WHAT is the role of metals in human health? Ten-year-old
Salman had blood cancer. Physicians at the New Delhi-based
All India Institute of Medical Sciences, gave him not more
than three days. In desperation, his parents took to him to an
ayurvedic physician, who administered a concoction containing mercury, arsenic and silver. Salman is reportedly alive and
kicking today.
F J Italia, a scientist living in Hyderabad, was suffering
from multiple sclerosis (ms), an as-yet-incurable immune disorder. Allopathic medicines had completely failed him - he
became almost totally paralysed and needed an attendant for
24 hours. He decided to give ayurvedic treatment a shot. Since
the last five months he has been taking medicines containing
gold, arsenic, mercury and calcium. Now, though still far from
being completely cured, Italia feels cheerful and is reportedly
leading a normal life.
These are just two among several cases that have been
successfully" treated with the ancient Indian healing system
of metal therapy. Evidently, curing cancer and ms with doses
of toxic metals goes beyond the placebo effect or faith healing.
For, in western medicine, metals such as arsenic and mercury
are decidedly poisonous.
Not surprisingly, Vaidya Balendu Prakash, the Dehra
Dun-based ayurvedic physician who claims to have cured cancer and ms patients with his metal recipes, has attracted a lot of
controversy, both here and abroad. Recently doctors in
Australia, warned patients suffering from ms in their
country of the danger inherent in Prakash's metal concoctions
(See: Multiple confusion). Prakash's patients, however, have a
different story to tell. Most of them have expressed great faith
in Prakash's treatment and have apparently benefited significantly from it. The controversy raises important questions
about the role of metals in human health. What is the connection between metals and disease? At what concentrations do
they express their toxic and therapeutic effects? Is modern diet
seriously deficient in these trace metals? Are crops of today less
endowed with these trace metals than those of yesteryears?
The therapeutic powers of metals were a constant fascination for the alchemists of the ancient and mediaeval world.
Chinese and Indian alchemists discovered the healing touch of
metals such as gold, mercury, copper, silver and arsenic. But
with the advent of modern medicine these traditional healing
systems were pushed out. In recent times, however, scientists
and nutritionists have begun to take a closer look at the role
of metals in human health.
Investigations have revealed that out uf the 111 elements,
92 naturally occur with 19 artificial or human-made elements.
Some scientists, however, believe that the majority of these elements are probably the re as contaminants from the environment and not as essential components of human beings.
However, many elements which were hitherto considered
non-essential have in
recent years been reclassified as possibly
essential elements. Over
the last 56 years num-
bers of elements present
in the human body has
gone up from 18 to 81
as a result of increasing
knowledge about the
human body.
Studies have identified 26 elements with
wide distribution in the
human body. The list includes 15 essential (carbon, hydrogen
nitrogen, oxygen, sodium, potassium, calcium, manganese
magnesium, copper, zinc, iron, fluorine, chlorine, cobalt)
6 possibly essential elements (barium, strontium, bromine
chromium, tin, nickel). Five elements in this list (aluminium
lead, cadmium, silver, bismuth) are so far considered
non-essential.
H A Schroeder, author of Trace Elements and Nutrition
some positive and negative aspects, writes that many, if not all
elements could probably be found in traces in the human tisSmall is powerful
sueS it sutticiently sev
tive techniques w4
developed. It is hard
believe that at su
infinitesimal conce
trations, metals
capable of causing
adverse or benefic
effects on health
only 5 atoms of cobalt
for instance, are present
for every billion atoms
in the body. Incredibly
the body can do with so.
little and yet cannot get along with none at all! From 5 atoms
per billion to zero atoms per billion seems such a small step.
Not really, if we look at the mathematical explanation given by
Isaac Asimov, the celebrated science and science fiction writer
(See: Small is powerful).
Deficiency of at least 17 elements is also linked to a variety
of mental diseases and symptoms. Noteworthy examples of
deficient element disorders are: alcoholism and delirium
tremens due to deficiency of magnesium, selenium and zinc,
anorexia nervosa due zinc deficiency, restless legs due to low
iron, homicides and mental disorders due to low lithium con-
tent in drinking water.
Therapeutic use of elements is (or was) made in
dyskinesia (manganese), epilepsy (silver, bromine, lithium),
Grave's disease (lithium), and
schizophrenia (lithium,
zinc). The most important among
these is the use of lithium
salts for the treatment of manic
depressive psychosis and
schizophrenia.
Nobody knows for certain the point
at which a metal turns
benevolent, or malevolent for that
matter. While there have
been several studies on die toxicity
of metals, their beneficial
effects have largely been ignored by
western science. Take, for
instance, the experience of Vaidya
Balendu Prakash, the
ayurvedic physician who claims to
have cured cancer and ms
patients with his metal therapy. The
government sent two
investigating teams in 1983 and
1986, to look into his basis of
treatment. Though they found prima
facie evidence in favour
of Prakash, the Indian scientific
community has done nothing
so far to scientifically analyse his
medicines. For a practitioner
of modern medicine, the idea that an
ad hoc melange of toxic
metals like gold, mercury and
arsenic can cure scourges, such
as cancer, is preposterous.
But the rising popularity of
Prakash's therapies persuaded
a British medical team in 1990, to
visit India and scrutinise his
patients and medicines. However,
though they conceded
that Prakash's medicine was
undoubtedly effective in
controlling blood counts and spleen
size, they believed the
therapeutic benefit of the medicine
was probably due to its
arsenic content.
Furthermore, the team reported that
arsenic is well
documen ,ted to have been used for
just this purpose in the
western world early this century,
mainly in the form of
Fowler's solution until the advent
of radiotherapy in the
1930s. But according to them there
was little to suggest that
the medicines contained any gew,
potentially curative
properties.
Prakash is neither convinced nor
upset by the condemna-
tory tone of the British team's
report. He says that his medicines for treating leukaemia have
processed silver as the active
component, and is designed to
stimulate the growth of healthy
bone marrow while suppressing the
growth of leukaemia. He
believes that western medicine does
not produce drugs with
this biochemical process and that
the beneficial effects of these
medicines cannot be deduced from
western medical research.
into metallic compounds.
Prakash is also not willing to
accept that his medicines
were causing arsenic poisoning, He
thinks the team
reached a conclusion on the basis of
limited clinical evidence,
ignoring the possibility that the
symptoms might have other
clinical explanations. Judging from
the two accounts, there is
clearly a case for investigating the
nature and effect of these
medicine.
The Vaidya's working hypothesis is
derived from Rasayan
Shastra, one of the eight clinical
specialities of ayurveda. It
emphasises the need for metals in
maintaining the equilibrium
of the human body. These are
identified as copper, mercury,
gold, iron, lead, silver, tin and
zinc. Any deficiency, excess or
imbalance in the composition of
these metals leads to various
disorders. Rasayan therapy comprises
a variety of compounds
appropriate to the treatment of the
particular ailment. The
therapy is said to impart longevity
by strengthening the
immune system.
The trouble with metal therapy is
that the extant texts of
Rasayan Shastra are couched in a
metaphorically flowery language that doesn't lend itself to
precise meanings and
interpretations. Secondly, it
takes anywhere between three
months to two years to prepare
the medicines. Consequently,
.most ayurvedic practitioners
abandoned metal therapies in
favour of the less painstaking
herbal therapies," says Prakash.
The government's ambivalent
attitude towards traditional
healing methods has not helped
matters. According to
Prakash, while ayurvedic colleges
churn out graduates who
illegally practise allopathy in
small towns, the ayurvedic
research institutes haven't
produced a single drug of any commercial significance.
'if the us government can set up
an office of alternative
medicine to investigate why more
and more people are
thronging the clinics of
alternative healers, the Indian
government can at least encourage some
cutting edge research in
alternative medicine, can't it?"
asks Prakash.
The problem with alternative
medicine is that a large number of its practitioners are
charlatans, a fact which works
against it, not to forget the
silent, suffering millions
afflicted by
diseases for which modern
medicine has as yet, to come up
with a viable answer. The sad
part is that even when the evidence in favour of claims by
metal therapy practicitioners is
overwhelming, the scientific
community chooses to ignore it,
a stance which only aggravates
the exploitation of gullible
masses by ruthless quacks.
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