Boyd Haley comments on selemnium

[Guest guest]

Sorry about the prior message - don't know what happened. THis

time, though, I thought I'd put the message diretly into the body.

Here it is. I am forwarding this from another list wiht permission.

Ruth

john leon <jjleon1@...> wrote:

All,

A while back, Dr. McCandless posted (on CSB) that Dr. Boyd Haley

recommended

not to give Selenium during chelation days as it binds mercury (thus

preventing excretion). We give Selenium to our boys in drop form and

in

Picmins during chelation days because our boys are low in Selenium.

So,

this

statement peaked my interest and made me wonder if the low urine Hg

output

we see could be caused by giving Selenium during chelation days.

Below

is a

series of emails and responses between Dr Haley and I. He was

gracious

enough to clarify this and I feel that it is important enough to

share

so

everyone can make their own decision on when to administer Selenium.

Dr

Haley is fine with me sharing this information. In addition, I

thought

I

would ask Dr. Haley about the new chelator he is working on. He was

also

nice enough to give me an update which is at the bottom of this

post.

Email exchange on Selenium and Mercury

At 11:14 PM 1/16/06 -0500, you wrote:

Dr. Haley,

I recently saw a post regarding info on selenium and mercury

binding.

The

information indicated that you recommended that selenium NOT be

given

during

chelation days, as it keeps the mercury tied up so it is non-toxic

to

the

body and when we chelate we want the mercury to be available for

removal. So

giving it all the time might slow down mercury excretion.

I think I understand why this is so, but it really caught my

attention

as I

know that many many parents actually give Selenium during chelation

days.

If I am understanding this correctly, then many parents need to know

to

stop

giving Selenium during chelation. Would you mind elaborating on

this?

My

concern is that many parents may not be seeing full mercury excretion

because of what you are indicating. All of the parents I know on the

various

forums have a great deal of respect for you and this could help us

in

our

quest to chelate mercury.

Sincerely, L

From: Boyd E. Haley [ mailto:behaley@...]

> >Sent: Tuesday, January 17, 2006 10:10 AM

> >john leon

> >Subject: Re: Selenium and Chelation of Mercury

,

Selenium, Se2-, binds mercury tighter than DMPS or DMSA. Therefore,

if

both

Se2- and DMSA are in the blood at the same time the Hg2+ will

preferentially

be bound by the Se2- and will not be Hg2+ excreted in the urine and

one

will

end up with a lower excretion reading if they are using urine as the

test

material, which is the normal way it is done. I don't think having

Se2-

in

the blood will do any damage, it may even help to remove the toxic

mercury

from the proteins being inhibited. But it will likely give a lower

urine

mercury reading on a DMPS or DMSA challenge test. HgSe is not rapidly

removed from the body, but it is of very low, if any, toxicity. Boyd

Haley

>At 06:59 PM 1/17/06 -0500, you wrote:

Dr Haley,

Thank you for the response. I am a little confused though. I thought

that if

Selenium bound Mercury during chelation then the Mercury would stay

internal

(instead of being swept) and cause more damage to the CNS. But, if

the

Selenium is rendering the Mercury inactive then I guess it would not

cause

damage, although it would not be excreted.

If the latter is true, then would the mercury leave your system

during

OFF

days of chelation. Can you please elaborate as this may seem like a

small

point, but I assure you it is important for parents to know if they

should

stop giving Selenium during chelation ON days, which is what I

gather

from

this. Not that it is harmful, but that it impedes chelation progress.

Also, may I share your response on the chelation parent forum please?

Leon

From: Boyd E. Haley [ mailto:behaley@...]

>Sent: Wednesday, January 18, 2006 5:46 PM

>john leon

>Subject: RE: Selenium and Chelation of Mercury

,

First, feel free to share whatever I send you to whomever you wish.

I

don't

keep my opinions on mercury chemistry/biochemistry secret from

anyone.

It is well known that mercury miners have very high levels of

mercury

in

their body tissues, levels that would make more normal individuals

quite

sick, yet they appear relatively healthy. It was also determined

that

for

each unit of mercury they retain they also retain an equal unit of

selenium

from their diet. Therefore, they are retaining mercury selenide

(HgSe)

at

high levels and this compound appears not to be toxic because the

typing up

of the Hg2+ with Se2- keeping the Hg2+ from reacting with and

inhibiting

enzymes in the body. This does not mean that it is good to have HgSe

in

the

body and that there are no negative effects from this build up, but

HgSe is

much less toxic than Hg2+.

I don't think that it is known how or if HgSe is excreted by the

body.

It is

probably dependent on where the HgSe forms. If it is formed in the

blood it

might be excreted, but if it is formed in the brain it is likely to

be

there

for a long time. Finally, I don't know the answer as to whether it

is

good

or bad to give selenium on days of chelation, but it seems likely to

me

that

the presence of Se2- in the blood would decrease the binding and

excretion

of mercury in the urine by DMPS or DMSA. However, the presence of

Se2-

in

the blood could increase the fecal excretion of Hg, but I do not

know

of any

study that addresses this issue.

At 09:04 PM 1/19/06 -0500, you wrote:

Dr Haley,

I certainly appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions

about

Se

and Hg. As you are well aware, most of the advanced parents have

tried

many

different forms of chelation and are trying to optimize the best

they

can. I

understand you may be working on a chelator in your the lab. Any

idea

on how

long before it could be used by parents?

The reason I ask is that you are well respected by the parents

(tough

and

sharp crowd as you know). And we look forward to at least hearing

progress

on your development. Anything you can share is great.

L

Dr Haley's progress on his new chelator

,

We have completed the synthesis of a compound that binds mercury

tighter

than anything else that I know of, but it was not soluble in water.

We

have

since coupled it to two glutathione molecules (the natural compound

that

binds mercury) making it soluble in water. We have tested it and it

definitely clears mercury from water based solutions. We now have to

do

the

toxicity testing, and it is difficult to get someone to collaborate

on

this

as most are not interested in mercury chelation. But I will get it

done. It

would then have to be clinically tested to get FDA approval and I

don't

know

how long that would take. Boyd Haley