Get it right

Mercury does have a place among toxins. It's so strange to see the scientific world be in denial. Mercury is a toxin. Why is that so hard to understand?

Just a week ago I finished a translation of a paper written in 1966 Theoretical Contemplations about the Etiology of Sclerosis Multiplex -- Multiple Sclerosis a Mercury Allergy, by Dr. Ernst Baasch. The paper asks the question whether dental amalgam is connected to Multiple Sclerosis (MS). He makes a pretty good case connecting the two, i.e. MS and dental amalgam. He points out that MS is a geographic illness that affects people who have spent time in Northern or Southern latitudes over 40 degrees from the equator. This fact is a given. From there he explains why dental amalgam is the triggering factor.

So far, all that makes good sense. What is not explained is the question why people are afflicted with MS in those latitudes.

I think I have an explanation for that. Mercury is the reason for that -- be it from dental amalgam or from any other source.

First it has to be explained that the kidney makes a hormone called 1,25(OH)2D3 (Calcitriol). This hormone is derived from Vitamin D that is obtained when the sun's UVB rays shine on a person's skin. Passing through the liver it becomes 25(OH)D3 which in turn reaches the kidney where it becomes Calcitriol. Calcitriol is made at the proximal tubule of the Kidney. Calcitriol is the active form of Vitamin D. This has been known since 1970.

Now, mercury is known to cause kidney damage. Mercury damages the proximal tubule of the kidney's filtering system, i.e. it damages the area where Calcitriol is made. That means mercury poisoning causes Calcitriol deficiency meaning Vitamin D deficiency.

What does that have to do with MS? I mentioned earlier that MS is a geographic illness that happens in latitudes over 40 degrees from the equator. It is virtually unknown in latitudes near the equator. Why would that be? It is because the UVB of the sun's rays is abundant in those areas and not in the higher latitudes.

There are confounding factors to this theory. MS is not common in Norway and Alaska. So why would those countries have less MS? The answer lies in a diet high in Vitamin D containing foods eaten in those areas.

So why would Vitamin D deficiency matter when it comes to MS? It is postulated that mercury is the toxin that causes MS. Mercury is the agent that damages the human body's system. Vitamin D happens to help fix it in all areas (Vitamin D intervenes at the DNA level inside the cells) not just the bones. Vitamin D helps make glutathione, a major detoxing agent. That means when Vitamin D is missing, mercury can do more damage everywhere.