How do heavy metals increase inflammation?

Denise Stephens, ZOI CEO (00:00):

Okay, Lori, we're coming to you. Next question please. Okay.

ZOI Advisor (00:05):

So Dr. Nikolaos, the breakthrough that you have discovered is just amazing. And in my practice, I use it every single day. So we talk at the wellness center about inflammation all the time, and how inflammation is the underlying root cause of diseases, many, many diseases. So I want to help, I want to have you help people understand the correlation between heavy metals and heavy metal toxicity, mercury lead, cadmium, arsenic, aluminum, and how that increases the inflammatory response in the body.

Dr. Nikolaos Tsirikos-Karapanos, PharmD, MD, Cardiothoracic Surgeon (00:45):

Very good question Lori. Thank you very much, and I appreciate what you do with your patients in your practice. Alright. Heavy metals interfere with many biochemical pathways and disturb these pathways that our body has in order to detoxify. There are many biochemical pathways and mechanisms in our body, specifically working in order to protect us. This is the fundamental basis of that homeostasis as we call it in medicine. The problem is that heavy metals and other toxins interfere with these mechanisms. So it's not that our body does not have these mechanisms. If our body does not have these mechanisms, this is not compatible with life. There are some diseases that are so bad diseases incompatible with life. So we have death the first days of life, or even before the first day of life, right? But we're not talking about this. We're talking about all of us.

Dr. Nikolaos Tsirikos-Karapanos, PharmD, MD, Cardiothoracic Surgeon (02:02):

We do have these mechanisms in place, but we have these heavy metals and other toxins interfere with these mechanisms. If we remove these toxins, then we allow our body to self heal, to take care of that so needed homeostatic processes. Okay. And inflammation is a common denominator of many, many, many diseases and conditions. It came in literature in the last years, it became very clear that individuals that needed to take low dose aspirin, every single day, for cardiac problems, Okay? So their blood cannot coagulate, cannot be thinner. Let’s use this simple expression. Okay. These individuals had another non expected benefit, significantly less cancer, gastrointestinal cancer. And the question how in the world, they were taking this aspirin for cardiac problems. Well, this anti-inflammatory drug reduced the general inflammation that plays a very significant role in the pathogenesis , as we call it, of cancer.

Dr. Nikolaos Tsirikos-Karapanos, PharmD, MD, Cardiothoracic Surgeon (03:39): 

Everything is interrelated. Everything is connected in our body, and this makes totally laughable, when we hear people saying: Oh we have this liver detox protocol. Really? How are you going to isolate the liver? Recently, I became aware of one of the most extreme, permit me to use a polite expression, jokes, that I have heard in the detox industry. There is a person out there in the internet claiming that they do have a detox protocol for the mitochondria. How are you going to isolate your vital organ from your whole body and detox the mitochondria? It's ridiculous, but this is because many wizards out there declare,  genie wizards declare, no, let's …when, in fact, they have no idea. Let me tell you that in the school of medicine, in order to discuss about forensic and toxicology, you must have passed anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, pharmacology, pathology. Okay. And then, surgery and then in pediatrics, OB GYN, then and only then, you can go and start the course of forensics and toxicology in the school of pharmacy, toxicology is in the fifth year. You don't start with toxicology, you end with toxicology. And, it is laughable to see people talking with authority about the subject that they have no idea of their own ignorance. Anyway, I don't want to go further. Very good point though. Very, very, very good point Lori.

Denise Stephens, ZOI CEO (05:51):

Excellent point, excellent point. You know, it's interesting to me Dr. Nikolaos, because I truly believe that heavy metal toxicity may very well be at the root of a lot of things, but there is oftentimes so overlooked. So we're really, truly grateful that in this world where people are waking up to understanding some of the potential damage from toxins, that we have a solution already sitting there waiting on them. It's not like a panic that with no answer to a potential issue.

Dr. Nikolaos Tsirikos-Karapanos, PharmD, MD, Cardiothoracic Surgeon (06:25):

Denise, It was frozen, internet froze for one second. But yes, heavy metals toxicity is a common denominator of many conditions in many diseases.