Heavy Metals in Biofilms

Why Are Heavy Metal Detoxes often Recommended for Lyme Disease?

Many of the people we work with have had Lyme disease for years.  Most of them have gone through 1 or more (often many more) antibiotic treatments.  Often they get better for a while but then the nasty Lyme symptoms keep coming back.

Now, researchers are beginning to understand that many bacteria and viruses have defensive abilities.  They will form protective barriers of cysts and biofilms around them when under attack from antibiotics or the immune system!  Then they can even change forms so new rounds of antibiotics no longer work.

There now is a highly successful natural strategy we have introduced that finally gets results for chronic Lyme sufferers!  New insights from new research require a different approach to ongoing Lyme disease.  You can review the 3-Step Lyme Disease Protocol, however, a heavy metal detox is our main focus here.

Let’s Review:

The bacteria builds biofilms by gathering together and rapidly weaving a protective web or matrix around them.  The matrix they build is a polymeric matrix.  It’s a sticky, gluey, mucus goop.  They add our body’s own fibrin fibers to it to give it structure.

At that point, the bacteria are well protected.  They’ve created a way to survive and hide from the immune system and antibiotics.  The bacteria in cysts are inactive but the bacteria behind a biofilm are still alive!  They are still fermenting, metabolizing and leaching toxins into the bloodstream!(1)

They may have a reduced metabolism compared to active, acute infection (and those in cysts that are kind of hibernating).  However, because of the biofilm, antibiotics, and the immune system can no longer reach them.  Some tests may show that you still carry these infections but the biofilm may eliminate evidence of the infection in stool cultures.  The bugs may not show up.

Why is Heavy Metal Detox Important?

There are two reasons:

Reason 1:

The biofilm is using toxic heavy metals, along with minerals, to help build the biofilm.   Actually, biofilms have a lot of heavy metals.  The biofilm matrix has a horizontal and a vertical weave.  It is standard knowledge that biofilm bacteria uses metals and minerals to help build that matrix.(2)

These heavy metals help make up and feed the biofilm that surrounds the spirochete Bb.  These heavy metals give the biofilm integrity – like building a wall.  You don’t only want bricks in a wall, you want cement too.(3)

The bacteria may even use the heavy metals for three things:

• To feed the biofilm
• To make the biofilm stronger
• To help kill antibiotics and the immune system approaching it (heavy metals are toxins)

One researcher attempted to verify the presence of mercury in the brains of autistic children.  He couldn’t find it – yet he still found evidence of toxic metal activity.  The reason he couldn’t find the heavy metals is that they are in the biofilm.

In every treatment case, the children produced huge deposits of heavy metals on stool tests.  Heavy metals were being excreted in large amounts.  The biofilm matrix contained charged metal ions and high levels of heavy metals.  When the heavy metals are removed / chelated, the autism patients began to respond and recover.(4)

No matter what, it is a very good step to get rid of the heavy metals.  Removing these heavy metals and toxins released by dissolving biofilms are an essential part of our Lyme disease program.  Our heavy metal detox formula is designed to do exactly that!

Reason 2:

When you began to dissolve the biofilms, there is also a problem that nobody thinks about.  There are toxins in the biofilm that are released.  The problem is that the heavy metals released are the most troublesome toxins!

Heavy metals do cause body reactions, especially in the joints.  Many people report that, when they used other enzyme products and protocols, there were many cases of increased pain and misery.  Nothing was being done about all the released toxins and heavy metals.

When dissolving the fibrin barriers, we still want to remove the toxins in them as soon as possible.  Our heavy metal detox formula is designed to also ‘chelate’ (meaning to grab hold of) and capture those heavy metals and toxins released and eliminate them.  Now, that makes sense!  Link: Heavy Metal Body Detox

The Importance of Minerals

OK, we have been talking of removing heavy metals and toxins.  However, we need other mineral nutrients.  Amazingly, the most depleted minerals in Lyme patients are often copper, magnesium, selenium and manganese. Copper has all but disappeared from most of our supplements based on faulty interpretation of hair analysis.  One of the most critical minerals for a Lyme patient is iodine – and many supplements don’t have iodine or very low amounts!  Your immune system uses these metals!

They are some of the main constituents of the enzymes (or “bullets”) your immune cells use in the battle against the invaders.  All these minerals, including iodine, are in our Multi-Nutrient supplement.  (It is even a tremendous source of abundant vitamins B12 (in two forms) and B5 that so many doctors recommend.)  If you are not taking a good source of these minerals or vitamins, you might want to consider this (all the extra nutrients in it are a bonus).  It is not required to get rid of illnesses.  It is just a foundational recommendation to consider.

References:

1. Flemming H-C, Wingender J, Griegbe, Mayer C. Physico-chemical properties of biofilms. In: Evans LV, editor. Biofilms: recent advances in their study and control.Amsterdam: Harwood Academic Publishers; 2000. p. 19-34.

2. de Vincente, A., M. Avilès, J. C. Codina, J. J. Borrego, and P. Romero. 1990. Resistance to antibiotics and heavy metals of Pseudomonas aeruginosaPseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from natural waters.J. Appl. Bacteriol. 68:625-632. [PubMed]

3. Hunt, S. 1986. Diversity of biopolymer structure and its potential for ion-binding applications, p. 15-46. InIn H. Eccles and S. Hunt (ed.), Immobilisation of ions by bio-sorption. Ellis Horwood Ltd., West Sussex, United Kingdom.

4. Focus Newsletter, Mar 2009, http://www.allergyresearchgroup.com/Mar-2009-Focus-Newsletter-Biofilms-and-Fibrinolytic-Enzymes-sp-90.html . Accessed 9.24.09

Additional References:

Costerton, J. W., P. S. Stewart, and E. P. Greenberg. 1999. Bacterial biofilms: a common cause of persistent infections. Science 284:1318-1322.

Fergusson, J. E. 1990. The heavy elements: chemistry, environmental impact and health effects. Pergamon Press, New York, N.Y.

Kazy, S. K., P. Sar, S. P. Singh, A. K. Sen, and S. F. D’Souza. 2002. Extracellular polysaccharides of a copper-sensitive and a copper-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosaPseudomonas aeruginosa strain: synthesis, chemical nature and copper binding. World J. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 18:583-588.

Kim, S.-Y., J.-H. Kim, C.-J. Kim, and D.-K. Oh. 1996. Metal adsorption of the polysaccharide produced from Methlobacterium organophilumMethlobacterium organophilum. Biotechnol. Lett. 18:1161-1164.

Lefcort, H., M. Q. Aguon, K. A. Bond, K. R. Chapman, R. Chaquette, J. Clark, P. Kornachuk, B. Z. Lang, and J. C. Martin. 2002. Indirect effects of heavy metals on parasites may cause shifts in snail species compositions. Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 43:34-41.

McLean, R. J., D. Beauchemin, L. Clapham, and T. J. Beveridge. 1990. Metal-binding characteristics of the gamma-glutamyl capsular polymer of Bacillus licheniformisBacillus licheniformis ATCC 9945. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 56:3671-3677.

Nies, D. H., and S. Silver. 1995. Ion efflux systems involved in bacterial metal resistances. J. Ind. Microbiol. 14:186-199.

Nucifora, G., L. Chu, T. K. Misra, and S. Silver. 1989. Cadmium resistance from Staphylococcus aureusStaphylococcus aureus plasmid pI258 cadAcadA gene results from a cadmium-efflux ATPase. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 86:3544-3548.

Outten, F. W., C. E. Outten, and T. O’Halloran. 2000. Metalloregulatory systems at the interface between bacterial metal homeostasis and resistance, p. 145-157. InIn G. Storz and R. Hengge-Aronis (ed.), Bacterial stress responses. ASM Press, Washington, D.C.

Wagner-Döbler, I., H. Lünsdorf, T. Lübbenhüsen, H. F. von Canstein, and Y. Li. 2000. Structure and species composition of mercury-reducing biofilms. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 66:4559-4563.

White, C., and G. M. Gadd. 1998. Accumulation and effects of cadmium on sulphate-reducing bacterial biofilms. Microbiology 144:1407-1415.