December - 2018

RICHARD SEMELKA, MD. CONSULTING

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Creating the Frankenstein Monster: Another GBCA

Creating the Frankenstein Monster: Another GBCA

The question often comes up: what is DTPA (in fact what are any chelators) doing with Gd? The answer is recreating in vivo (literally in life - in actually in one's body) a GBCA. A number of sufferers, most in fact, recoil in horror at the idea we are recreating a GBCA, the thing that made them sick to begin with, but now in their body. In deed it is like bringing the Gd back to life, taking it out of the tissue and creating the Frankenstein monster: another GBCA. Once recove

Shouldn't the Risks of GDD be Told in Advance to All Patients Undergoing MRI?

Shouldn't the Risks of GDD be Told in Advance to All Patients Undergoing MRI?

Shouldn't the description of the risks of GDD be told in advance to all patients undergoing MRI, and not just target those who have already developed subtle disease? Yes, I believe that more information should be provided to all patients. I have written several the peer-reviewed literature on the subject of providing informed consent to patients in Radiology. It's also important to acknowledge that effective change is almost always an incremental process. To push for too much

Leaving Patients High and Dry and Having to Fend for Themselves: One of the Great Wrongs

Leaving Patients High and Dry and Having to Fend for Themselves: One of the Great Wrongs

Leaving patients high and dry and having to fend for themselves: one of the great wrongs committed by the allopathic medical community in the denial of Gadolinium Deposition Disease. There are many negative aspects to it. Of the myriad of problems due to the failure to recognize the disease, the one I will focus on here is that it leaves patients defenseless in having to fend for themselves. In having their disease denied, a number of patients have been further damaged by eve

Chelators: the Problem with Redistribution

Chelators: the Problem with Redistribution

There appears to remain a general misunderstanding on chelators. In this post I will briefly address the relative strength of the bonds between Gd and the common chelators: DTPA, EDTA, DMSA, DMPS. As I reported in an early blog on the stability constants of these chelators looking at Gd (where available) and other heavy metals, DTPA has the highest stability constant for essentially Gd and all other heavy metals. What may not be generally understood is all these chelators wil

Can GDD Symptoms be Aggravated with MRI, without GBCA Administration?

Can GDD Symptoms be Aggravated with MRI, without GBCA Administration?

Can Symptoms of GDD be Aggravated with MRI Even Without GBCA Administration? This question has come up on a few occasions, and also a few individuals have remarked that they have experienced this. They were symptomatic with GDD and therefore underwent noncontrast MRI, but still had a worsening of symptoms afterwards. The entire subject of GDD is new, so this possibility is then ultra new. My initial thoughts are that it is difficult to explain how this could happen. There are

Rethinking Gadolinium in Bone and Skin

Rethinking Gadolinium in Bone and Skin

For the longest time (meaning 2 years with GDD and 12 years with NSF) consideration was made that Gd presence in bone and skin represented simple deposition, simple replacement of Gd for Ca in bone, simple replacement of Gd for Na in sweat. Could it however be something more? At least something in addition to simple deposition. I relate this back to 2 points, and relate to a third: 1. what are circulating fibrocytes and other bone marrow-derived cells doing as part of the chr

The Immune System: Oh What a Tangled Web

The Immune System: Oh What a Tangled Web

The immune system is a remarkably complex and interwoven system of various cells that serve either as action heroes, checks, and balances, the vast majority of these are classified together as the family of white blood cells. All components are essential to achieve health. Too much or too little of any can result in severe disease. The primary diseases that the immune system is involved in can be categorized globally into exogenous proliferative invaders, foreign invaders (in

The MRI Screening Form Prior to GBCA Administration

The MRI Screening Form Prior to GBCA Administration

Having been the director of MR services for a major university medical center for 25 years, I am very familiar with the MRI Screening form, that all centers have patients complete prior to undergoing an MR exam. From that perspective, combined with the wisdom that comes with experience and thoughtful reflection, it is somewhat humorous/sad to think what is in the form as important and what is lacking. The slings and arrows of what is asked, and what is not. As with most other