
================================================================
EDITOR'S COMMENT
================================================================

The following may shock you. Or, even more sadly, maybe it won't.

It comes from Teresa, a woman who recently joined the Safe Harbor staff as a fund raiser:

"As soon as I was hired by Safe Harbor, I was really excited and started sharing this news with all my friends, handing out cards and brochures. A few days later I got a call from a representative of a very large pharmaceutical firm, saying he was a friend of a friend.

"He told me that this was a bad career choice on my part because organizations such as Safe Harbor will not survive. He said there is corporate-backed legislation that would be passed soon, outlawing over-the-counter sales of vitamins and alternative methods. He said he would give the legal department of his corporate office information on us because they like to keep their eyes on organizations like ours.

"The man said he was doing me a favor and warning me to not ruin my career by doing this kind of work. I thanked him for his concerns and told him that it's good to know we are being watched because this will make us work harder to be the best we can be to serve the community honestly. He wasn't happy with my response and said, 'I warned you. Goodbye.'"

Just reporting the facts, folks, strange as they are. We at Safe Harbor try to be scientific in our thinking and are not big believers in conspiracies, so we found this information quite surprising. Threatening Safe Harbor is like shaking a fist at Mother Theresa. We are one of the most peaceful organizations in existence. Just look at our name. We seek harm to no one but are here only to help others.

That our work would raise such ire is fascinating indeed. But we will take this whispered threat from the shadows and do what we do with all our information: Put it here on the internet for all the world to see.

We will let the public judge men such as these.

================================================================
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
================================================================

Your recommendation for 5HTP (or tryptophan) is well taken, but it surprises me that you do not include nutritional yeast as a natural source for the amino acid tryptophan.

Nutritional yeast is very inexpensive, and a person generally needs to take about 1 tablespoon a day. I suggest about 3 pm to 4 pm because that is the time when low oxygen percentages are available in the environment and most people are sleepy.

Because nutritional yeast is so nutrient dense, it is best to start with 1 teaspoon a day and work up slowly to 1 tablespoon, otherwise gas may be a problem. A benefit of this supplement is a wide range of B complex vitamins also.

Nutritional yeast is not MSG nor is it a cause of candida Albicans as so many people falsely believe.

You might also want to see http://home.graffiti.net/biob/ for a very good food based supplement that supplies B complex vitamins, and tryptophan, and other amino acids.

Thank you for the ability to comment.

Gayle Eversole CRNP, PhD, AHG
DHom candidate
www.leaflady.org

================================================================
SAFE HARBOR AWARDED $25,000 GRANT
================================================================

Safe Harbor was recently awarded a $25,000 grant by The California Endowment to improve care in the Los Angeles County Mental Health system. The California Endowment is the state's largest health foundation.

Earlier this year, Safe Harbor was the first to post on the Internet - at its site AlternativeMentalHealth.com - a document called the Medical Evaluation Field Manual. The manual, written by Dr. Lorrin Koran of Stanford University, is the result of a study commissioned by the California State legislature in the 1980s.

The study found that nearly half of the physical ailments of the county mental health clientele were being MISSED in physical exams and medical workups. Dr. Koran's team developed simple methods for dramatically improving the quality of exams with minimal cost increases, and their results were published in the Medical Evaluation Field Manual. However, the manual was never implemented.

"Many mental problems are caused by treatable medical problems," said Dan Stradford, president and founder of Safe Harbor. "If these medical problems can be spotted by proper physical exams, we can save a lot of people from spending a lifetime on psychiatric medication when they are, in reality, medically ill."

The California Endowment has provided Safe Harbor with a $25,000 grant to develop a plan on how the Medical Evaluation Field Manual can be implemented in Los Angeles County.

"This is a wonderful opportunity for us and the county. We are very grateful for The California Endowment's support," said Stradford. "Not only will improved exams get patients correctly diagnosed, but they will no doubt save lives for those who have life-threatening ailments that, in the past, might have been missed. This project fully aligns with Safe Harbor's mission of improving the quality of life and helping to reduce the unnecessary use of psychiatric medication whenever possible."

================================================================
LIVING WITH LEAD TOXICITY
================================================================

The following letter was sent to AltenativeMentalHealth.com in response to the article on our site entitled "Toxic Metals and Mental Health" by Dr. Mark Filidei.

October 11, 2001
Dear Dr. Filidei:

I read your article noted above and appreciate each finding. Unfortunately, my family was exposed in South Carolina to toxic lead from an industrial auto battery manufacturer 32 years ago and we have suffered the consequences.

Only in November 2000 did we learn that the manufacturing plant located only 400 feet behind our house was emitting heavy metals through an unlined lagoon, into the air and into our water. We lived there ten years from 1969-1979. The house was demolished by the company in November 2000 in an effort to cut down on lawsuits because two other families living there since 1979 have suffered newborn horrors. This is now a SuperFund site!

In June 2001 our family flew to New York City for Bone Lead Measurements at Mt. Sinai Medical Center XRF Laboratory. Two daughters showed levels of 60% and 250% more than the average, normal female. Myself and one niece were tested on October 3 & 4 and we are awaiting the results. Then, another daughter and two grandsons must be tested by XRF.

The symptoms of chronic lead exposure listed in your paper are part of our lives. One twin daughter, divorced, has lost her children due to HRS, hepatorenal syndrome - a liver/kidney malfunction - (we thankfully are raising the kids) and she is unable to maintain her life successfully.

Another twin daughter has no ability to read, write, count money or drive a car. She also has complex-partial seizures uncontrolled by medicines. These girls were 3 months old when we moved into the new house.

My niece has all of the symptoms listed in your paper plus seizures. She was 4 years old and played with our girls daily. In fact, she and our oldest ate "mud pies" from the yard!

Our oldest daughter has had spontaneous broken bones, knee surgeries, back surgeries and endometriosis (the presence of uterine lining tissue in abnormal places). She is unable to conceive and bear children. Her behavior is improving through education of lead research papers like yours. Before November 2000 she thought she was "doomed to be different from others" and had little self-esteem. Now she has hope.

Guess you noticed I didn't mention myself! I have had little time to take care of me, though I certainly am irritable, cannot concentrate and do not sleep. I have had 3 emergency kidney surgeries and emergency gall bladder removal, to name a few problems.

Dr. Filidei, your work is important. We are glad you get up every day.

================================================================
ALZHEIMERS, AUTISM, AND MERCURY TOXICITY
================================================================

We also received a letter from a Florida M.D., Dr. David Minkoff, expressing "wariness" of the Alzheimers vaccine mentioned in our last issue. "All the data points to mercury as the key culprit in Alzheimers disease," reads the letter. "In the lab it causes amyloid plaques and tau protein. See http://www.altcorp.com on this... 'Alzheimers' is not a disease. It's a toxic condition. Vaccines don't cure toxic conditions but rather cause one to look elsewhere (in error) for the reason that will never be found."

The letter prompted further search into the question of mercury and other heavy metal toxicity. Ironically, certain vaccines appear to be part of the problem -- not directly, but through a mercury-containing preservative called thimerosal. Its usage is too recent to have a known impact on Alzheimers, but the link to autism is widely acknowledged. Other studies have established a connection between Alzheimers and the mercury contained in silver amalgam fillings.

A study was conducted in 1990 by three psychiatrists [Wenstrup et al, "Trace element imbalances in isolated subcellular fractions of Alzheimer's disease brains", Brain Research¸ Vol 553, p125-131, 1990] to look for trace element imbalances in the brains of Alzheimers patients. The brains from ten autopsied Alzheimers patients and 12 control patients of the same age were evaluated. The most significant imbalance of metals found in the Alzheimers patients was an elevated mercury level and an elevated level of bromine. Leading Edge Research tells us, "levels of mercury were especially significant in the cerebral cortex, especially in an area called the nucleus basalis of Meynert, a primary center of memory retention. Short term memory loss is initially the most common complaint. Researchers have also found significant levels of mercury in the hippocampus and amygdala, which are also structures that relate to memory."

In an article titled "Claims for Autism Caused By Childhood Vaccinations Containing Thimerosal or Mercury," the website of law firm Ashcraft & Gerel tells us:

"A full generation of children in America was exposed to dangerous doses of highly toxic ethyl mercury from 1990 through 2000. Children were injected with the toxic mercury that was a major ingredient in a chemical product called thimerosal, an additive and biological preservative packaged into multi-dose vials of many childhood vaccines. With each dose of vaccine that contained thimerosal, a child would also get an injection of toxic mercury. Each one of those mercury injections exposed the child to levels of toxic mercury in excess of the federal government's own safety guidelines.

"Mercury is widely known to cause neurological damage, often permanent. Current clinical and epidemiological research suggests that the mercury-laden thimerosal so widely given to children by the drug companies in the 1990's might cause a range of neurological and neurodevelopmental injuries, including autism. Compounding this public health disaster is that the toxic exposure was entirely avoidable. The thimerosal was added merely as product packaging for the multi-dose vials, and is not needed as a preservative when the vaccines are packaged in single-dose vials or single-use syringes."

Vaccine protocols in the U.S. in 1990 included 33 Doses of 10 Different Viral and Bacterial Vaccines by the Age of 5.

================================================================
AUTISM - THE GUT CONNECTION
================================================================

In 1971, Goodwin, et al, studied malabsorption and cerebral dysfunction in autistic children and reported that 40% (6/15) of the children in the study had bulky, odorous or loose stools, or diarrhea.

Since that time numerous studies have confirmed the gastrointestinal disorder-autism link.

In 1999, pediatrician Karoly Horvath, et al, of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, performed gastrointestinal evaluation on 36 severely autistic children and found they often showed signs of chronic inflammation in the esophagus, stomach, and duodenum, and, because of enzyme deficiencies, had trouble digesting and absorbing carbohydrates - possibly the cause of the chronic loose stools and gas.

Dr. Horvath stated that "Although gastrointestinal symptoms frequently accompany the manifestations of autism, little attention has been paid to this aspect."

In a more recent study by Wakefield, et al, published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology in September 2000, colonoscopies were performed on 60 autistic children who also had gastrointestinal symptoms such as stomach pain, constipation, bloating, and diarrhea. The study found much greater evidence of intestinal lesions in autistic children than in healthy or non-autistic children with similar digestive problems. Over 90% of autistic children showed clinical evidence of chronic enterocolitis (an inflammation of the mucous membrane of the intestine), such as lymphoid nodular hyperplasia - greater than six times that found in non-autistic children with inflammatory bowel disease.

Although researchers are not certain what causes this condition, in a recent issue of Medical Hypotheses, Mark A. Brudnak, Ph.D., N.D., constructed a theory that could explain how the condition could develop and progress.

Dr. Brudnak pointed out that childhood vaccinations have been implicated in the onset of autism, and subsequent prognosis has implicated diet. A strong gut-brain connection is also apparent.

Dr. Brudnak speculates that in early childhood, sensitivity to a vaccine, or a reaction to a mycobacterial infection, could disrupt pivotal molecular mechanisms that regulate genetic expression - how specific genes in the body switch "on" or "off". This may trigger malfunctioning of the immune and gastrointestinal systems, particularly in gut-associated lymphoid tissue. As a result, proteins are no longer properly broken down in the digestive tract and cells in gut tissue die off prematurely as the gut lining becomes "leaky" and unable to repair itself. Casein, gluten, and other compounds in the diet may then permeate into the bloodstream. Their activated by-products, called exorphins, could act directly on the brain to trigger opioid-like effects associated with autistic symptoms.

Dr. Brudnak's theory could explain why enzyme therapy (which improves the gut's ability to break down proteins) and probiotics (supplementation with beneficial gut microbes that help repair the intestinal lining) have both produced positive clinical results in autistic children, as these therapies restore healthy gut barrier function.

Whatever the cause, the link is clear, and the researchers recommend that autistic children undergo gastrointestinal evaluation.

================================================================
WILSON'S THYROID SYNDROME LINKED TO MENTAL SYMPTOMS
================================================================

As mentioned in earlier e-zine articles, the symptoms of hypothyroidism are frequently not diagnosed as a thyroid problem, and consequently often go untreated, or are treated inappropriately. Because the thyroid regulates the metabolism - all of the body's chemical reactions -its malfunction has wide and far-reaching effects. Incorrect diagnosis and treatment results not only in continued physical distress - fatigue, migraines, easy weight gain, dry skin, dry hair, hair loss, fluid retention, brittle nails, and many others - but leaves one with mental and emotional symptoms such as depression, irritability, anxiety, and panic attacks.

Some thyroid problems are relatively easily diagnosed. These include hyperthyroidism, where the thyroid gland produces too much thyroid hormone; Grave's disease, which can be thought of as severe hyperthyroidism; hypothyroidism, where the thyroid gland produces too little thyroid hormone; and Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, where white blood cells infiltrate the thyroid gland tissue, which sometimes progresses to hypothyroidism.

Hypothyroidism is diagnosed in part with a blood test which checks for T4, the thyroid hormone produced in the thyroid gland. However, a disorder referred to as Wilson's Thyroid Syndrome, while otherwise presenting as hypothyroidism, often shows the T4 to be completely normal. The reason for this is that the T3 hormone, not T4, is primarily responsible for speeding up the metabolism. The tissues of the body use T4 as raw material to produce T3, but most of the T3 is actually produced outside the thyroid gland. If the T3 is low, the symptoms persist despite adequate T4.

If one has the symptoms of hypothyroidism, but thyroid tests are normal or the symptoms persist despite T4 therapy, it is possible that T3 is the missing factor and that T3 therapy, sometimes used in conjunction with T4 if tests indicate it is required, will produce the desired results.

If T3 is suspected as the problem, the average temperature is often well below 98.6. Body temperature is the gauge by which metabolism is measured. As there are several circumstances under which body temperature is naturally higher or lower than normal, it is necessary to measure your average temperature. Dr. Denis Wilson recommends finding your average temperature, with a mercury (not digital) thermometer, as follows:

"Remember to shake the mercury in the thermometer down below 97 degrees (36.1 C) each time before you take your temperature. Grab the top of the thermometer and flick your wrist while holding tightly! (It's easy to fling them across the room and they can break). I suggest you measure your temperature 3 times a day, 3 hours apart, starting 3 hours after you wake up, for 3 days. For example, if you wake up at 7am, you can take your temperature at 10am, 1pm, and 4pm. Add your 3 daily temperatures together and divide the sum by 3 to get each day's average. If you are female, it's best not to take your temperature during the 3 days prior to your period since it's higher then. The temperature should be taken under the tongue for around 7 minutes. Do not drink anything hot or cold for at least 15 minutes before taking your temperatures. If your temperatures run, on average, less than 98.6 F (37 C), that could easily explain symptoms of low thyroid system function. Temperatures of less than 98 F (36.7 C) are particularly consistent with Wilson's Thyroid Syndrome."

If your temperature still shows normal, but you have the symptoms, your thermometer may be malfunctioning, so get a new one and check it again before you rule this out.

For more information on Wilson's Thyroid Syndrome, see Dr. Denis Wilson's "A Brief Overview of the Thyroid System" at http://www.WilsonsThyroidSyndrome.com. The article will soon be featured at on the Safe Harbor Site, AlternativeMentalHealth.com.

================================================================
SEROTONIN DEFICIENCY SYNDROME: THE L-TRYPTOPHAN ALTERNATIVE
================================================================

The August 2001 issue of Neuropsychopharmacology reports that L-tryptophan, tested on 98 volunteers in 12-day trials, was found to have a clear impact on mood, making test subjects more agreeable and less quarrelsome. This is one more of many studies to show that L-tryptophan boosts serotonin levels.

Serotonin is one of the brain's major neurotransmitters - the biochemicals used by nerve cells to communicate with each other. Serotonin has been the focus of many scientific studies to determine its effect on behavior, mood, aggression, appetite control, pain transmission, sexual behavior, and other activities and functions. The concept of serotonin deficiency syndrome (SDS) grew out of the work of researchers headed by Dr. W. Pöldinger of the Psychiatrische Universitats-klinik in Basel, Switzerland, who observed that a majority of their subjects who experienced depression, insatiable appetite, obsessive/compulsive behavior, learning difficulties, and/or any combination of the above, also suffered from low levels of serotonin.

Serotonin affects the entire body. In the central nervous system, it plays a role in sleep, appetite, memory, learning, temperature regulation, mood, sexual behavior, cardiovascular function, muscle contraction, endocrine regulation, and depression.

In an article in Drug Topics, University of Mississippi researcher Ronald F. Borne, Ph.D., called serotonin "the Neurotransmitter of the 90's." Of all the chemical neurotransmitter substances "serotonin may be the most implicated in the etiology or treatment of various disorders, particularly those of the central nervous system, including anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, stroke, obesity, pain, hypertension, vascular disorders, migraine, and nausea. Evidence suggests that every one of these disorders can be treated by either (1) mimicking the actions of serotonin, (2) enhancing its supply, or (3) blocking its action."

Unfortunately, the common treatment today is number (3), blocking its action. Blocking serotonin is the function of a class of pharmaceuticals known as selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRI's). SSRI's, such as Prozac, are routinely prescribed to handle the symptoms of these various disorders.

Prozac blocks the normal action of serotonin by interfering with normal brain metabolism. Serotonin travels from one neuron to another by crossing a gap between them known as a synapse. Normally, once the receiving neuron is activated, the brain reabsorbs serotonin. Prozac prevents the brain's reabsorption of the serotonin, thereby allowing it to remain in the synapse and interact with its neuron targets for much longer than it otherwise would.

Although SSRI's increase the availability of serotonin in this process, the well-documented side effects of the drugs demonstrate the body's reactions to this unnatural act the nerves are forced to perform. As Dr. Borne has pointed out, other approaches, such as enhancing serotonin supply, can be taken.

What are the other options? One substance that enhances serotonin supply has been widely tested, and used by doctors in the US and Europe for the last 30 years, is the essential amino acid L-Tryptophan.

L-Tryptophan is critical in the formation of structural proteins, enzymes, and the neurotransmitters serotonin and melatonin. It is truly a building block and is considered so vital that it is added to baby formulas, and IV solutions. However, it is not as widely available in our diet as other nutrients, and plasma amino-acid profiles of hundreds of patients have shown that L-Tryptophan may be the amino acid most lacking in the blood of Americans. As SDS is associated with a deficiency of L-Tryptophan, it is not surprising that it has been widely recommended as a supplement by doctors in both the US and Europe.

In the late 1980's, Showa Denko, then the major L-Tryptophan producer in the world, sent a batch to the U.S. that was contaminated with over 60 different bacteria. Many people who were taking large doses became ill and some died. On the assumption that the L-Tryptophan itself had caused the illnesses, the FDA issued a voluntary recall of all L-Tryptophan and announced import restrictions. When it was later discovered that the batch was contaminated, the FDA stated that the evidence of the illnesses being caused by the bacteria, rather than the L-Tryptophan, was inconclusive. For the next decade, the only L-Tryptophan available was the pharmaceutical-grade used for baby formulas, intravenous solutions, animal use, and prescribed medical uses.

In a healthy person, L-Tryptophan passes through the blood-brain barrier and is converted into 5-HTP, a substance very similar to L-Tryptophan. The brain then converts the 5-HTP to serotonin. Although supplements of 5-HTP are widely available, and have been somewhat successful in treating the symptoms of SDS, they cannot replace L-Tryptophan.

L-Tryptophan is available only by prescription in the U.S. Foods high in L-Tryptophan include turkey, pecans, and bananas. If you take L-Tryptophan as a supplement, it is recommended that it be taken with carbohydrates (half a potato, for example) for better absorption. Determining the correct dosage can be complicated, so seek advice from your doctor or health professional.

================================================================
FINDINGS OF THE DEA'S REVIEW OF METHYLPHENIDATE
================================================================

The following is taken from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, according to the website of Dr. Mary Ann Block, author of No More Ritalin and No More ADHD at http://www.blockcenter.com/Articles2/ritalin_dea.htm

U.S. Department of Justice
Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)
Drug and Chemical Evaluation Section, 1995
Methylphenidate (Ritalin)

1. Ritalin is a Schedule II stimulant, structurally and pharmacologically similar to amphetamines and cocaine and has the same dependency profile of cocaine and other stimulants.

2. Ritalin produces amphetamine and cocaine-like reinforcing effects including increased rate of euphoria and drug liking. Treatment with Ritalin in childhood predisposes takers to cocaine's reinforcing effects.

3. In humans, chronic administration of Ritalin produced tolerance and showed cross-tolerance with cocaine and amphetamines.

4. Ritalin is chosen over cocaine in self-administered preference studies in non-human primates.

5. Ritalin produces behavioral, physiological and reinforcing effects similar to amphetamines.

6. Ritalin substitutes for cocaine and amphetamines in scientific studies.

7. Children medicated with Ritalin who tried cocaine reported higher levels of drug dependence than those who had not used Ritalin.

8. Ritalin abuse is neither benign nor rare in occurrence and is accurately described as producing severe dependence.

9. Sweden removed Ritalin from its market in 1968 because of widespread abuse.

10. More high school seniors were abusing Ritalin than those taking it medically prescribed.

11. Side-effects or Ritalin: increased blood pressure, heart rate, respiration and temperature; appetite suppression, weight loss, growth retardation; facial tics, muscle twitching, central nervous system stimulation, euphoria, nervousness, irritability and agitation, psychotic episodes, violent behavior, paranoid delusions, hallucinations, bizarre behaviors, heart arrhythmias, palpitations and high blood pressure; tolerance and psychological dependence and death

12. Ritalin will affect normal children and adults the same as those with attention and behavior problems. Effectiveness of Ritalin is not diagnostic.

13. CHADD, non-profit organization, which promotes the use of Ritalin, also receives a great deal of money from the drug manufacturer of Ritalin. CHADD does not inform its members of the abuse problems of Ritalin. CHADD portrays the drug as a benign, mild stimulant that is not associated with abuse of serious side-effects. Statements by CHADD are inconsistent with scientific literature.*

14. The International Narcotics Control Board expressed concern that CHADD is actively lobbying for the use of Ritalin in children.

15. Ritalin is one of the top ten drugs involved in drug thefts and is being abused by health professionals as well as street addicts.

================================================================
ALUMINUM AND NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS: THE CORRELATION
================================================================

A table of "Behavioral, Structural, Functional Abnormalities associated with various Heavy Metal Toxins" was published in the April 1999 issue of Townsend Letter for Doctor's & Patients and can be viewed online at http://www.extremehealthusa.com/behavior.html.

For the purposes of this article, we have excerpted those neurological and mental conditions associated with aluminum toxicity:

1. Chronic fatigue (CFS); weakness, malaise
2. Speech disorders
3. Poor concentration, attention deficits (ADHD), response inhibition
4. Poor memory (short term, verbal, and auditory)
5. Dementia; pre-senile and senile dementia
6. Stupor
7. Decreased locomotor activity
8. Convulsions; seizure
9. Neurofibrillary tangles (Brain and Central Nervous System)
10. Accumulates in CNS structures

Westerners ingest a minimum of 30 to 50 milligrams of aluminum metal per day. An examination of labels on consumer products will attest to their prevalence in all phases of preparation and packaging. Beverage cans, aluminum foil in contact with food, aluminum pots and pans and aluminum in drugs (including most antacids) boost the cumulative load of aluminum in the human body toward critical level.

Consumer drugs are another key source. Aspirin is commonly buffered with aluminum hydroxide, aluminum glycinate and other aluminum compounds. Vaginal douches contain potassium aluminum sulfate, ammonium aluminum sulfate, and alum. Antacids contain aluminum hydroxide, magaldrate, dihydroxyaluminum, and aluminum oxide. Antidiarrheal drugs contain aluminum magnesium silicate and kaolin, an aluminum salt.

Cake mixes, self-rising flour, processed cheese, baking powder, food starch modifiers, pickling salts and anti-caking agents provide additional aluminum in the form of sodium aluminum, sodium aluminum sulfate, aluminum ammonium sulfate, and sodium aluminum silicate. Aluminum contaminates drinking water, milk and other products.

Natural alternatives to most of these products are available at any health food store.

Until 1980 it was accepted practice in Ontario, Canada, to have gold miners inhale aluminum metal dust as a supposed remedy for silicosis, a lung condition caused by inhaling the silica dust that the mining process generates. At the McIntyre Porcupine Gold Mine, someone arrived at the "solution" that miners should do this to coat their lungs, thinking that when they coughed up the aluminum they would also expel the silica inhaled during the working day. The practice lasted until 1980, when officials determined there was no evidence that the aluminum dust was doing any good against silicosis.

In 1980, an epidemiologist at Clark Institute of Psychiatry in Toronto, Dr. Sandra Rifat, decided to study the effects of aluminum poisoning on these men. She eventually tracked down over 1,300 men who had been miners since the 1940s and 647 agreed to participate in the study. After putting these men through cognitive tests (examining memory and logical thought), it was apparent that all the miners tested in the "impaired" range. [The Advocate, "Is Aluminum Related to Alzheimers Disease?" Dec 11, 1990, p.B-2., Walsh, M.W.]

Unfortunately, aluminum inhalation is not limited to Canadian gold miners. Dust from talcum powder, cement, asphalt mixes, tobacco smoke, and many other common substances contain aluminosilicates. Complex ionic aluminosilicates go directly to the brain through the olfactory system, according to neurobiochemist Eugene Roberts, Ph.D., a research physician at the City of Hope National Medical Center. Much of the damage typical of Alzheimers is found in the olfactory regions of the brain. Metal particulates are typically 1/50 the width of a human hair, small enough to reach the bloodstream. A darkfield microscopic examination of your blood will show heavy metals floating around. They also travel through cell walls
and into the nucleus and directly affect the DNA. A paper by Yale University researchers in 1978 estimated that 140,000 deaths a year are related to all forms of metallic air pollution compounds. [Noble, H., "The Air: Unsafe at Any Site", New York Times Magazine, Nov 4, 1979, p.122.]

Consult your nutritionist if you suspect aluminum toxicity. Toxic conditions are much easier to prevent than to cure.

================================================================
ABOUT AlternativeMentalHealth.com
================================================================

ALTERNATIVEMENTALHEALTH.COM IS THE WORLD'S LARGEST WEB SITE DEVOTED exclusively to alternative mental health treatments. It includes a directory of over 200 physicians, nutritionists, experts, organizations, and facilities around the U.S. that offer or promote safe, alternative treatments for severe mental symptoms. Many of the physicians listed do in-depth examinations to find the physical causes behind mental problems.
Also included on the site is an array of articles on topics ranging from the medical causes of schizophrenia to the effects of toxic metals on mental health.

A bookstore page lists top books that cover many areas of alternative treatments with titles like Natural Healing for Schizophrenia and Other Common Mental Disorders and No More Ritalin.

AlternativeMentalHealth.com has been created to educate the public, practitioners, and government officials on the medical conditions that create "mental illness" and the many safe resources available for addressing and often curing severe mental symptoms.

Donate and help us reach others with this information!