mortality and morbidity from heavy metal ingestion

[Guest guest]

> If ayurvedic meds contain metals, so far not a single case has been

> proved where someone died or become unstable in mind by consuming

> ayurvedic drugs. If a wrong medicine or excess dosage is taken,

> patient receives adequate warning by consequential weakness, burning

> sensation in stomach, other organs, especially urination and passing

> motions. Most of the patients taking allopathic medicines come with

> such complaints to ayurvedists.

 

dr. bhate -

 

i know you to be a passionate and knowledgeable defender of the

ayurvedic tradition

you are understandably proud of the rich and worthy heritage of

ayurvedic medicine

 

however, your statements that there are no deaths from the ingestion of

heavy metals in ayurvedic preps or the suggestion that they are

necessarily safe just doesn't match with the data

 

if you get the study that we are currently debating, you can go through

their list of citations yourself

two are from the CDC website (http://www.cdc.gov), which i reproduce as

follows:

 

Lead Poisoning-Associated Death from Asian Indian Folk Remedies --

Florida

 

In January 1984, a 9-month-old Asian Indian boy died in Florida of lead

poisoning that resulted from ingestion of folk remedies. The case

report follows.

 

The infant, born in April 1983 in Massachusetts, moved with his family

to Lake County, Florida, when he was 6 months old. He was under the

care of a local physician and developed normally until he was 8 months

old. In December 1983, he became lethargic and less responsive and

stopped crawling. Within a few weeks, the behavioral abnormalities

worsened, and he refused bottle-feeding, and began to have tremors. On

January 5, 1984, the infant was examined by a physician for an ear

infection, and the behavioral changes were noted. On January 9, the

infant had seizures at his home and was taken to the hospital emergency

room. During a lumbar puncture, he became apneic and was transferred to

another hospital. The lumbar puncture ruled out meningitis as the cause

of his neurologic signs. A computerized tomography scan suggested a

midline cerebellar mass with enlargements of the third and lateral

ventricles in the brain. On January 10, he underwent an operation for

decompression of the posterior fossa. During the operation, apparent

necrotic tissue was excised from the cerebellum. The infant died the

next day.

 

Postmortem examination revealed severe lead poisoning as the underlying

cause of death. High concentrations of lead were found in the blood,

urine, liver, and kidneys (Table 4). Lead lines were seen in

radiographs of the long bones.

 

The source of lead could not be identified in the house or environment

on examination. However, the parents disclosed that they had regularly

given the baby folk remedies from India since he was 2 months old. The

parents provided samples of three folk remedies for analysis by the

Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services. All three

contained lead (Table 5). The highest concentration (1.6%) was in

ghasard, a brown powder given once daily as a tonic. Reported by ML

Colgrove, M Zinion, Nursing Dept, JM Atkinson, MD, Lake County Public

Health Unit, Tavares, T Collins, MD, District 3, Gainesville, L

Maslund, MW Clark, MD, WF Hamilton, MD, Office of the Medical Examiner,

District 8, Gainesville, NP Chopra, MD, Lake County, CL Bush, Office of

Laboratory Svcs, JJ Witte, MD, JJ Sacks, MD, Acting State

Epidemiologist, Florida Dept of Health and Rehabilitative Svcs; Div of

Field Svcs, Epidemiology Program Office, Special Studies Br, Chronic

Diseases Div, Center for Environmental Health, CDC.

 

***

 

Lead Poisoning Associated with Ayurvedic Medications --- Five States,

2000--2003

 

Although approximately 95% of lead poisoning among U.S. adults results

from occupational exposure ( 1), lead poisoning also can occur from use

of traditional or folk remedies ( 2-- 5). Ayurveda is a traditional

form of medicine practiced in India and other South Asian countries.

Ayurvedic medications can contain herbs, minerals, metals, or animal

products and are made in standardized and nonstandardized formulations

( 2). During 2000--2003, a total of 12 cases of lead poisoning among

adults in five states associated with ayurvedic medications or remedies

were reported to CDC ( Table ). This report summarizes these 12 cases.

Culturally appropriate educational efforts are needed to inform persons

in populations using traditional or folk medications of the potential

health risks posed by these remedies.

 

The first three cases described in this report were reported to CDC by

staff at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center at Dartmouth Medical

School, New Hampshire; the California Childhood Lead Poisoning

Prevention Program; and the California Department of Health Services.

To ascertain whether other lead poisoning cases associated with

ayurvedic medicines had occurred, an alert was posted on the Epidemic

Information Exchange (Epi-X ), and findings from the cases in

California were posted on the Adult Blood Lead Epidemiology and

Surveillance (ABLES) listserv. Nine additional cases were reported by

state health departments in Massachusetts, New York, and Texas ( Table

).

 

Case Reports

 

New Hampshire. A woman aged 37 years with rheumatoid arthritis visited

an emergency department (ED) with diffuse abdominal pain, nausea, and

vomiting of 6 days' duration. Tests revealed microcytic anemia,

moderate basophilic stippling, and no identifiable source of blood

loss. Her blood lead level (BLL) was 81 µg/dL (geometric mean BLL =

1.75 µg/dL for U.S. population aged >20 years [ 6]), and her zinc

protoporphyrin (ZPP) concentration was 286 µg/dL (normal: <35 µg/dL [

7]). She reported ingesting five different traditional medications (two

powders and three tablets) obtained from an ayurvedic physician in

India for her rheumatoid arthritis. Analysis of the two powders

revealed 17,000 and 12,000 parts per million (ppm) lead, respectively,

and 60--100 ppm lead in the three tablets. She began oral chelation

therapy; 1 week after completion, her BLL was 35 µg/dL. Her two

children, aged 6 and 7 years, had BLLs of 5 and 3 µg/dL, respectively.

Two years later, the woman reported to her physician with joint

symptoms from rheumatoid arthritis and was found to have microcytic

anemia and a BLL of 64 µg/dL. She reported restarting ayurvedic

medications 2 weeks previously. She agreed to stop taking the

medications, and her physician decided against chelation therapy.

 

California. A woman aged 31 years visited an ED with nausea, vomiting,

and lower abdominal pain 2 weeks after a spontaneous abortion. One week

later, she was hospitalized for severe, persistent microcytic anemia

with prominent basophilic stippling that was not improving with iron

supplementation. A heavy metals screen revealed a BLL of 112 µg/dL; a

repeat BLL 10 days later was 71 µg/dL, before initiation of oral

chelation therapy. A ZPP measurement performed at that time was >400

µg/dL. Her husband's BLL was 6 µg/dL. No residential or occupational

lead sources were identified, but the woman reported taking nine

different ayurvedic medications prescribed by a practitioner in India

for fertility during a 2-month period, including one pill four times

daily. She discontinued the medications after an abnormal fetal

ultrasound 1 month before her initial BLL. Analysis of her medications

revealed 73,900 ppm lead in the pill taken four times daily and 21, 65,

and 285 ppm lead in three other remedies. Her BLL was 22 µg/dL when she

was tested 9.5 months after the initial BLL testing.

 

A man aged 34 years was evaluated twice in an ED for back pain and

abdominal pain. A screen for heavy metals revealed a BLL of 80 µg/dL.

He was hospitalized for chelation therapy and disclosed that he had

been taking ayurvedic medications prescribed by a practitioner in India

to increase fertility. He had discontinued use the previous day. The 10

preparations included pills, powders, and syrups, most of which were

not labeled. He had taken one type of tablet once daily for 3 months;

samples of one of these tablets contained 78,000 ppm lead. A second

variety of pill contained 36 ppm lead. A home investigation revealed no

other sources of lead. His BLL was 17 µg/dL when tested 7.5 months

after the initial BLL test.

 

Massachusetts, New York, and Texas. Nine additional cases were reported

from Massachusetts, New York, and Texas ( Table ). The median age of

patients was 52 years; five patients were female. The five women were

taking the medications for arthritis (one), menstrual health (one), and

diabetes (three). The four men were taking the medications for

arthritis (one) and diabetes (three).

 

Caldecott

todd

www.toddcaldecott.com