The Catalytic fire
The Catalytic fire
Heavy metal ions cause a catalytic fire in the body that generates heaps of free radicals and excite the immune system. In the blood this contributes to a build up of plaque and arteriosclerosis - clogged and hardened arteries. In the body it stresses the immune system and increases autoimmune disease likelihood. It causes a general unwell feeling. Gums can become inflamed and ulcers and sores in the digestive system can occur. Dealing with this problem requires more anti-oxidants to soak up these free radicals and given time and/or treatment the heavy metal load can be reduce. Read about the mercury poisoning symptoms.
So what are free radicals?
Free radicals are atoms and molecules with unpaired electrons and this makes these things chemically very reactive. Free radicals will chemically modify other molecules and can damage DNA and protein in the body. Chemistry is about how electrons pair and stack around positive nucleuses. To understand chemistry we must understand the electron.
What is an electron?
Schrodinger with his wave equation for the electron showed that the electron was a wave traveling at the speed of light and somehow, the electron stays in the same place. The electron has negative charge. The path of this wave in free space is like a donut spinning at the speed of light. This donut shape is distorted when positive and negative charges are near by and is attracted by positive charges and repelled by negative charges. A spinning electron ( as a donut shape) is also an electric current and in the same way that an electromagnet works it creates a magnetic field. When there is another electron near by these little magnets stick to each other and thus form pairs of electrons. In atoms and molecules these pairs of electrons exist around and between positive charges and hold molecules together with their electric attractive charges. The magnetic field makes the electrons pair and the electric field charge attracts these pairs to positive charges and repels other negative electron pairs. The sharing of electron pairs by positively charged atoms is why oxygen comes as O2 - two oxygen atoms stuck together. Likewise for Hydrogen as H2 etc...
In essence chemistry is about how electron pairs stack around positive and negative charges.
In chemical reactions this neat arrangement gets messed up and this can be shown by the chemical reaction O2 + H2 -> H2O plus O. This makes water plus a free radical, in this case an Oxygen atom with unpaired electrons.
Living things create lots of free radicals by just living and burning sugars with oxygen. Cigarette smoke is full of free radicals. DNA in its defense from free radicals has created the anti-oxidant to soak up and store the free radical and to make it harmless and available for more chemical reactions. Vitamin C, Folic acid, B Group vitamins etc are all anti-oxidants - free radical collectors. Vitamin C can "steal" free radicals from other vitamins thus recharging the anti-oxidant system. Anti-oxidants when they collect a free radical are acting like batteries and storing energy which can be applied to other chemical reactions or passed onto other anti-oxidants.
What is a Catalyst and how do they work.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalyst Catalysts lower the temperature at which chemical reactions will occur. They are metal based and metal ions (metals that have lost electrons) and provide a positively charged surface which electrons are pulled towards. This action distorts the shape of molecules making it easier for change in molecular structure to occur. This change releases heat and in many cases (not in all reactions) lots of free radicals. There are many reactions in the body which rely on metal ions such as magnesium and zinc as catalysts and in enzymes.
Enzymes also make reactions in the body work and they generally use an approach of releasing energy from other molecules to add energy to reactants to make chemistry work. Example sugar is burnt by enzymes to gain energy to make chemical changes and do work in the body. Enzymes have a structure that focuses energy onto reagents. Magnesium and Zinc are used in over 300 enzyme reactions and excess heavy metal ions like mercury, lead, arsenic and cadmium will interfere with all these enzymes and so the function performed is denied to the body. An example is Mercury ions (as in a salt of mercury) will cause hair loss because hair can no longer be made when there are high levels of mercury ions in the body.
Proteins such as hemoglobin, the red stuff in the blood, chelate (encase in a cup like negative field) metals such as iron ions (positively charged iron atoms) to perform functions such as carry oxygen around the body.
