Heavy Metal Testing. The importance of performing both pre- and post-intervention evaluations... and other critical points.

Heavy metal testing in general should be performed as both pre-intervention testing, preferably within a few days prior, and post-intervention, which is initiated very soon after the intervention.

I will begin by discussing and repeating what I have written in prior blogs., on the heavy metal work I do the great majority of time: dealing with Gadolinium in the body:

I do pre-chelation 24 hr urine for heavy metals, within a few days of chelation, and perform 24 hr urine study for heavy metals beginning approximately 1 hour after chelation. The first urine after chelation (which may also be during chelation) I do not have the individual collect because that urine will have been created by the kidneys prior to exposure to the chelator.

This tells me how much more Gd I am able to get out of the individual compared to the native state (unprovoked), and also what the native state is of Gadolinium elimination. Lead parallels Gadolinium in many respects (including symptoms) and this strategy is also the best at removing Lead. The pre- and post chelation also allows assessment of how effective DTPA is at removing other heavy metals. Other metals are more variable in their removal by DTPA. This largely reflects their speciation (what they are bound to in their body).

So with assessing other chelators, I always do pre- and post-chelation 24 hr urines - essentially without exception. It is impossible to tell effectiveness of a chelator by just looking at post-chelation, it is always important to have pre-chelation as well.

Within 3 months of GBCA injection I will recommend to a number of individuals to get unprovoked urine to document that Gd has persisted in the body.

This is also true of stool measurement for evaluation of digestive system removal of a heavy metal. I have avoided stool measurements. The majority of GBCAs are eliminated almost exclusively by the kidneys, so urine testing in this most informative. The rate of stool Gd removal is variable, especially as many heavy metal toxicity sufferers have developed constipation as part of their symptom complex. So timing is uncertain... And it is stool.

One cautionary note that was brought to my attention about stool measurements post Zeolite by a GDD sufferer, is that Zeolite may contain Gd. So increased Gd in stool post-Zeolite may simply reflect the Gd content of Zeolite. Zeolite is a volcanic compound, and Gd is one of the elements found in the earth's crust. If one was interested in evaluating this, one could send in a sample of Zeolite to Doctors Data and have them test it for heavy metals. They may want it dissolved in sterile water. So this is a complicating factor of compounds tested that are administered by the digestive system.

Summary. I almost always acquire pre- and post 24 hr urine for heavy metals, whenever I test the effect of a chelator to remove a heavy metal, such as Gd.