Marc Joseph Nutrition - Blog

A review article published in the peer-reviewed journal Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine summarizes the impact of heavy metals mercury and cadmium on the vascular system.

The overall vascular effects of mercury include oxidative stress, inflammation, thrombosis, vascular smooth muscle dysfunction, endothelial dysfunction, dyslipidemia [high LDL cholesterol, low HDL, high triglycerides], immune dysfunction, and mitochondrial dysfunction. The clinical consequences of mercury toxicity include hypertension, CHD [coronary heart disease], MI [myocardial infarction], increased carotid IMT and obstruction, CVA, generalized atherosclerosis, and renal dysfunction with proteinuria …

… Cadmium concentrates in the kidney, particularly inducing proteinuria and renal dysfunction; it is associated with hypertension, but less so with CHD. Renal cadmium reduces CYP4A11 and PPARs, which may be related to hypertension, sodium retention, glucose intolerance, dyslipidemia, and zinc deficiency.

More on Mechanisms

There are several primary ways in which heavy metal exposure may increase the risk for vascular disease:

Increased Oxidative Stress - Mercury and cadmium have high affinity for molecules that contain sulfhydryl groups (-SH), including several sulfur-containing antioxidants, such as N-acetyl cysteine (NAC), alpha-lipoic acid, and glutathione. As a result, when the body is exposed to these heavy metals, antioxidant function is compromised and oxidative stress increases.

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A recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association examined different midlife risk factors and their association with survival rates in men.

Researchers found that 42% of the study’s 5820 original study participants survived to the age of 85. However, only 11% of the study participants survived to 85 years without getting one of 6 major chronic diseases and without physical and cognitive impairment (a state referred to by the authors as “exceptional survival”).

Participants who had high (hand) grip strength and avoided risk factors, including:

• Becoming overweight
• High blood pressure
• High blood sugar
• Smoking
• Excessive alcohol consumption

in mid-life had a greater chance of both reaching age 85 and exceptional survival.

Being married and avoiding high triglycerides were also associated with exceptional survival. Being single, on the other hand, was not associated with reaching age 85.

Researchers estimated that the probability of survival to 85 may be as high as 69% for men with no risk factors and as low as 22% with six or more risk factors. Exceptional survival to age 85 was estimated as high as 55% for men with no risk factors and as low as 9% with six or more risk factors.

Those are some pretty big differences. Nutrition plays a significant role in many of the risk factors - e.g., high blood sugar, high blood pressure, and more. There’s clearly a lot that an individual can do well before reaching older age to both lengthen and improve the quality of life.

A recent University of Michigan study projected the cost of strokes in the U.S. to be $2.2 trillion over the next 45 years. The study factored in everything from hospital care to medications to home health care.

And that’s a conservative estimate, as it’s based on the current rates of primary risk factors such as diabetes, heart disease , obesity, and high blood pressure. With rates of obesity and Type 2 diabetes rapidly increasing in younger populations, the eventual costs could be much greater.

Fortunately, these risk factor conditions are largely preventable, with nutrition playing a significant role.