Bonnie Camo MD
Natural Medicine & Homeopathy
Trebisacce, Italy
Heavy Metal Brain Damage
Lead
poisoning is thought to have led to the downfall of the Roman Empire. The ancient Roman water pipes were made of up
to 99.3% lead, according to Dr. K-G Wenzel in The Earth’s Gift to Medicine. I actually saw the remains of some of these
lead pipes on a recent visit to Pompeii, the Roman city buried by the eruption
of Vesuvius in 79 AD. The upper classes
also used lead-containing glazes on their ceramic drinking vessels. It seems
probable that lead was a factor in the rise and fall of insane, murderous
emperors like Nero and Caligula.
Several
decades ago, Dr. William Walsh, former head of the Argonne National Laboratory
near Chicago, analyzed hair samples from inmates in the California prison
system. He found high levels of lead, a
known neurotoxin, in all serial killers and mass murderers tested. Serial killers are generally considered
sociopaths, people who lack a conscience and empathy, and kill methodically and
with premeditation. Mass murderers, on
the other hand, seem normal until they suddenly snap under extreme stress, go temporarily
insane and shoot everybody in a McDonald’s, or a school, for instance. Dr. Walsh found both types high in cadmium as
well as lead, and low in zinc. The mass
murderers also tended to have high copper.
Walsh later went on to found the Pfeiffer Treatment Center (PTC), named
after my mentor, Dr. Carl Pfeiffer, with whom he collaborated. The PTC tests and treats people for heavy
metals, vitamin and mineral deficiencies and other imbalances related to mental
and physical illnesses.
Zinc
deficiency is common in the general public in the US and in the Middle
East. Dr. Pfeiffer speculated that this
could be a factor in the “warlike, violent nature” of these areas. Dr. Walsh was on the Phil Donohue television
show many years ago, and was asked which was more important in producing
violent behavior, heredity or environment.
He answered that it was a combination of “a bad chemistry and a bad childhood”. It is interesting to note that the crime
rate in the US went down sharply eighteen years after Roe versus Wade legalized
abortion in 1973, according to Freakonomics, by Steven Levitt and
Stephen Dubner. Apparently many women
who want an abortion realize that they do not have the emotional or financial
resources necessary to raise a healthy child. Another reason for the decrease
in crime may be the removal of lead from gasoline. According to the EPA, blood lead levels declined by 37% in association with a 50%
drop in the use of leaded gasoline between 1976 and 1980.
Low
zinc is associated with anger, hostility and verbal abuse, according to The
Crazy Makers, by Carol Simontacchi, perhaps because low zinc allows lead
and cadmium to rise. Many brain enzymes
require zinc for activation.
One
of the main sources of cadmium toxicity is tobacco smoking. Cadmium is thought to contribute to
emphysema. Smoking also depletes vitamin
C, which is needed to help prevent cancer and, along with zinc, to help
excretion of heavy metals. Other sources
of cadmium are refined foods, which have a low zinc to cadmium ratio, and old
galvanized water pipes, made with zinc that was contaminated with cadmium. Newer water pipes made of copper seemed like
a good substitute, but copper levels can go too high, especially with acidic
well water. Greenish-blue stains in the
sink and tub are a warning sign of high copper levels.
Copper,
unlike lead and cadmium, is an essential mineral, but excessive amounts can
lead to hypertension, depression, hyperactivity, headaches and other disorders. Many commercial multivitamins have too much
copper. Chocolate is also quite high in
copper. Two milligrams is considered the
daily requirement, but this does not take into consideration the copper that is
being absorbed from food and water.
The
epidemic of autism appears to coincide with increased vaccinations containing
mercury, aluminum and other toxic substances.
High levels of toxins and heavy metals in the environment, and a genetic inability to detoxify, contribute to autism
and other disorders affecting the brain, like attention deficit hyperactivity
disorder (ADHD), schizophrenia, and even sociopathy.
