What They Can Do To Us - Red Slug Studio

SUMMARY

Some people's bodies are better at removing toxins than others. Thus two people with the same low levels of exposure will have different levels of heavy metals in their blood or stored in their blood, bones, brain, fat, and other organs.
A small amount of multiple toxins at the same time is exponentially more damaging than just a small amount of one kind of toxin.

There are studies that show a relationship of heavy metals in the body to many chronic health conditions. This isn't to say that every time someone has a health condition, it is caused by heavy metals. However, many times these health conditions are caused by heavy metals.
Heavy metals in our body have a corollary or causal relationship with:
- Cancer
- Diabetes
- Arthritis
- Chronic Fatigue
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Cognitive Impairment
- Behavioral Impairment
- Infertility
- Obesity
- Alzheimer's Disease
- Neurodegenerative Disorders
- Asthma

CORRELATION VS. CAUSATION

Correlation is a relationship between two variables, and causation occurs when one of those variables has an effect on the other. A common mistake reporters make when writing about medical studies is confusing correlation and causation. Two variables in a study can be related without one actually being directly caused by the other.
Association of Health Care Journalists: Center for Excellence in Health Care Journalism
https://healthjournalism.org/glossary-terms/correlation-vs-causation/

ASPECTS OF AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER

Intriguingly, metals affect the critical molecular aspects of ASD, including oxidative stress, inflammation, synapse development, synaptic communication, brain connectivity, and gut-brain signaling.
Błażewicz, Anna, and Andreas M Grabrucker. “Metal Profiles in Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Crosstalk between Toxic and Essential Metals.” International journal of molecular sciences vol. 24,1 308. 24 Dec. 2022, doi:10.3390/ijms24010308

DIABETES

Cadmium and arsenic not only spread widely in our atmosphere but are also linked to a wide range of health hazards. These are primarily accumulated in the liver, kidney, and pancreas once they reach the human body, where they have deleterious effects on the metabolism of glucose and its association with other metabolic pathways, particularly glycolysis, glycogenesis, and gluconeogenesis, by altering and impairing the specific activity of major enzymes. Impairment of hepatic glucose homeostasis plays a crucial role in diabetes mellitus pathogenesis.
Javaid, Anam et al. “Role of Heavy Metals in Diabetes: Mechanisms and Treatment Strategies.” Critical reviews in eukaryotic gene expression vol. 31,3 (2021): 65-80. doi:10.1615/CritRevEukaryotGeneExpr.2021037971

COGNITIVE AND BEHAVIORAL IMPAIRMENT

Inorganic and methylated arsenic species can accumulate in different tissues including the brain, in which the accumulation is region-specific. Perinatal exposure to arsenic leads to long-term behavioral, cognitive, and motor deficits. The neurotoxic mechanisms of arsenic include exacerbated oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, and impaired synaptic activity, which drive cell damage and, ultimately, cell death.
Vázquez Cervantes, Gustavo Ignacio et al. “Mechanisms Associated with Cognitive and Behavioral Impairment Induced by Arsenic Exposure.” Cells vol. 12,21 2537. 28 Oct. 2023, doi:10.3390/cells12212537

LIFE EXPECTANCY DROPPING AND CHRONIC ILLNESS

Despite advances in public health and medical treatments, several causes of death have been increasing for decades in adults 35-64: Kidney Disease, Obesity, Diabetes, Hypertension, and Liver Disease
Dying Early AMERICA’S LIFE EXPECTANCY CRISIS: An epidemic of chronic illness is killing us too soon
The Washington Post Oct. 3, 2023
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/interactive/2023/american-life-expectancy-dropping/

CHRONIC DISEASE

An increasing proportion of people in America are dealing with multiple chronic conditions; 42% have 2 or more, and 12% have at least 5.
Benavidez GA, Zahnd WE, Hung P, Eberth JM. Chronic Disease Prevalence in the US: Sociodemographic and Geographic Variations by Zip Code Tabulation Area. Prev Chronic Dis 2024;21:230267. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5888/pcd21.230267

ADHD

Our findings indicate metals’ relationship to susceptibility to ADHD, especially for lead, cadmium, and antimony. Children’s neurocognitive function is particularly correlated to lead levels.
Lee, Min-Jing et al. “Heavy Metals' Effect on Susceptibility to Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Implication of Lead, Cadmium, and Antimony.” International journal of environmental research and public health vol. 15,6 1221. 10 Jun. 2018, doi:10.3390/ijerph15061221

CHRONIC FATIGUE

As the primary target is the nervous system, chronic mercury exposure can cause symptoms such as fatigue, weakness, headache, and poor recall and concentration.
Our patient's toxic chronic fatigue symptoms improved after he was given mercury removal therapy, indicating that he was correctly diagnosed with chronic exposure to organic mercury.
Shin, Sae-Ron, and A-Lum Han. “Improved chronic fatigue symptoms after removal of mercury in patient with increased mercury concentration in hair toxic mineral assay: a case.” Korean journal of family medicine vol. 33,5 (2012): 320-5. doi:10.4082/kjfm.2012.33.5.320

ENDOCRINE FUNCTION

Toxic metals can cause structural and functional changes in the adrenal glands. Certain metals can cause injury to the endocrine pancreas. Exposure to them can cause diabetes mellitus and disturb insulin homeostasis.
Rana, S V S. “Perspectives in endocrine toxicity of heavy metals--a review.” Biological trace element research vol. 160,1 (2014): 1-14. doi:10.1007/s12011-014-0023-7

ASTHMA

In our study, we observed that blood Lead (Pb) was positively and independently correlated with blood eosinophil counts among American adults with asthma. We suggested that long-time Pb exposure as a risk factor might be correlated with the immune system disorder of asthmatic adults and affect the occurrence, development, and exacerbation of asthma.
Wen, Jun et al. “Association between Exposure to Selected Heavy Metals and Blood Eosinophil Counts in Asthmatic Adults: Results from NHANES 2011-2018.” Journal of clinical medicine vol. 12,4 1543. 15 Feb. 2023, doi:10.3390/jcm12041543

DEPRESSION

Cadmium in blood may be positively correlated with depression in American adults.
Zhang, Lei et al. “Investigation of the relationship between heavy metals in the blood and depression in people with different body mass indices using the NHANES database: A cross-sectional study.” Journal of affective disorders vol. 344 (2024): 311-318. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2023.10.023

INFERTILITY

Urinary Arsenic was significantly associated with female infertility, and the risk of infertility increased with higher urinary Arsenic levels. To some extent, urinary Cadmium was correlated with infertility. Blood/urine Lead was related to infertility in advanced age and overweight/obese women.
Lin, Jie et al. “Association between heavy metals exposure and infertility among American women aged 20-44 years: A cross-sectional analysis from 2013 to 2018 NHANES data.” Frontiers in public health vol. 11 1122183. 14 Feb. 2023, doi:10.3389/fpubh.2023.1122183

ANXIETY

High levels of blood cadmium are positively associated with the development of anxiety disorders, which needs to be further verified in future studies.
Bai, Long et al. “Association of blood cadmium, lead, and mercury with anxiety: a cross-sectional study from NHANES 2007-2012.” Frontiers in public health vol. 12 1402715. 12 Aug. 2024, doi:10.3389/fpubh.2024.1402715

GALLSTONES AND GALLBLADDER CANCER

We found there were several metals associated with either gallstones or gallbladder cancer. Among them, arsenic, boron, lithium, and molybdenum were significantly associated with both gallbladder diseases.
Lee, Mei-Hsuan et al. “A Metallomic Approach to Assess Associations of Serum Metal Levels With Gallstones and Gallbladder Cancer.” Hepatology (Baltimore, Md.) vol. 71,3 (2020): 917-928. doi:10.1002/hep.30861

CAVITIES

This study indicates that even low blood lead levels are associated with increased dental caries extent/severity in early life. Dental caries are also known as tooth decay or cavities.
Wiener, R Constance et al. “Blood levels of the heavy metal, lead, and caries in children aged 24-72 months: NHANES III.” Caries research vol. 49,1 (2015): 26-33. doi:10.1159/000365297

ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE AND PARKINSON'S DISEASE

Once metals have accumulated in the nervous system, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, and protein misfolding are the most common deficits associated with metal-induced toxicity. Once injured, neurons have to expend greater energy to synthesize neurotransmitters and maintain homeostasis. The increased burden combined with the neurotoxicity may lead to neuronal death. When some neurons are lost, the job has to be passed on to other neurons, initiating a vicious cycle of toxicity. Given that the nervous system does not regenerate as well as other systems do, the neurodegeneration and impairments usually become progressive with age, as typically seen in Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease.
Chen, Pan et al. “Metals and Neurodegeneration.” F1000Research vol. 5 F1000 Faculty Rev-366. 17 Mar. 2016, doi:10.12688/f1000research.7431.1

SYSTEMIC IMMUNE INFLAMMATION

Plasma metals Copper and Manganese were positively correlated with immunoinflammatory markers SII, NLR and PLR. While plasma metal Iron was negatively correlated with immunoinflammatory markers SII, NLR, and PLR.
Zhao, Linhai et al. “Correction: Association between multiple-heavy-metal exposures and systemic immune inflammation in a middle-aged and elderly Chinese general population.” BMC public health vol. 24,1 1745. 30 Jun. 2024, doi:10.1186/s12889-024-19124-2

CANCERS

Cadmium compounds were categorized as carcinogenic in humans by International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). It may be considered as lung carcinogen, also inducer of prostatic or renal cancers .The important point is that cadmium can disorder testosterone production and induce testicular interstitial cells hyperplasia. Some reports suggested that cadmium may be involved malignancies of liver, hemotopoitic system, bladder and stomach. Furthermore, cadmium may be a potential risk factor for breast cancer. Another study suggested that cadmium exposure may be involved in pancreas cancer because of inducing increased risk for neoplasia.
Rafati Rahimzadeh, Mehrdad et al. “Cadmium toxicity and treatment: An update.” Caspian journal of internal medicine vol. 8,3 (2017): 135-145. doi:10.22088/cjim.8.3.135

COLORECTAL CANCER

Colorectal cancer was positively correlated with Vanadium, Chromium, Copper, Arsenic, Tin, Barium and Lead, but negatively correlated with Selenium.
Li, Yongsheng et al. “The role of heavy metals in the development of colorectal cancer.” BMC cancer vol. 23,1 616. 3 Jul. 2023, doi:10.1186/s12885-023-11120-w

OSTEOARTHRITIS

The overall and gender subgroup logistic regressions all showed that Lead and Cadmium promoted the prevalence of osteoarthritis while Manganese could be a protective factor of osteoarthritis prevalence among the elderly population of the United States.
Xia, Fang et al. “Identification for heavy metals exposure on osteoarthritis among aging people and Machine learning for prediction: A study based on NHANES 2011-2020.” Frontiers in public health vol. 10 906774. 1 Aug. 2022, doi:10.3389/fpubh.2022.906774

RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS

Concentration of heavy metals in serum samples of rheumatoid arthritis patients and healthy control individuals differ significantly which shows that heavy metals may have contribution towards development of rheumatoid arthritis.
Irfan, Shazia et al. “Comparative Evaluation of Heavy Metals in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis and Healthy Control in Pakistani Population.” Iranian journal of public health vol. 46,5 (2017): 626-633.

CANCER

Direct or indirect exposure of heavy metals induces disruption of intracellular processes via complex pathway. In pathway analysis, we found some genes and processes that are common to the toxic effects of As, Cd, Cr, and Ni. These processes might be candidates for markers of heavy metal-induced carcinogenesis. In particular, oxidative stress-mediated pathways are common to toxicity of As, Cd, Cr, and Ni. We might suggest that antioxidative phytochemicals and chelating agents including phytochelatins will be helpful for prevention of heavy metal-induced cancers.
Kim, Hyun Soo et al. “An Overview of Carcinogenic Heavy Metal: Molecular Toxicity Mechanism and Prevention.” Journal of cancer prevention vol. 20,4 (2015): 232-40. doi:10.15430/JCP.2015.20.4.232

OBESITY

Recent findings demonstrated the association between heavy metal exposure and prevalence of obesity. Exposure to markers of mercury, cadmium, lead, and arsenic as well as metal mixture were found to be correlated with anthropometric and metabolic parameters in obesity and metabolic syndrome.
Tinkov, Alexey A et al. “Adipotropic effects of heavy metals and their potential role in obesity.” Faculty reviews vol. 10 32. 26 Mar. 2021, doi:10.12703/r/10-32

PARKINSON'S DISEASE

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a gradually progressing neurodegenerative condition that is marked by a loss of motor coordination along with non-motor features. Although the precise cause of PD has not been determined, the disease condition is mostly associated with the exposure to environmental toxins, such as metals, and their abnormal accumulation in the brain. Heavy metals, such as iron (Fe), mercury (Hg), manganese (Mn), copper (Cu), and lead (Pb), have been linked to PD and contribute to its progression.
Pyatha, Sarita et al. “Association between Heavy Metal Exposure and Parkinson's Disease: A Review of the Mechanisms Related to Oxidative Stress.” Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) vol. 11,12 2467. 15 Dec. 2022, doi:10.3390/antiox11122467