Gadolinium Storage Condition Individuals: What about Retained Gadolinium and Other Heavy Metals. Pro
GSC by definition are people who have received GBCAs but are not sick from them. However it is always the case they have retained Gd. Essentially the studies by Gibby and White regarding Gd retained in femoral head specimens following surgical resection for severe hip arthritis, presumably the patients all had GSC. All the current generation papers on Gd retained in the brain and being found throughout the body, presumably all in subjects with GSC.
I personally have received upwards of 12 GBCA injections, and have GSC, but not GDD. I was shocked to see how much Gd, and other heavy metals, I have in me. DTPA also provoked significant amount of Gd and other metals out of me. All the urine samples of GDD patients we have done have shown atleast 5 heavy metals. It is likely everyone in the modern age in industrialized nations have multiple heavy metals within them, most consistently lead.
There is no medical evidence at present that removing Gd and other heavy metals out of you has beneficial health effects if you are not sick from them. But, to be frank, maybe it does, as it has never been studied before. Also, and I am not emphasizing this at present, but atleast 50% of subjects with GDD acquired the disease after having received already prior GBCA injections that did not make them sick- that is they started as GSC.
Provocation test with Ca-DTPA is the best and only provocation I recommend. This is the only effective way to perform provocation tests (Zn-DTPA is quite good), as using chelators with lesser stability constant for Gd (eg: EDTA, DMSA), may not increase urine Gd much, and for GDD patients may not elicit a Flare reaction (the Flare is critical to firmly establish the diagnosis, especially in complicated cases). As part of the study we are obtaining pre- and post- 24 hour urine for Gd. Blood tests also may be obtained.
This provocation test may actually be essential in individuals with a complex story where the presence of GDD is uncertain. Fibromyalgia but may be GDD instead, MS or Parkinsons but may have concurrent GDD. Symptoms that Flare are due to GDD - nothing else will do this. This finding is termed induced Flare.
An interest right now is the 'worried well', individuals like myself, who are not sick but are concerned about Gd in their bodies (and other heavy metals) and have undergone multiple GBCA injections in the past, or very recent injection. Lead may be ubiquitous in everyone in North America, and it is worth noting that depression is a common adverse effect of many metals (Lead and Gd included). The extent that depression may be related to metal toxicity is an open research question, as depression itself is very common. To re-iterate, for this group this provocation may not be medically necessary- but this is uncertain, it may be. To allay concerns, worried-well, GSC individuals essentially by definition will not experience Flare.
Richard Semelka MD Consulting Stay tuned on the latest advancements: