Heavy Metals Toxification – A Risk Factor for the Development of Cardiovascular Disease
In this newsletter, we would like to provide you with up-to-date information on the subject of heavy metals, especially with regard to the development of cardiovascular diseases.
Heavy metals have long been a known cause or at least contributory cause of chronic diseases in complementary or functional medicine, and reducing the levels of so-called toxic metals in the body is an established part of therapy for many therapists, both medical doctors and alternative practitioners.
To date, conventional medicine has not or not sufficiently recognized chronic metal exposure for the development of chronic health problems or completely denies that it could be a problem. In my opinion, this is not causally comprehensible and also contradicts normal common sense.
I was all the more surprised by a statement from the American Heart Association (AHA). The AHA is a very influential organization in America, which also significantly influences guidelines for the treatment of cardiovascular disease (e.g., myocardial infarction). To date, metal exposure parameters have not been part of diagnostics to determine cardiovascular risk, i.e., the risk of developing a heart attack or stroke. These currently include parameters of blood glucose metabolism, hypertension and lipid metabolism.
Now comes the surprise: in a recent statement, the American Heart Association (AHA) calls for a rethink (Lamas et al, J Am Heart Ass. 2023; 12: e029852, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37306302/).
In this statement, the AHA declares that metal exposures are a risk factor for developing cardiovascular disease, in addition to already known risk factors.
American Heart Association (AHA)
The AHA postulates that toxic metals such as arsenic, lead and cadmium can disrupt important functions and reactions in the body. According to the AHA, this can lead to oxidative stress and chronic inflammation , among other things, especially in venous and arterial vessels. This manifests as endothelial dysfunction, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and changes in the excitatory (conduction system) and contractile (force) function of the heart muscle, according to the AHA.
Furthermore, the AHA says that toxic metals such as lead, cadmium and arsenic are associated with subclinical atherosclerosis, coronary artery stenosis and calcification, as well as increased risk of ischemic heart disease (heart attack) and stroke, left ventricular hypertrophy and heart failure, and peripheral arterial disease .
At the end, the AHA says, and I quote:
“Together with strengthening public health measures to prevent metal exposures, development of more sensitive and selective measurement modalities, clinical monitoring of metal exposures, and the development of metal chelation therapies could further diminish the burden of cardiovascular disease attributable to metal exposure.”
American Heart Association (AHA)
I was very surprised by this last statement. The last years I was ridiculed and sometimes treated very disparagingly by classical orthodox medical colleagues for performing laboratory tests to detect metal contamination and for performing chelation therapies (for more information click here: https://imstro.com/en/heavy-metal-detoxification/). In my humble opinion, the ignorance and arrogance in the field of classical medicine reaches record levels in many areas and is unworthy of a high-level orthodox medicine. But this is due to the system through which orthodox medicine is run, and not to orthodox medicine itself, which I appreciate very much. But I don’t want to get political here.
I assume that this statement from the AHA will unfortunately not reach your primary care physician, specialist or colleagues working in clinics. Nevertheless, I am happy to provide you with this.
I and many other colleagues who are self-educated, critical, and questioning have long known the relevance of chronic metal exposures in relation to cardiovascular disease, but also neurodegenerative diseases and other disorders such as autoimmune diseases. If we study the physiological and pathophysiological mechanisms of toxic metals, their harmful effect is not surprising, it is predictable. Nature simply did not intend for these metals to be deposited in higher concentrations in our bodies. You don’t learn this in medical school, of course, like so much else, except that sucking on a mercury thermometer is unhealthy. After all, it has been a system-critical, if not even dangerous, medicine to date to recognize heavy metals as the cause of diseases or as a contributory cause of diseases. This, after all, has been relegated to the realm of paramedicine.
What I find striking about the AHA’s statement is that mercury is not mentioned. Possibly this is also related to the use of amalgam within the last decades and one does not want to give people who suffer from the consequences of their amalgam fillings (and there are many of them, believe me, but most of them do not know it) any support by medical literature in possible claims for damages. This could become a burden on public budgets.
I wonder why this statement by the AHA even came up now? Perhaps to finally bring this important issue into the public eye? Or the data has simply become too overwhelming and the evidence in the medical literature that toxic metals are hazardous to health and can also promote cardiovascular disease. However, this is just a humble thought on my part.
It is also interesting to mention here that an effective therapy for the treatment of circulatory disorders by means of chelation therapy has existed for years. I also use these regularly with patients. In fact, it used to be a conventional medical therapy before the stent industry took off. Chelation therapy was a competitor to stenting, which was then increasingly used, for example, for myocardial infarction or even peripheral circulatory disorders, and chelation therapy fell into oblivion. A lot of money is made from the distribution and use of stents. So the inexpensive and also effective chelation therapy for the treatment of circulatory disorders fell into oblivion. However, the advantage of chelation therapy was and still is that it has a positive effect on blood circulation throughout the body and binds metals that are present in the vascular bed, where they cause a disturbance in vascular regulation, and causes them to be excreted. With a stent, they work only locally.
I would like to see a renewed focus on chelation therapy for circulatory disorders so that patients can benefit.
You can find more information on this topic here: https://imstro.com/en/circulatory-disorders/
Thank you for reading my latest newsletter and I hope it has given you an increase in knowledge.
Also feel free to watch my video on Youtube about this topic: https://youtu.be/ezMBApONSn8
For further information, please do not hesitate to contact us. Feel free to contact us anytime and arrange an appointment if you have any questions.
Stay healthy and informed!
Dr. Stefan Rohrer
More articles on the topic of heavy metal contamination and heavy metal detoxification:
– Eliminate heavy metals by means of chelation therapy
– Chelation therapy for circulatory disorders
– Toxic metals: heavy metals and aluminum
