Joe P./David S. Hair Analysis

I am taking the liberty of letting you two know on the BB of what commonality I have found in our hair sample tests, that we all three share. BISMUTH at higher levels. Although both David and I fell within range, David's levels rose on his second hair analysis, putting him at the upper end of the ref. range, (ref range .05-.18 result .145) which could possibly indicate why he started having problems again. My bismuth was just below the green ref range with that being <.06 and my result being .049. Joe's ref range was <.224 result .248, being over the ref. range. The other commonality that I found between David S. and myself was low lithium, but that does not show on Joe's test. The commonality of Joe's and David's results showed both high in Ca, but I showed to the low side.

So I guess I'll do a search on bismuth and see what I find.

Richard

Here's some information that I have found:

We have recently demonstrated that the hepatobiliary transport of arsenic is glutathione-dependent and is associated with a profound increase in biliary excretion of glutathione (GSH), hepatic GSH depletion and diminished GSH conjugation (Gyurasics A, Varga F and Gregus Z, Biochem Pharmacol 41: 937-944 and Gyurasics A, Varga F and Gregus Z, Biochem Pharmacol 42: 465-468, 1991). The present studies in rats aimed to determine whether antimony and bismuth, other metalloids in group Va of the periodic table, also possess similar properties. Antimony potassium tartrate (25-100 mumol/kg, i.v.) and bismuth ammonium citrate (50-200 mumol/kg, i.v.) increased up to 50- and 4-fold, respectively, the biliary excretion of non-protein thiols (NPSH). This resulted mainly from increased hepatobiliary transport of GSH as suggested by a close parallelism in the biliary excretion of NPSH and GSH after antimony or bismuth administration. Within 2 hr, rats excreted into bile 55 and 3% of the dose of antimony (50 mumol/kg, i.v.) and bismuth (150 mumol/kg, i.v.), respectively. The time courses of the biliary excretion of these metalloids and NPSH or GSH were strikingly similar suggesting co-ordinate hepatobiliary transport of the metalloids and GSH. However, at the peak of their excretion, each molecule of antimony or bismuth resulted in a co-transport of approximately three molecules of GSH. Diethyl maleate, indocyanine green and sulfobromophthalein (BSP), which decreased biliary excretion of GSH, significantly diminished excretion of antimony and bismuth into bile indicating that hepatobiliary transport of these metalloids is GSH-dependent. Administration of antimony, but not bismuth, decreased hepatic GSH level by 30% and reduced the GSH conjugation and biliary excretion of BSP. These studies demonstrate that the hepatobiliary transport of trivalent antimony and bismuth is GSH-dependent similarly to the hepatobiliary transport of trivalent arsenic. Proportionally to their biliary excretion rates, these metalloids generate increased biliary excretion of GSH probably because they are transported from liver to bile as unstable GSH complexes. The significant loss of hepatic GSH into bile as induced by arsenic or antimony may compromise conjugation of xenobiotics with GSH.
[www.ithyroid.com]

Interesting, that I was low in reduced glutathione.

There is more to read in the above link.

This link states that bismuth is used in permanent magnets.
[www.science501.com]

Bismuth is the heaviest stable element and is a brittle metal with a pinkish hue with an iridescent tarnish. Among the heavy metals, it is the heaviest and the only non-toxic. No other metal is more diamagnetic than bismuth, except mercury. This metal, which occurs in its native form, has a high electrical resistance and also has the highest Hall effect of any metal (that is, it has the greatest increase in electrical resistance when it is placed in a magnetic field). When heated in air bismuth burns with a blue flame and its oxide forms yellow fumes.
[www.rare-earth-magnets.com]

The high electrical resistance is a bit of a concern, and the fact that bismuth seems to have an affinity to the heart. Read on:

Modulation of adriamycin toxicity by tissue-specific induction of metallothionein synthesis in mice.

Satoh M, Naganuma A, Imura N.

Environmental Health Sciences Division, National Institute for Environmental Studies, 16-2 Onogawa, Tsukuba Ibaraki 305-0053, Japan.

The effect of tissue specific induction of metallothionein (MT) by preadministration of metal compounds on the antitumor activity and adverse effects of adriamycin (ADR) was examined using mice bearing colon 38 adenocarcinoma. Significant increase in MT concentration was observed in the heart and bone marrow but not in the tumor tissue of the mice given bismuth (Bi) compound. Copper (Cu) increased MT in the tumor tissue but did not induce MT either in bone marrow or in the heart, whereas zinc (Zn) increased MT level in the heart and bone marrow as well as in the tumor tissue. ADR exerted cardiotoxicity, indicated by increase in lipid peroxidation in the heart, bone marrow toxicity, indicated by decrease in number of peripheral leukocytes, and antitumor activity, assessed by reduction of tumor weight, in tumor-bearing mice untreated with MT inducing metal compounds. Preadministration of Bi significantly reduced the cardiotoxicity and bone marrow toxicity without compromising the antitumor activity of ADR. Cu pretreatment did not affect the extent of cardiotoxicity and bone marrow toxicity but significantly suppressed the antitumor effect. Pretreatment with Zn markedly reduced not only the adverse side effects but also the antitumor activity. The results described above suggest that ADR toxicity can be attenuated in the tissues in which the MT level was elevated and that the tissue specific induction of MT synthesis may provide a promising regimen for cancer chemotherapy.
[www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]

Bismuth & Lithium: Although not related on the Periodic Table of the Elements, bismuth (Bi) and lithium (Li) share left / right-sided cell receptors and may be considered essential to human health, although neither one has been officially designated to be essential at this time. Bismuth and lithium are biologically associated on a gastrointestinal and mental health level. While lithium is better known for its therapeutic properties with manic-depressive / bipolar disorder, both elements exert a similar effect on their respective chemical environment: Lithium in regards to potassium / sodium balance (all right-sided cell receptors), and bismuth in regards to zinc / phosphorus balance (all left-sided cell receptors).
Shared toxicity or overdose symptoms of bismuth and lithium include possible kidney or liver damage, staggering gait, tremor, mental confusion, hypoadrenalism (bismuth), hypothyroidism (lithium) among others. Magnesium can be used to treat lithium overdose, while calcium can be used to treat bismuth overdose. In addition to treating patients with manic-depressive illness, lithium has also been used with some success for Ménière's disease, Huntington's Chorea, and alcoholism.

Raising below-normal levels of lithium or bismuth can, but does not have to produce any positive effects in regards to mental health, since few lithium or bismuth-deficient individuals present with actual mental illness, although some researchers claim that areas with the highest lithium levels in drinking water have the lowest rates of homicides, and the lowest mental hospital admissions (those findings have not been officially accepted).

When indeed indicated for bipolar disorder, patients typically present with low lithium levels and excessively high sodium levels, in which case lithium will have a sodium-lowering effect, so there is a distinctive biochemical conflict that has a genetic basis, otherwise everyone with low lithium levels
(which are actually quite common ) would be suffering from manic-depressive episodes.

Both - bismuth and lithium - frequently test low in patients who suffer from low stomach acid levels corresponding to upper (bismuth) and lower (lithium) parts of the stomach, and they are invariably always low in those with an active infection of the Helicobacter Pylori bacterium, which is responsible for some gastric ulcers and a number of other conditions (see also Acu-Cell Disorders "H. Pylori").

Bismuth, through its antimicrobial action, is more appropriate for peptic involvement to inhibit H.Pylori activity, where it supports an increase in upper stomach acid levels, while lithium is more indicated for lower gastric / duodenal involvement, where it supports an increase in lower stomach acid levels.
[www.acu-cell.com]

I'll have to give more thought to the above, but I find it interesting in regards to the balance of Na/K by way of lithium, and treatment of overdose of bismuth is Ca, of which Joe and David were high in both. Also, that hypoadrenalism is indicative of high bismuth is of concern. Any thoughts, anyone???

Richard

Richard,

If it's of any help to your thought processes and research, my own bismuth result (fecal test of one year ago) was 0.009mg/kg as against reference range of < 0.05. My RBC Calcium was right at the low end of reference range. I don't know about Lithium.

Kind regards,

Mike F.