January - 2019

RICHARD SEMELKA, MD. CONSULTING

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Treating GDD: Is DTPA as good as it gets?

Treating GDD: Is DTPA as good as it gets?

The best chelators are agents that possess the highest stability constant (same as thermodynamic stability) and also kinetic stability with Gd, or whatever else to be chelated. DTPA has the highest stability of currently available agents - other ligands for GBCAs may even be better. Stability of the GBCA is only part of the problem with these agents, otherwise why would the macrocyclics cause it when they should remain intact? Neutrophils are recognized as assuming an ameoboi

Proliferative and Non-proliferative Enemy Combatants and the Immune System

Proliferative and Non-proliferative Enemy Combatants and the Immune System

In a prior blog I described the situations the immune system has to deal with using war-fare terminology. Actually it is both appropriate and I think makes the subject more comprehendible. Proliferative enemy combatants are enemies that can grow in number in the host, and the two large categories are infection (exogenous combatants) and cancers (endogenous combatants). The major issue with these is that by growing in number they can cause great injury or death by compressing

Clustered Chelation Sessions/Pauses/Concurrent Immune System Treatment: The Future Direction

Clustered Chelation Sessions/Pauses/Concurrent Immune System Treatment: The Future Direction

DTPA is a fairly pure chelator of heavy metals, with very good stability constant for most of these, including/especially Gd. So on its own I do not think that DTPA is introduces extra effects, in the case you describe adverse effects, such as increasing head pressure sensation or increasing BP. Other chelators that have lower stability constant (all other currently available) will have additional effects from redepositing Gd into other locations, such as the brain or myocard

When is: enough is enough? When to stop GDD treatment or what to keep doing

When is: enough is enough? When to stop GDD treatment or what to keep doing

The below is a modification of an email I recently sent a client, and is a discussion that I have commonly had (extremely commonly). When is: enough is enough. The Lab results tells us that DTPA is still removing Gd from your body. The fact that you have had multiple chelations with DTPA and the postchelation urine Gd is still high is nothing to panic about. This is a good thing, it tells us DTPA is working and is still increasing Gd removal from the body. The end goal is n

Gadolinium in the water, how worried should we be?

Gadolinium in the water, how worried should we be?

For many years, the presence of gadolinium in the water supply has been described, especially around cities where many MRI systems are present (and a lot of GBCA used) and also near where GBCA manufacturing plants are. South San Francisco I believe is one of the earliest locations to describe gadolinium in the water table. How worried should we be? Personally I am more worried at the prospect of the EPA loosening restrictions on coal plant emissions, and other toxic environ

Affordable at Home Treatments for GDD: Sauna/Steam Bath, Drinking Alkaline Water

Affordable at Home Treatments for GDD: Sauna/Steam Bath, Drinking Alkaline Water

As I get to the point that I believe that an at-home is worth using for GDD, that appear to have a good basis in science, I will post them as a blog. Today I will discuss saunas. The skin and skin substrate is one of the two major repositories for Gd in the body (bone being the other one). It is most likely that one of the processes that occur in the skin is that Gd substitutes for sodium (Na) and is eliminated in sweat. Hence sweating is a good natural approach to remove Gd.

The Skeleton for Global Risk Assessment in Radiology

The Skeleton for Global Risk Assessment in Radiology

I have mentioned on several occasions the need for a global information sheet on the risks inherent in all Radiology exams. This is a skeleton outline: Essentially everything in health care have risks, in addition to the benefits, associated with them. The present document provides an overview of the severe risks associated with Radiology procedures, their approximate likelihoods, and who are most at risk. X-ray based procedures (includes CT). The risks: The severe risk assoc

Publication Types and Stratifying their Importance

Publication Types and Stratifying their Importance

Peer-reviewed publications. 1. The gold standard for publication, the monarchy of publications, is the peer-reviewed literature. Amongst publications in the peer-reviewed literature are original research, with the highest status, subjected to statistical analysis and a large data sample and hopefully with scientific comparison to a control group. This is la creme de la creme. Journals are also stratified by impact factor (which means how often articles published in that journ

Pursue Whether Gd Depositions are in the Brain on MRI?

Pursue Whether Gd Depositions are in the Brain on MRI?

I am not infrequently asked if someone should get their brain MRI looked at again to see if they have Gd deposition. My general response to this is no. Gadolinium deposits are not described as lighting up after GBCA injection. They are essentially static high T1 signal foci in the Dentate Nucleus and Globus Pallidus. As I have written in prior blogs, there probably is no good correlation with brain deposition of Gd and symptoms of GDD. Brain deposition basically just means th

Caveat Emptor: GDD

Caveat Emptor: GDD

Caveat Emptor (Latin for buyer be aware). Many of my recent blogs are stimulated by very thought-provoking emails sent to me by sufferers. This is the case here. As I have mentioned in a prior blog, issues related to GDD not being recognized by the broad community of allopathic physicians, include that insufficient research is paid to it. The end result is the patients have to be their own advocates, and in fact own researchers- hence caveat emptor. I have deliberately to da

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