| The Nightmare of Mercury in Heart Tissues |
  Researchers at the Catholic University in Rome have tested patients with advanced congested heart failure and found a 'marked elevation' of mercury in the heart tissue - in the order of a massive 22,000 times higher than normal. Because heart tissues absorb a large percentage of mercury entering the body cardiologists need to pay attention to the nightmare of mercury toxicity that is threatening our hearts with cardiac arrest. Soviet doctors studied workers exposed to mercury found that the heavy metal had a profound effect on the heart, interfering with its normal contractions, electrical conductivity and overall regulation. They also found that mercury accumulated in the heart tissue and valves. Researchers in Italy found that mercury accumulated in the heart tissue and valves even when very little is found elsewhere in the body. Why this happens is not known, but researchers are clear that mercury adversely affects heart metabolism and worsens cellular function.[ii] Mercury adversely affects the myocardium in a sub clinical manner but eventually becomes the background basis for pathological shifts that undermine heart health. The most noticeable shifts are in beat frequency and voltage. The overall vascular effects of mercury include oxidative stress, inflammation, thrombosis, vascular smooth muscle dysfunction, endothelial dysfunction, dyslipidemia, high LDL cholesterol, low HDL, high triglycerides, immune dysfunction, and mitochondrial dysfunction. The clinical consequences of mercury toxicity include hypertension, coronary heart disease, myocardial infarction, increased carotid IMT and obstruction, CVA, generalized atherosclerosis, and renal dysfunction with proteinuria.[iii] Mercury blocks the action of acetylcholine, the neurotransmitter that passes the nerve impulse from the vagus nerve to the heart muscle. Both acetylcholine and the nerve receptors in the heart muscle contain thiol (sulfur/hydrogen) proteins. When mercury attaches to the thiol protein in the heart muscle receptors and in the acetylcholine, the heart muscle can't receive the vagus nerve electrical impulse for contraction as well as they might. Mercury accumulates in the heart muscle and heart valves, causing damage by attaching to thiol (SH-) proteins. This damage is indicated by EKG and confirmed by histologic study. As mercury enters our bodies, if there is sufficient selenium it will mop up the mercury before it can bind to its favourite sulphur sites or pass through the blood brain barrier. Selenium is absolutely essential in the age of mercury toxicity for it is the perfect antidote for mercury exposure. |
