There’s that jolt of anxiety you feel when your doctor tells you he needs to order an MRI scan. That there may be something wrong.
The next thing you know, you’re being rolled into a machine that looks and feels like a coffin – sometimes for an hour or more.
When you’re getting an MRI, you can’t wait to be done with it.
But if your doctor orders an “enhanced MRI” – one where a contrasting agent is injected into your bloodstream to produce clearer images – that MRI may never be done with you.
Because that contrasting agent may contain a powerful dose of gadolinium – a poisonous metal that’s hanging around in our bodies for longer than we’ve ever been told.
Three new studies have produced disturbing evidence that dangerous levels of gadolinium are pooling in our bones and even our brains. And unless you take charge at your next MRI, you could be setting yourself up for a lifetime of organ damage.
Maybe even cancer.
A ticking time bomb
For years, mainstream doctors and radiologists have claimed that MRI contrasting agents are harmless dyes – and that we naturally pass them from our bodies in a day or two.
But when it comes to gadolinium, which is used for many of the 10 million enhanced MRIs Americans get every year, that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Gadolinium is a highly toxic substance that’s used to manufacture computer components and you’ll even find it in certain types of nuclear reactors. In fact, gadolinium is so deadly that years ago scientists had to find a way to use it inside our bodies without immediately poisoning us.
So they bounded it to another molecule and figured our kidneys would remove the gadolinium before the bond broke and it became toxic again.
That concept sure looked good on paper — but not so much in real life.
The first alarm bells were sounded nine years ago. One of these contrasting agents, Omniscan, made by GE Healthcare, was linked to a horrific condition called nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF).
NSF is a potentially deadly condition that causes a hardening and thickening of your skin, joints, and internal organs – including your heart and lungs. Patients with kidney problems were getting NSF in droves because they couldn’t clear the gadolinium fast enough – and the FDA even slapped Omniscan with a black box warning for people with kidney disease.
Case closed, right? Not exactly.
Top radiologists from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Ohio State recently analyzed three studies and found convincing evidence that gadolinium was accumulating in the bodies, including the brain tissue, of healthy patients with perfect kidneys.
And the more enhanced MRIs you have, the greater the danger.
One of those researchers, Dr. Emanuel Kanal from the University of Pittsburgh, said he’s convinced that every single patient who gets an enhanced MRI with gadolinium has the potential to retain the substance.
And that’s incredibly dangerous, because what we know so far about the long-term risks of gadolinium exposure is frightening. A study six years ago found that a contrasting agent containing gadolinium promoted cancer cell growth. Another study found gadolinium deposits in seven brain tumor biopsies.
“I am hopeful that sometime soon the FDA and key members of the medical industry will recognize that gadolinium retention… poses a risk for all exposed patients,” said Sharon, a gadolinium victim who started one of the support groups for people who have been poisoned by the substance. “All patients affected by gadolinium toxicity deserve to be properly diagnosed and given appropriate medical treatment.”
If you’re worried that you’ve been exposed to this toxic metal – or that you’re about to be – here are some things that Dr. Kanal and other experts say you should do:
• If you’ve had recent enhanced MRIs, call your radiologist and find out which contrasting agents were used. If Omniscan and Magnevist (the two most common containing gadolinium) were given to you, schedule a follow-up appointment with your doctor, especially if you haven’t been feeling well.
• Before agreeing to an enhanced MRI – or any other kind for that matter – ask whether it’s really necessary and what your doctor is hoping to learn. Many times MRIs are ordered by doctors looking to reduce liability in the event of a lawsuit. And years ago, a Canadian study found that half of all back MRIs ordered were medically unnecessary.
• And if you think you may already have been harmed by gadolinium, or just want more information, check out a website called “The Lighthouse Project” by clicking here.
Sources:
“Left in the brain: Potentially toxic residue from MRI drugs” Jeff Gerth, June 11, 2015, ProPublica, propublica.org
“The Lighthouse Project” gadoliniumtoxicity.com