Heavy Metal Toxicity – Infertility, Miscarriage, Birth Defects

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Heavy Metal Toxicity – Infertility, Miscarriage, Birth Defects
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It would seem logical for medical professionals, health insurance and fertility clinics to determine if heavy metals and toxicity are the cause of infertility, miscarriage and premature death. Why? Because they also cause birth defects and serious delayed onset conditions after birth.

Medical professionals often blame patient’s infertility and miscarriage on their body weight (too much or too little). Both can be SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS of heavy metals and toxicity.

I have met many parents over the years (all absolutely adored their kids to pieces) who have shared their stories with me. While they can’t prove anything after-the-fact, their heart of hearts is certain their children’s problems were the result of heavy metals, lifestyles and toxic exposures. A friend of mine who is a stay-at-home mom knew her now adult son’s lifelong struggle with mental illness is from all the tuna she ate before and during the pregnancy (one can a day). One businessman I met is sure his baby boy’s bilateral cleft palate was the result of lifestyle, mercury exposures and dental work his wife had before and during her pregnancy. His son was 13 at the time and had already had 5 surgeries to correct the birth defect.

Not everyone has heavy metal toxicity, but wouldn’t it make sense to find out if you do?Dad and son

Awareness, simple changes to lifestyle and removing the metals from your body create best case scenarios. It ensures a healthier body and a safe environment for you and for your baby while it grows and develops inside the womb and also once it is born. A healthier and safer environment also ensures the safest breastmilk.

Your body has a list of priorities and needs. What your body deems least important will be compromised first. Your reproductive system is not essential for your body to thrive and survive. Fertility is to your body what an optional add-on feature is to a new car purchase. The car works if you have it or not.

Heavy metals and toxicity don’t always impair a person’s quality of life, but if they are influencing your ability to conceive and carry a child to term then it may only be a question of time before the heavy metal toxicity begins to show more serious signs in your body such as auto-immune disease or cancer.

Do you know high levels of lead cause aggressive, violent, hostile behaviors and suicidal thoughts? Are you aware mercury causes emotional swings and intense sensitivity? Having been through both as an adult, I can assure you that no amount of psychotherapy will make a difference. It was astonishing how the problems simply vanished once the mercury was gone and the bulk of the lead and cadmium was removed and kept at lower levels with regular chelation treatments.

The integrity and quality of sperm are as important for healthy conception and fetal development as is the woman’s body

Conception and fetal development are a fragile seedling. The seeds from both the man and the woman must have healthy integrity for best outcomes. When egg and sperm unite and root in the womb then the woman’s body and blood stream serve as the baby building supply store. Heavy metals stored in fatty tissues, organs and bones are purged for the needed building materials. Any current respiratory, dermal or ingested exposures will also go straight to the blood stream.

Research has proven – cord blood and fetal blood have higher levels of heavy metals and toxicity than does the mother’s own body blood at the time of the baby’s birth

New growth is fragile to its host environment. Be it the soil of our planet or the womb. A fetus may need to bow out gracefully and die, just like the millions of seeds in the earth’s soil do every day when conditions aren’t favorable for best outcomes. If a fetus meets the toxic challenge head on, its development may be compromised during fetal development or there may be delayed onset conditions after birth.

Miscarriages can be devastating and traumatic when the pregnancy is wished for and dreamed about. The loss sometimes becomes the seat of deep fear with each subsequent conception. I have another perspective to offer you. What if the miscarriage was simply your body sending out an SOS? Could your body and the fetus be telling you… “This isn’t the right environment – it isn’t possible to ensure a healthy outcome at this time. BUT when the conditions are right it will be”. What if the apparent loss was an opportunity to ensure healthy outcomes, rather than the tragedy it feels like?

Infertility and miscarriage is information. Body function is how the body communicates with you. You might not like the message, but are you listening?

It’s saying “If I could do the work I would because I always do the work. BUT this time I can’t fix this and you need to get involved and make changes”. Forcing a body to have a baby when the cause of infertility or the inability to carry a baby to term is heavy metal toxicity is like rolling the dice and needing a pair of ones.

Many people make the assumption “I am healthy, only my reproductive system isn’t working therefore there is no problem for me or the safety of my fetus”. Not true.

Direct Quote from ATSDR Toxicological Profile for Mercury March 1999 Page 328
Unborn children are another known susceptible population to the toxic effects of mercury (see Section 2.2.2.4). Data from large-scale poisonings in Japan (Harada 1978) and Iraq (Marsh et al. 1987) indicate that infants exposed in utero to alkyl mercury compounds developed severe neurological toxicity whereas their mothers may have experienced no or only mild toxicity.”

Lead toxicity is related to premature birth, low birth weight, gestational hypertension, skin birth defects, neurological disorders, undescended testicles in boys and other conditions that aren’t pattern specific. Mercury is known to cause birth defects such as cleft palate, cerebral palsy, microcephaly, kidney disease, mental disabilities, brain damage, dysfunctional nervous system, vision/hearing problems and more. Studies have even found a correlation between mercury dental fillings and babies with cleft palate. Do NOT have mercury dental fillings put in or removed during pregnancy. Please read my other blog post “When to Remove your Mercury Dental Fillings” for more information.

Heavy metals and toxicity cause infertility, miscarriage, premature death, birth defects and serious delayed onset conditions. Your awareness and choices directly influence outcomes.

Proper testing for heavy metals is quick, easy and relatively inexpensive (depends on the doctor and your health insurance). An IV challenge using EDTA AND oral DMSA with a 6-24 hour urine collection sent off to Doctor’s Data Laboratories will provide the best total overview. You will know if your body has heavy metals, which ones and at what levels. Blood tests only reveal if the exposure is recent. The body does not keep heavy metals in the blood circulation for more than a week. Do not rely on blood and or hair tests. The man and the woman both need to be tested.

If you do have heavy metals then you can investigate the multiple options for removing them. It may be as simple as adding daily methyl donor supplements or using medical chelation options.

If tests reveal high levels of lead and/or cadmium then you may want to consider having an XRF bone x-ray. This type of x-ray may provide an indication of how much lead has been stored in your bones. Calcium and lead are structurally interchangeable making bones the best place for the body to store excess lead. Cadmium and lead have a relationship with one another. When cadmium levels decrease, lead levels begin to increase, sometimes quite quickly and sharply. XRF x-rays are usually done with certain bones. If you have had any broken bones you may want to have those screened too because high lead levels at the time of bone injury can concentrate lead at the site of bone injury and repair.

While copper is considered a heavy metal, copper is not tested on heavy metals testing. Copper is responsible for infertility too. You may know that increasing zinc supplementation increases sperm health. I have often wondered if zinc works to improve sperm health in some men simply because zinc supplementation is one of the ways to lower excess body copper levels. Is zinc helping the sperm, removing the copper toxicity OR maybe a little of both? I know very little about the most effective ways to test body copper levels, but I imagine that information should be easy to find and crosschecking urine, red blood AND plasma levels would give an accurate idea.

Below are just a few quotes taken from the toxicology reports on Mercury and Lead. The full reports and the more than 175 other reports on toxic substances proven to cause disease are available from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) free of charge. The ATSDR is a government agency that compiles research findings around the world. Their link is www.atsdr.cdc.gov. I am only including a miniscule fraction of findings available. I encourage you to do your own research to learn more.

Direct Quote from ATSDR August 2007 Toxicological Profile for Lead Page 258
Some studies of humans occupationally or environmentally exposed to lead have reported associations between PbB and abortion and pre-term delivery in women (Borja-Aburto et al. 1999; Nordstrom et al. 1979) and alterations in sperm and decreased fertility in men (Gennart et al. 1992b; Sállmen et al. 2000a; Shiau et al. 2004).”

Direct Quote ATSDR report December 2013 mercury page 18
In some such cases of mercury exposure involving serious exposure to the developing fetus, the effects are delayed. In such cases, the infant may be born apparently normal, but later show effects that may range from the infant being slower to reach developmental milestones, such as the age of first walking and talking, to more severe effects including brain damage with mental retardation, incoordination, and inability to move.”

Direct Quote from ATSDR Toxicological Profile for Mercury March 1999 Page 140
“… case reports from isolated incidences of maternal consumption of organic forms of mercury during pregnancy, have provided evidence that the developing nervous system of the fetus is highly sensitive to mercury toxicity. The first such incident was reported in Sweden in 1952 when flour from grain treated with an unspecified alkyl mercury compound ingested by a pregnant woman was associated with developmental toxicity. An apparently normal infant was born, but the infant later displayed brain damage manifested by mental retardation, incoordination, and inability to move (Engleson and Herner 1952). A 40-year-old woman, 3 months pregnant, consumed methylmercury-contaminated meat for an unspecified duration and subsequently delivered a male infant with elevated urinary mercury levels (Snyder and Seelinger 1976). At 3 months, the infant was hypotonic, irritable, and exhibited myoclonic seizures. At 6 years of age, the child displayed severe neurological impairment (e.g., blindness, myoclonic seizures, neuromuscular weakness, inability to speak) (Snyder and Seelinger 1976).”

Sandrine pregnant

If an exposure is dangerous for a baby it is dangerous for you. A safe environment that fosters life, health and well-being for your body will provide the same for your baby.

Consider hiring someone knowledgeable to do a walk-through of your life at your place of residence. A good professional will consider the following:

♥ What is your geographic region? What is that areas history? What companies are/were doing what types of activities? Are you downwind of a golf course, resort, garden or other that is spraying insecticides and herbicides regularly?
♥ What is happening in your home or yard – are there renovations, new carpet/furniture, fumigations, cleaners or something else?
♥ What are you eating and drinking? How are you preparing and cooking food?  What is the source of your drinking and cooking water?
♥ What supplements are you taking, and are they safe?
♥ How do you care for and clean your home, car, yard or office? How about using baking soda and vinegar, both of which are safe and inexpensive.
♥ Do you use free and clear laundry detergent? Are you using laundry sheets without knowing that they leave a chemical residue on your clothes and become a full body transdermal patch?
♥ What personal care products do you use? Why not choose safe natural alternatives if you aren’t already doing so.
♥ Where do you go for personal care services and are you being exposed to harmful elements?
♥ Feminine hygiene products are in direct contact with your reproductive organs and are believed to be related to infertility and endometriosis. My better guess is they are also associated with genital skin lesions, candida, vaginosis and other lower abdominal imbalances. Choose organic cotton and fragrance free alternatives.
♥ What is your profession? Where do you work?
♥ What are your hobbies? Interests? Outings? Activities?
♥ Do you have tattoos? Use hair color? Cosmetics and lipstick? Do you know certain tattoo ink, cosmetics and lipstick have lead and other heavy metals in them? Just because it is expensive doesn’t mean it is safe. Have you checked to make sure they are safe?
♥ Do you have regular guests in your home and do they bring with them harmful exposures?

Sandrine and MargauxThe Environmental Working Group (EWG – www.ewg.org and www.ewg.org/skindeep) is a wonderful resource for information regarding harmful and dangerous environmental exposures and toxicity from food, products and personal care products.

Removing heavy metals and toxicity from your body and environment ensure a natural capacity to conceive and carry a baby to term. Investing a year or two to heal your body and make healthy lifestyle changes may seem like a long time, but you ensure yourself better health and your new lifestyle will create the safest environment for your baby to grow and develop.

Krista Umgelter Palms 2Should you be looking for an effective ally, then call me I provide personalized direction when working with people because you come with the knowing about your body, history and evolving situation.

Warmest,
Krista Umgelter

 

PS – Health care today is a for profit business. Your best interests are not always in the best interests of their profit margin. You live in your body 24/7 and are the expert of your body. Your body knows, listen to it. 

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