Introductory Article (Part I)

I just received a long distance phone call from a patient who had her amalgams removed 2 years ago. At the time I removed her fillings, she was in failing health. She had some good days but mostly bad days. She was depressed, desperate and expressed her sadness over the loss of so much of her life to feeling ìtoo bad to get upî. She had seen several physicians and tried a lot of traditional (allopathic) medical remedies until she had given up on them and the allopathic doctors had given up on her. She had directed her attention to homeopathic treatments and non-traditional therapies. In desperation, she had experimented with a miriad of homeopathic nostrums. She had then come to me with the hopes that removing her amalgams would restore her health. After dietary review, health history and consultation, I removed her fillings based on Rita Meter Readings (Hal Huggins) and using the IOAMT protocol. I replaced the amalgams with materials listed as compatible for her individual bio-sensitivities. I encouraged her to take a broad range of antioxidants and had her do some IV Vitamin C infusions. She responded for a short time but impatient for improvement she went on to try something else. Why? How is it that we can do everything right but still not get the change I expect and the patient desires? Two years later, she was still in crisis. Still very ill. Still without hope. Still plugging holes and bailing.

Why? I believe that they are some real answers to this vexing question and they invoke a very simple concept. The words I am going to use for this are untended ìoxidative-stressî. Normal aerobic oxidation occurs naturally in the mitochondria as we consume protein, carbohydrate and sugar, turning them into energy (ATP) and water. The expended fuel (food) is then eliminated in feces and urine. Aerobic oxidation is an essential process in our bodies, but it must be controlled. It is like what happens at a nuclear power plant when enriched uranium is converted into energy and plutonium. If it were not controlled, it would cause a melt down and ensuing disaster. Chernobyl in our bodies! To avert disaster, we are always working to keep this oxidative process under control and prevent a melt down of our system; however, if it were over controlled, we would shut down because no energy would be produced and our bodies would not be able to repair itself. The proper balance in our body is called ìhomeostasisî or ìhemodynamicsî where we produce the right amount of energy (ATP) and keep oxidation at a level our bodies can manage and is beneficial. Unattended Oxidative-Stress is a condition that produces more toxins than our bodies can handle without help. It is the prelude to a melt down. Oxidative-stress is also believed to be at the heart of the aging process we all under go. The better we manage the oxidation, the less damage we have, the more beneficial it is. It is important to remember that we canít live without oxidation and indeed, many known oxidatiive processes are necessary to keep our bodies healthy. For instance, our white blood cells kill disease organisms by oxidizing them. Cancer tumor cells are attacked and oxidized. It is an essential body process but damage comes when it is uncontrolled and unbalanced. The key word here is ìuncontrolledî.

I believe the lack of a good response after amalgams are removed can be contributed to continued ìOxidative Stressî. As a dentist, I can follow an approved and established protocol for removing the amalgams and limiting additional mercury exposure; but, there are several life-style changes that MUST be made by the patient for the body to get well. Homeodynamics cannot be achieved or maintained when the body stays in continued oxidative stress.

Where does oxidatiave-stress come from? It comes from a variety sources. Some of which are:

1. Emotional and psychological stress which negatively affects the immune response. This is a very personal issue and relates to allot of different facets of an individualís life. It is spiritual as well as environmental. It is attitudinal, one of which is having patience in the recovery process. Remember, chronic disease just didnít come one morning without warning. It was a long process of functional detriment and decline until the symptoms became clinically observable. It takes time to reverse this process and allow the body to ìdecompensateî and repair. It requires life-style changes with deferred gratification.

2. Intestinal dysbiosis (leaky gut syndrome and imbalance of bacteria flora).

3. Liver dysfunction; or inability of the liver to detoxify harmful substances.

4. Mitochondrial damage (myopathy) from continued xenobiotic exposure (exogenous and endogenous) . This comes from new exposure to neurotoxins like heavy metals and to continued exposure from what is stored in the bodyís tissue (27 year half life in the brain for mercury).

5. Continued physical stress with concomitant hypofunction of the adrenal gland; a major reason that post-removal patients crash after trying to resume a normal lifestyle too quickly.

6. Inappropriate therapy that challenges a body already under stress (i.e. aggressive fasting, taking supplements that are stressful to your body, et al)

7. Organic illness that keeps the body under stress (i.e. cancer, parasitic infections, et al)

There are others, but these are the major players. A physician, dentist, chiropractor or naturepath who practices functional medicine can help with these issues but it is the patient who must make the life-style changes necessary for their body to regain hemodynamics. I believe this is the major reason the patient I mentioned at the beginning of this column has not improved. She is still in oxidative-stress coming from several areas.

With this issue of DAMS, I want to outline these problems and give us a vocabulary to work with. In future issues of DAMS, I will address each of these major oxidative-stress issues and go through a recovery protocolthat will not just keep the body out of oxidative-stress but get it back into homeostasis or homeodynamics. Hopefully, when we are finished we will not only have an already accepted protocol for diagnosis and proper removal but one for logical recovery.

This will also be a column for questions and answers. You can send your questions to me at Nutrident, Ltd. 4707 Everhart Rd., Suite 101, Corpus Christi, Tx 78411 or FAX them to 512.853.8561. My E-Mail address is dlowrance@mail.interconnect.net. and internet homepage address, http://www.interconnect.net/dlowrance. I look forward to hearing from you.