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Alexa Fleckenstein M.D.

Blog: On Health. On Writing. On Life. On Everything.

Signs and Symptoms of Arsenic Poisoning

October 4, 2016
Tags: water, herbs, Movement, food, order, abdominal discomfort, abdominal pain, Aches and Pains, acrocyanosis, acute respiratory failure, acute tubular necrosis, adult respiratory distress syndrome, agitation, Aldrich-Mees's lines, alopecia, altered mental status, anemia, anemia – aplastic, anhidrosis, anorexia, anxiety, aplastic anemia, arrhythmia, arsenic, ascites, ataxia, atherosclerotic disease, autonomic neuropathy, basal cell carcinoma, basophilic stippling, birth defects, blackfoot disease – black, mummified dry gangrene, bladder cancer, blood in urine, bone marrow suppression, Bowen disease, brittle nails, bronchitis, bronchospasms (inhaled arsenic), burning in mouth/esophagus/stomach/bowel, cancer – lung/liver/kidney/bladder/skin/colon/larynx/lymphoid system, capillary dilation with fluid leakage and third spacing, cardiac arrhythmias, cardiac arrest, cardiomyopathy, carotid atherosclerosis, cerebral infarction, cerebrovascular disease, chills, cholangitis, cholecystitis, chronic lower respiratory diseases, cilantro, cirrhosis, clear skin lesions suddenly from such as acne, CNS depression, colitis, colon cancer, coma, concentration – poor, confabulation, confusion, congestive heart failure, conjunctivitis, convulsions, coordination difficulties, corneal necrosis, corneal ulcerations, cough with/without expectoration, cramps, cramping muscles, cyanosis of the fingers, death, dehydration, delirium, depression, dermatitis, dermatitis - allergic-type, dermatitis – exfoliative, desquamation of skin, Diabetes, diarrhea - often severe and/or bloody, disordered thinking, disorientation, disseminated intravascular coagulation, drinking water, drowsiness, dyspnea (when inhaled), dysphagia, eczema, edema – non-pitting of hand and feet, EKG changes: ST changes/QT prolonged/torsades de pointes/T wave inversion, encephalopathy – acute, enzyme inhibition, esophagitis, eyes blood-shot, eyes burning, facial edema, fatigue, fatty liver, fever – low grade, fibrillation – ventricular, fingernail pigmentation, fingernails with white marks, fluid loss, flushing, folate, folic acid deficiency, gallbladder inflammation, gangrene of limbs, garlic, garlic-smelling breath or body fluids, gastritis, gastro-intestinal bleeding, generalized muscle aches and body pains, gingivitis, global trade, goiter, Guillain-Barré syndrome – resembling, hair loss, hallucinations, headaches, hearing loss, heart disease, heavy metals, hematuria, hemoglobinuria, hemolysis, hepatomegaly, herpes, hormone imbalance, hyperesthesia, hyperpigmentation of nails and skin, hyperpyrexia, hyperkeratosis - thickening of the skin of the palms and soles, hypersalivation, hypertension, hypertension-related cardiovascular disease, hypopigmentation – “raindrop” areas of lost skin color, hypotension, hypovolemia, imbalance, immune functioning impaired, immune suppression, impaired healing, inhibition of sulfhydryl enzymes – garlicky odor to breath/stool, insomnia, irritability, ischemic heart disease, jaundice, karyorrhexis, keratosis, kidney cancer, kidney damage, kidney failure, Korsakoff’s psychosis, lack of appetite, Landry-Guillain-Barré syndrome – resembling, larynx cancer, laryngitis, leg cramps, lens opacity, lethargy, leukemia???, leukocyturia, leukonychia striata, leukopenia, lightheadedness, listlessness, liver cancer, liver - central necrosis, liver congestion, liver dysfunction and elevated liver enzymes, liver - fatty degeneration, low grade fever, lung cancer, lung - chronic restrictive/obstructive disease, lungs - inflammation of respiratory mucosa, lung irritation, lymphoma???, major depression – mimicking, malabsorption, malaise, medicinal herbs, Mees's lines, melanosis of the eyelids/areolae of nipples/neck, memory loss, memory – poor, mental retardation, mental status altered, metallic taste in mouth, methionine, microcirculation abnormalities, mitochondrial dysfunction, movement disturbances, muscle aches, muscle fasciculations, muscle tenderness, muscle twitching, muscle wasting, muscle weakness, muttering, myocardial depression, myocarditis, nasal mucosa irritation (when inhaled), nasal septum perforation, nausea, neuralgia, neuritis, night blindness, nightmares, numbness, oliguria, oral burns (acute, when taken by mouth), pancreatitis, paralysis, paranoia, paresthesia – symmetrical, stocking-glove, pedal edema, pericarditis, peripheral neuritis, peripheral neuropathy, peripheral vascular insufficiency, personality change, pigmentation changes – hypo and hyper, pins and needles in hands and feet, pneumonia, bronchial pneumonia, polyneuritis, portal fibrosis, proteinuria, psychosis, pulmonary edema, pulmonary insufficiency (emphysematous lesions), pulse – irregular, QT prolonged, quadriplegia, Raynaud’s syndrome, renal cortical necrosis, respiratory failure – acute, respiratory muscle insufficiency, respiratory tract infection, rhabdomyolysis, rhino-pharyngo-laryngitis, rice, rouleaux formation of red blood cells, salivation excessive, sauna, seizures, selenium, sensorimotor peripheral axonal neuropathy, sensory changes, shock, Signs and Symptoms of Arsenic Poisoning, singing, skin bronzed, Skin Cancer, skin lesions and rashes including vesiculation, skin pallor, sleep, sore throat, spasms, splenomegaly, squamous cell carcinoma, ST changes, stomach pain, stomatitis, stroke, stupor, suicidal ideation, swallowing difficulty, sweating, sweating – excessive, sweet metallic taste, tachycardia, tea, throat constriction, thirst, thrombocytopenia, tingling, torsades de pointes, tracheobronchitis, tremor, tubular necrosis – acute, T wave inversion, unsteady gait, uremia, vasodilation, vasospasm, vegetables, vertigo, visual hallucinations, vitamin A deficiency, vitamin B12, vitamin C, vitiligo, vomiting, vomiting blood, weakness of distal muscles – hands and feet, Weight Loss, well, wobbliness, zinc
Most arsenic poisoning is chronic: Through global trade, we are ingesting more and more arsenic-contaminated products – mainly rice, tea, medicinal herbs. Acute arsenic poisoning usually is accidental or occupational (mainly workers in pest control, electronics manufacturing industry and pressure-treated carpentry). Few are homi- or suicidal. Earlier this year I have been diagnosed with arsenic-induced ataxia. Ataxia means imbalance, wobbliness. For me, I am glad that I have “just” ataxia, and not more. The list below contains Latin as well a common names to make it easier to find things. Here is the short of what I have been doing to reduce my arsenic levels: 1. Stop using tainted products; look for safer sources. 2. Sauna as often as possible to sweat out heavy metals. Sweating through exercise and summer heat also helps. 3. Eating fresh garlic and cilantro bind and expel heavy metals 4. Vitamin C, selenium, vitamin B12, zinc, folate and methionine add to the elimination of arsenic. 5. And, of course, all the other lifestyle goodies: A healthy diet heavy on vegetables. Movement. Enough sleep. Plenty of water (some areas of the US have arsenic-contaminated drinking water from wells – careful!). Signs and Symptoms The myriad manifestations of arsenic intoxication do a roller coaster through all medical specialties, it seems. Since there are so many overlapping features with many diseases, it will take an open mind and special alertness to make a diagnosis. Just to show the enormous scope of signs and symptoms, I have thrown together acute and chronic arsenic intoxication. The list is not thought for diagnosing yourself - consult your physician. Here is the list: Abdominal discomfort Abdominal pain aches and pains Acrocyanosis Acute respiratory failure Acute tubular necrosis Adult respiratory distress syndrome Agitation Alopecia Altered mental status Anemia Anemia, aplastic Anhidrosis Anorexia Anxiety Aplastic anemia Arrhythmias Ascites Ataxia Atherosclerotic disease Autonomic neuropathy: unstable blood pressure, anhidrosis, sweating, flushing Basal cell carcinomas Basophilic stippling Birth defects, Blackfoot disease – black, mummified dry gangrene Bladder cancer Blood in the urine Bone marrow suppression Bowen disease Brittle Nails Bronchitis Bronchospams (inhaled arsenic) Burning in mouth/esophagus/stomach/bowel Cancer – lung, liver, kidney, bladder, skin, colon, larynx, lymphoid system Capillary dilation with fluid leakage and third spacing Cardiac arrhythmias Cardiac arrest Cardiomyopathy Carotid atherosclerosis Cerebral infarction Cerebrovascular diseases Chills Cholangitis Cholecystitis Chronic lower respiratory diseases Cirrhosis Clear skin lesions such as acne CNS depression Colitis Colon cancer Coma Concentration - poor Confabulation Confusion Congestive heart failure Conjunctivitis Convulsions Coordination difficulties Corneal necrosis Corneal ulcerations Cough with/without expectoration Cramps, cramping muscles Cyanosis of the fingers Death Dehydration Delirium Depression Dermatitis Dermatitis allergic-type Dermatitis, exfoliative Desquamation of skin Diabetes Diarrhea, often severe and/or bloody Disordered thinking Disorientation Disseminated intravascular coagulation Drowsiness Dyspnea (when inhaled) Dysphagia Eczema Edema – non-pitting of hand and feet EKG changes: ST changes, QT prolonged, Torsades de pointes, T wave inversion Encephalopathy, acute Enzyme inhibition Esophagitis Eyes blood-shot Eyes burning Facial edema Fatigue Fatty liver Fever - lowgrade Fibrillation, ventricular Fingernail pigmentation Fingernails with white marks Fluid loss Flushing Folic acid deficiency Gallbladder inflammation Gangrene of limbs Garlic-smelling breath or body fluids Gastritis Gastro-intestinal bleeding Generalized muscle aches and body pains Gingivitis Goiter Guillain-Barre syndrome - resembling Hair loss Hallucinations Headaches Hearing loss Heart disease Hematuria Hemoglobinuria Hemolysis Hepatomegaly Herpes Hormone imbalance Hyperesthesia Hyperpigmentation of the nails and skin Hyperpyrexia Hyperkeratosis thickening of the skin of the palms and soles Hypersalivation Hypertension Hypertension-related cardiovascular disease Hypopigmentation – “raindrop” areas of lost skin color Hypotension Hypovolemia Immune functioning impaired Immune suppression Impaired healing Inhibition of sulfhydryl enzymes – garlicky odor to breath/stool Insomnia Irritability Ischemic heart disease Jaundice Karyorrhexis Keratosis Kidney cancer Kidney damage Kidney failure Korsakoff’s psychosis Lack of appetite Landry-Guillain-Barré syndrome - resembling Larynx cancer Laryngitis Leg cramps Lens opacity Lethargy Leukemia??? Leukocyturia Leukonychia striata Leukopenia Lightheadedness Listlessness Liver cancer Liver: central necrosis Liver congestion Liver dysfunction and elevated liver enzymes Liver: fatty degeneration Low grade fever Lung cancer Lung: Chronic restrictive/obstructive diseases Lungs: Inflammation of respiratory mucosa Lung irritation Lymphoma??? Major depression – mimicking Malabsorption Malaise Mees's lines, or Aldrich-Mees's Melanosis of the eyelids, areolae of nipples, and neck Memory loss Memory – poor Mental retardation Mental status altered Metallic taste in mouth Microcirculation abnormalities Mitochondrial dysfunction Movement disturbances Muscle aches, spasms, weakness Muscle fasciculations Muscle tenderness Muscle twitching Muscle wasting Muttering Myocardial depression Myocarditis Nasal mucosa irritation (when inhaled) Nasal septum perforation Nausea Neuralgia Neuritis Night blindness Nightmares Numbness Oliguria Oral burns (acute, when taken by mouth) Pancreatitis Paralysis Paranoia Paresthesia – symmetrical, stocking-glove Pedal edema Pericarditis Peripheral neuritis Peripheral neuropathy Peripheral vascular insufficiency Personality change Pigmentation changes – hypo and hyper Pins and needles in hands and feet Pneumonia, bronchial Polyneuritis Portal fibrosis Proteinuria Psychosis Pulmonary edema Pulmonary insufficiency (emphysematous lesions) Pulse – irregular Quadriplegia Raynaud’s Syndrome Renal cortical necrosis Respiratory failure, acute Respiratory muscle insufficiency Respiratory tract infection Rhabdomyolysis Rhino-pharyngo-laryngitis Rouleaux formation of red blood cells Salivation excessive Seizures Sensorimotor peripheral axonal neuropathy Sensory changes Shock Singing Skin bronzed Skin cancer Skin lesions and rashes, including vesiculation Skin pallor Sore throat Splenomegaly Squamous cell carcinoma Stomach pain Stomatitis Stroke Stupor Suicidal Swallowing difficulty Sweating, excessive Sweet metallic taste Tachycardia Throat constriction Thirst Thrombocytopenia Tingling Tracheobronchitis Tremor Tubular necrosis, acute Unsteady gait Uremia Vasodilation Vasospasm Vertigo Visual hallucinations Vitamin A deficiency Vitiligo Vomiting Vomiting blood Weakness of distal muscles – hands and feet Weight loss Read More 
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How You Can Tell That Your Body Is Inflamed? The Fleckenstein Finger Diagnosis (FFD):

September 23, 2015
Tags: order, food, water, Movement, aging, air, allergy, Alzheimer’s, American, antibiotic, anxiety, arthritis, asthma, autoimmune disease, bronchitis - chronic, cancer, Chronic disease, chronic pain, COPD, dairy, dehydration, Dementia, depression, Diabetes, do-it-yourself, drug – medical, drug - recreational, earlobe diagnosis, eczema, environment, Europe, finger diagnosis, finger nail, fingertips, Fleckenstein Finger Diagnosis - FFD, gastritis, Genetics, gluten, halo, hand, Heartburn, heart disease, high blood pressure, How Can You Tell That Your Body Is Inflamed? The Fleckenstein Finger Diagnosis (FFD), hypertension, inflammation, job - unfulfilling, Kneipp – Sebastian (1821-1897), lifestyle, longevity, microbiome, model, nail bed, nuts, obesity, observation, osteoporosis, overweight, pantry, pathology, pollution, pre-diabetes, relationship, skin disease, soil, stress, stroke, sugar, swelling, tongue diagnosis, toxin, Traditional Chinese Medicine, un-health, vitamin D deficiency, walking
Inflammation lies at the bottom of chronic disease - diabetes, high blood pressure, arthritis, some forms of depression and anxiety, heart disease, stroke, COPD (chronic bronchitis), osteoporosis, certain cancers, chronic pain, autoimmune diseases, Alzheimer’s and other dementias, allergies, asthma, eczema and other skin diseases, heartburn, gastritis – and so many more. Yes, often you would not get these diseases if you didn’t have the right (or wrong) genes. But let’s face it: Most of us carry the genes for those diseases. All we need is a bad lifestyle to trigger chronic ailments. All of which make your life miserable. Of course, the main reason for the development of chronic diseases is that we are reaching older age than we used to – we have more time to hatch illness. But it is not that old age automatically renders you invalid and decrepit. One can have a healthy old age! But it takes some luck, and some effort. So what are the habits that trigger chronic inflammation and chronic diseases? The usual – and well-known - culprits: Inappropriate diet, too little movement (or too much!), environmental pollution of water, air and soil, psychological stress, unhappy relationships, unfulfilling jobs, drugs (medical and recreational), deficient water intake, unnecessary drugs, overweight and obesity, vitamin D deficiency, unnecessary antibiotics that kill the natural microbiome in our guts and on our skin. Another list that could go on and on. How do you tell that inflammation is damaging your body? Well, if you already have a chronic disease - that is the proof of the pudding. But If you are at the stage before a doctor runs some tests and finally makes the diagnosis – if you are in the pre-stages of disease – you might inspect your fingers for the telltale signs of inflammation: a red halo around the root of the nail, at the area of the nail bed. That halo can be thin and faint, and it can be thick and swollen. In some patients, the redness goes up half their digits, or higher. It is an early sign of inflammation, and one doctors usually don’t know about. In fact, I didn’t learn this in medical school – I observed it in my patients. The beauty of it? If you clean up your act, the halos get smaller and paler – you see within a few days that you are on the way to improvement. Especially if you leave out some offending allergenic food – the most common guilty parties here are dairy, gluten, nuts, sugar. Why is it that your fingertips can tell me the state of your health, the degree of inflammation? Traditional Chinese Medicine uses the tongue to tell about illness and well-being. My favorite European teacher Sebastian Kneipp used to base his diagnoses and prognoses on the shape and color of the earlobes; he must have come to it by simple observation, just as I did. The tongue, the earlobes, the fingertips – why those? Mainly because they are easily visible. For sure, if your body is riddled with inflammation, you will have signs of it in nearly all your inner organs. But the inner organs are hidden from direct inspection. For evaluating the tongue, I’d have to ask the patient to open her mouth. Earlobes and fingers are there for the looking. – Your fingers and nails can tell the doctor much more about your health (or un-health). But the FFD is easy for lay people. Let me tell you right away that I don’t yet know if only food allergies can trigger the redness of the fingers, or if other toxins or pathology processes do it too. I would think so. But there has been no study yet, just quiet observation on my patients. What I like about the Fleckenstein Finger Diagnosis (FFD): It is a do-it-yourself tool. You don’t need me to tell you something is wrong. You just need to look down on your fingertips. And if you see a reddish halo: Get up from your chair, and do something for your health: Go for a walk, and clean out your pantry! Read More 
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Today is National Celiac Day!

September 13, 2014
Tags: food, order, agriculture, antinutrient, arthritis, autoimmune disease, Bread, bulking up, cancer, Celiac, Davis - William (born ???), depression, Diabetes, diet, disease, earth, Fall, Fifties, foraging, fruit, gluten, gluten intolerance, grain, grass, greens, grub, gut, harvest, heart disease, humans, intestine, Jew, kamut, kernel, leaky gut, lectin, mammoth, medieval times, misery, Niemöller - Martin (1892-1984), nut, obesity, our daily bread, overpopulation, poem, progress, rabbit, root, seasonal, seed, selection, Sixties, Socialist, sowing, spelt, straw, Today is National Celiac Day!, Trade Unionist, wheat, Wheat Belly
For some reason – and, please, bear with me – the first thought to my mind is the famous poem by Martin Niemöller (1892-1984): First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me. So, what is the connection? First, there were the celiacs – people who could not tolerate wheat because of the gluten it contains. They were the fringe of the movement, so to speak, and not many people who were not afflicted took the sufferings of the gluten-intolerant very serious. But now, about twenty years later, it has become clear that most people do better without wheat in their diet – not least, because the book “Wheat Belly” by William Davis has opened the eyes to the damages grains can wreak in the body. Wheat contains gluten, and for some people – the celiacs - this gluten acts like a poison, destroying first the gut, and then nearly every other organ: arthritis, depression, cancer, and so on are related to gluten intolerance. But wheat – like every other grain or seed or nut – also contains lectins. The other name for lectins are “antinutrients” – which gives you the idea that they might not be healthy for you. They are not. Lectins inflame the intestines, similar like gluten does in celiacs – only less so. But in the long run, the wreak havoc anyway. Sometimes lectins are described as ripping little holes in the lining of the bowels, which is a bit of a simple explanation and not quite right, but good enough if you want to understand why lectins are not good for you. Having a “leaky gut” as a consequence of gluten and lectins sets you up for many diseases – the most spectacular is obesity – hence the “wheat belly”. Why are there lectins in grains and seeds and nuts? Because plants don’t want their next generation to perish – they want their seeds to grow into new plants. Like animals, plants don't want to be eaten. Lectins defend the seeds by making them harder to digest. “Our Daily Bread” has made it possible to populate the Earth (overpopulate!), but it has come with a price: Disease and misery. Our original foods were greens and roots and fruit (in season only) and some nuts in the fall, and a rabbit or a mammoth, but at daily foraging grubs were more likely. Human ingeniousness discovered that one could sow and harvest the seeds of grasses. Selection made the tiny grass seeds bigger, and made agriculture and “progress” possible. In the last fifty years, we even drastically improved on the wheat plant: shortening the stalks (straw is unnecessary) and bulking up the kernel (mostly by increasing the gluten fraction) – our wheat is nothing what it was in medieval times or earlier. Not even like anything in the Fifties or Sixties! Spelt and kamut had much less gluten than our modern “improved” varieties. Spelt and kamut also caused less disease. First, a few unlucky people suffered from gluten intolerance. Now it has become widespread. Surprised? No. But it reminded me of the Niemöller poem. Read More 
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