The Evidence Linking Silver-Mercury
Fillings to Alzheimer's Disease

by Kip Sullivan, JD

I. Introduction

Robert Terry et al. are the authors of a book which reviews current knowledge about Alzheimer's Disease (AD). The book was recently described as "the best single book on the topic" by the New England Journal of Medicine' and as "a most useful reference for practitioners of medicine" by the Journal of the American Medical Associations At page 363 of this book, Terry et al. state: Waken together, these studies suggest that chronic low level Hg Mercury] toxicity in AD should be considered as a potential pathogenetic factor in AD."3 Because amalgam is the dominant source of human exposure to mercury, one may paraphrase this conclusion as follows: "Chronic low level exposure to mercury from amalgam should be considered as a factor in AD."

In this aridence that supports the hypothesis that silver-mercury fillings, also known as amalgams, cause AD. The scientific evidence supports the following statements:

(1) People with amalgams have much more mercury in their bodies, including their brains, than people without amalgams; the extra mercury carried by people with amalgams constitutes half to three-fourths of all mercury found in their bodies;

(2) People who die of AD have elevated levels of mercury in their brains; in rat brains and human brain homogenate, mercury blocks a biochemical process that is also blocked in the brains of AD victims; mercury causes emotional and mental symptoms frequently found in AD patients;

(3) Twin studies suggest an environmental cause of AD; epidemiological evidence (the temporal and racial distribution of AD) suggests mercury from amalgams plays a role in AD;

(4) The hypothesis that mercury causes AD is consistent with other hypotheses about the etiology of AD, namely, that apolipoprotien E status is a strong predictor of AD, that education and estrogen protect against AD, and that trauma to the head may trigger AD;

(5) Mercury may be a cause of other diseases of the central nervous system, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, multiple sclerosis, and Parkinson's Disease.

(Excerpted from Townsend Letter for Doctors & Patients -- August/September 1997)

Copyright © 1996. The Light Party.