Dad Recently Diagnosed -Exploring Possible Causes-Can Anyone Relate?

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crytl27

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My dad was recently diagnosed with ALS a few mos ago. He began having CHRONIC HIVES in 2002 (& has had them everday ever since) - he was exposed to DIESEL FUMES the day he broke out. The muscle cramps started throughout his body about the same time.
He had a HEAT STROKE in 2001 in which he passed out & had to go to the ER. I have noticed that a lot of people w/ALS seem to be very ATHLETIC or have undergone an extreme physical regime. My dad was a "WORKAHOLIC" and he worked lots of overtime and then would come home and do additonal physical work on his farm. He also worked outside in the heat (no a/c in his work truck).
Recently my parents have been researching a theory regarding MERCURY FILLINGS possibly causing ALS. There are a few different websites that describe this theory, the Dr.s and Dentists that support it & their research.

My dad has 9 silver mercury fillings in his mouth & has an appointment to get all of them pulled out in a week.
Has anyone out there with ALS experienced any of these things leading up to their diagnosis?

ps-or is anyone else exploring other theories?
 
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Scientists who have spent their entire professional lives studying ALS don't know what causes it (although I think it's safe to say that none of them believes it has anything to do with mercury amalgams). Why do you think you can do what they so far haven't been able to, and why does it matter? Your time would be better spent learning about the upcoming challenges your father will face and staying ahead of the disease.

As you research illness in general and ALS in particular you will learn that the world is full of people who apparently exist for the sole purpose of separating vulnerable and desperate people from their money. It seems you have already encountered at least one of them. Even if mercury amalgams do cause ALS (they don't) there's no reason in the world to think that once the symptoms of ALS manifest themselves that removing fillings will do any good (cf: lung cancer and smoking). I'd never dream of advising a person who is already sick to go through such an extensive, expensive and useless dental procedure.
 
I agree with Meg

Even if there's the remotest possibility of mercury as the cause - and it would be extremely remote - going through the dental procedure makes no sense unless he has high mercury readings in his blood. And checking for mercury and other heavy metals is pretty standard in diagnosing ALS. I have often wondered what caused my ALS. I was extremely active -- and a workaholic. But so far, scientists have been unable to pin down a cause. There are studies going on where they are looking at possible case clusters. Despite all that --- and I've been a professional journalist for 35 years and would love to investigate this ---- the main thing now is to focus on immediate and long term needs. Getting in the right frame of mind is important. I personally plan to fight this by keeping healthy, taking some supplements, staying active and keeping myself busy. And for fun and to keep my weight up ----- lots of ice cream parties.
 
Mercury Fillings

Crytl27 I had aprox 15 fillings replaced about 9 or 10 years ago. I also had about 35 IV Chelation treatments done about the same time. I tested very high for mercury. This was about 4 or 5 years before I started showing signs of ALS. Howdy
 
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Thanks for your replies. I really appreciate everyone's opinions & info. The reason my dad was interested in this topic (specifically dental amalgams) was from "scientific studies" discussed in the following websites:


1. ** scam site** link removed

2.Mercury Free and Healthy, The Dental Amalgam Issue
** non-authorative link **

3.Where Do Environmental Toxins Come From?
**scam site** link removed

The reason we have been looking into this is that it is my family's hope that indeed a cure will one day be found for this awful disease...in the meantime we are definitely cherising every moment spent together & consider each day w/my dad a blessing. I cannot feel bad for researching to try & gain a better understanding of the disease that my dad has been diagnosed with, and if I am at a stage that seems immature to some, then I guess I can only apologize and say, "we aren't there yet and we are still holding out hope while trying to deal with reality". Even if a cure is not found in time to help my dad, hopefully it will help someone else's.
 
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Did you not notice that the sites you referenced are marketing sites--not informational sites? A word to the wise--real scientific information sources don't come with instructions for how to use your credit card and PayPal account on them. This is quackery of the worst kind because it preys on people with real serious illnesses, not on the worried well who can better afford to throw away their money.

http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/mercury.html
 
I had my mercury amalgams replaced. I figured it was worth a shot. I'm not for or against it. People do what they feel they have to. I had taken a heavy metals test and came up + for only mercury but in all honesty if toxins is the cause it could be a different toxin then mercury for some, could be a cluster of circumstances. I'm sorry to hear about your dad and I totally understand grasping at straws as I'm sure most ppl with ALS have been there at one point or another. Good luck w/ the fillings. Stay positive!
Love, *Holl*
 
Can't keep myself from jumping in here on this......I am Crystal's mom and appreciate the fact that she is supporting her Dad in his decision to have these mercury amalgams removed. We only became aware that they contained mercury a couple of weeks ago upon visiting our primary care physician. We aren't gullable people ready to fork over hard earned dollars for dream cures. Yes, the heavy metals test is one of the very 1st tests they do and yes we did it. But, mercury does not show accurately in that test due to the fact that it is absorbed into your fat and organs. Mercury is the most toxic metal known and if more people were aware of the fact that "silver" fillings are 50% mercury I don't think they would want them in their mouth whether or not they "cause" ALS, alzhiemers or a host of other ailments. It is well worth the peace of mind in our case to not wonder "what if". After all when it comes down to it what do we have to lose. Sometimes you just have to take the bull by the horn, you don't just sit there and wait for him to run you over. (Yes we are cattle farmers!:) Thanks to all who comment. It feels good to share...and thanks Crytl for getting me on here. I love you.
 
You have to do what you think is right at the time but armed with a little bit of knowledge. I asked my dentist of 25 years and he said this topic is brought up at every convention and there is no real evidence presented that would convince him to take mine out. If I insisted he would be glad to take the money but doesn't feel it is necessary. So I still have mine. Lots don't. But I have the money to spend on other things. Personal choice as to what is important. Go with what you think is right. Take care. AL.
 
Welcome Crystal and Mom

I'm sorry for the pain and worry you 2 must be going through with this disease. I hope your dad, husband does well with this procedure. You are not alone in your thought process right now and in your worries. We have been there and feel your pain and concern. It's a hard walk you have ahead of you, but know we are here to comfort you as much as possible and answer any questions that may arise.

May God Bless and keep you during this journey. Peace and Love.
Big AL
:cry:
 
Boots and Crystal,
I've had 13 amalgams removed [ Jan. through March] my dentist was not really for it, but I thought I would try it anyway. Did cost me around $3,500 dollars, though ,and it was tough to go through. Can't really tell if it helped or not. I guess it's each persons decision to make. Also it puts a Lot of merc. in your system when they are removed. I based my decision on a report put out by a non profit organization in my state of N.M. I can locate it [report] if intersted in reading it. Barry
May the Lord be with you.
 
Well said Meg; that als-options website is one of the biggest scams online when it comes to "effective" ALS treatments.

It's very disturbing that the owners of that site are able to actively market themselves online, purchasing pay-per-click advertising through Google.com etc...

Grrr, hopefully one day there will be a better solution to detering people from visiting those types of websites.

For now, we'll just have to continue making people aware of these scam sites through these forums.
 
cyrl27,

I think your father is lucky to have a son that cares so much. There is absolutely nothing wrong with you searching for hope. I think you should be very proud of yourself for trying to find a cure to help your father. I too am cherishing every moment with my love one. It hurts terribly to be in this and it hurts so much to feel helpless. Doing what your doing shows courage and strength to fight and never ever give up. Sometimes even searching the same thing over and over is okay too. It means that something may have been missed. Keep up the fight and do what you feel in your heart. No one else in this world knows exactly how you feel. We only know how each of us as an individual feel. The road can be rough but if we keep hope in our hearts then we know that our loved will may someday be cured.

Sandy.
 
Mercury Amalgam Update

FYI-Dennis had 10 teeth extracted today, nine of which were mostly "silver" filling. We chose not to disturb the poison anymore than necessary by pulling them and now have the peace of mind that they are gone. If any improvements occur involving his chronic urticaria (hives) or his ALS that's icing on the cake. The oral surgeon did make it clear that he did not believe in what we were doing and was actually kind of a smart a**. But then again he belongs to the association that forbids him to say anything else. I also believe if it were HIS LIFE we were talking about he would have a whole different philosophy. Hopefully some day everyone will know about the mercury content in a "silver" amalgam and choose not to use them. We only became aware of the fact this month and that was through our physician, a humanitarian who cares about us....Not someone trying to sell us bogus products. Anyway it's a bit of a hot topic these days, so I'm sure there will be more and more heard about it. Hope everyone is staying cool. Boots
 
Oh for Pete's sake. The ADA doesn't "forbid" a dentist from expressing an opinion about anything. And there are plenty of us with health problems identical to your father's who would never dream of having a third of our teeth pulled in order to address a "problem" that doesn't even exist. I realize that this dental amalgams/ALS/poison thing is new to you, but that doesn't mean it's any sort of revolutionary idea--scam artists have been recommending it for years. 60 Minutes did a much-derided story on it over 20 years ago. It's well-recognized quackerey, even if your kindly doctor believes the hype (is he an ALS specialist, BTW?).

There are all sorts of ALS cures and treatments out there that can be bought for a price. None of them work. When an effective treatment does come around, you'll find out about it from ALS experts--not sympathetic family physicians, marketing websites and doctors in undeveloped countries.

I strongly suspect that the next sure-fire cure you'll fall for is the it's-really-Lyme-disease story. There are a number of doctors in the US who will, for a very high fee, diagnose Lyme in PALS and recommend long-term IV antibiotics. You will think it's some sort of brand new, untested idea and you'll jump on that bandwagon, subjecting your father to the side effects of strong antibiotics and possible infections from his PICC line. I've seen it happen here before (one poor man couldn't even use his long-dreamed-of new swimming pool in the last mobile summer of his life because he couldn't immerse his PICC line). When that fails maybe you'll travel to China for Dr. Huang's amazing olfactory cell treatment which you will believe is revolutionary because you've never heard of it until now. In fact, it's been around for years at this point, is dangerous and unsanitary and has lead to early deaths in many PALS. But why listen to me? You're determined to "try anything." Right?

Learn from the old timers here. I strongly believe that many of these pocket-padding "treatments" recommended by well-meaning but uninformed friends and relatives put PALS in early graves.

My advice for PALS? Put your financial/family affairs in good legal order then forget about them. Eat a healthy diet, exercise to the extent your muscles can tolerate it, lose weight if you need to, stop smoking, travel, spend time with your family, take antidepressants if you need them, live life to its fullest, think positively and get on with the business of living your life. Don't spend whatever time you have left tilting at windmills and subjecting your body to stresses that will do it no good. I firmly believe that you'll live longer and have a higher quality of life if you do the things I suggest than if you pursue "everything."
 
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