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The Suppression of Alternative Medical Therapies 39
Panorama also reported on the unique, ongoing study of a group of nuns
by Dr. William Markesbery, professor of pathology and neurology and
director of the Sanders Brown Center for Aging at the University of
Kentucky. He is investigating the link between mercury and Alzheimer's
disease and told Panorama:
Mercury is a toxic substance. It is a neurotoxin—that is to say it causes
nerve cells to degenerate if there is enough mercury present in the
brain. The major problem in Alzheimer's disease is the degeneration of
nerve cells. It is possible that mercury could add to the degeneration of
nerve cells—to the death of nerve cells.
The reaction of the British Dental Association (BDA) to the 1994
Panorama program was predictable: It told Panorama it was unaware of
the work of Haley and also unaware of the work of Professor Aposhian at
the University of Arizona who discovered that 66 percent of the mercury
deposits in the body come from fillings. In fact, John Hunt, chief executive
of the BDA, told Panorama, "Amalgam is safe." The BDA fact sheet
available to dentists states, "The scientific evidence available to the BDA
does not justify banning the use of amalgam in young children."
Said Hunt, "I've treated my children with amalgam and have no doubt
that when they have their own children, they will do the same." Asked
about any link between Alzheimer's and mercury, he added:
As far as I know, there is no association with mercury and Alzheimer's.
We rely on expert advice. There is no evidence to suggest that merely
because mercury is found in the kidneys of the fetus and young children,
that it is a hazard to health. I don't see why we should necessarily worry
the population at large if there are no proven arguments one way or
another. The fact that it is there and it is detectable doesn't mean to say
that it's potentially doing any damage. You can probably find a whole lot
of substances in the brain that perhaps should not be there.
Special thanks to Professor Murray Vimy for several of the above references
and to the Dental Amalgam Mercury Syndrome (DAMS) consumer
advocacy group. For more information contact DAMS at (800) 311-6265.
REFERENCES
1. J.G. Baurer and H.A. First, California Dental Association Journal,
10:47-61, 1982.
2. E.W. Skinner and R.W Phillips, The Science of Dental Materials, 6th
ed. (Philadelphia: W.B. Saundets Co., 1969), pp. 303, 332.