Is that MRI leaving behind a trail of toxins?
It’s the vital warning you won’t be seeing.
Gadolinium-based contrast agents used in MRIs pose serious risks to all those who are injected with them — and once this heavy metal is inside of you, it won’t be leaving anytime soon.
You would think something as important as this would be the subject of numerous mainstream media reports.
So far, however, it’s only been making headlines in The Lancet and other medical journals — ones that most patients never get their hands on.
Yet the risk of exposure to a gadolinium-based contrast dye is so severe… beyond any notice that may appear on the box… that you need to know about it well before any doctor sends you off for an MRI.
In fact, that’s not the entire story. We know that it can end up not only in your brain, but also your bones and skin. Even more frightening, clinical biopsies have found gadolinium residues in brain tumors.
And no matter what your doctor or radiologist says, everyone who has a gadolinium-based contrast agent (GBCA) injected into them will retain some amount of it.
That may not be what you’ve been told. Originally, we were assured that the only ones at risk were patients whose failing kidneys wouldn’t be able to excrete all of the dye.
But as you’ve read right here in eAlert, it turns out that your kidneys can be in perfect shape… and GBCAs can still harm you.
Also present at this meeting were two experts who founded The LightHouse Project, a support group and information website for people suffering from gadolinium toxicity.
As they told the FDA committee, and as they’ve noted on their website, these dyes can also result in a list of symptoms that include pain, changes in skin, twitching, eye problems, hair loss, and balance difficulties.
But those aren’t the only things that patients getting an MRI using a GBCA need to worry about.
There’s also the horrific skin disease called nephrogenic system fibrosis — a condition that can make your skin and joints feel and look like wood (which is a very real risk for anyone with kidney problems).
There’s no doubt that gadolinium is toxic. But it’s important to note that the committee’s decision to slap a warning label on the packaging for these GBCAs wasn’t unanimous.
The one “nay”? It actually came from an expert in the field who voted against it because, she said, “people need to know” and what was being proposed not only wasn’t strong enough, but patients would never even see it.
Exactly!
They’re acting as though we’re talking about a bottle of wine you’re about to drink in a fancy restaurant. But when was the last time a nurse or doctor presented you with the packaging for any injection you were about to have coursing through your veins?
It just doesn’t happen!
In stark contrast to our weak-kneed way of addressing this issue, European health authorities confirmed over the summer that they will be banning the use of three brands of GBCAs due to the health risks they pose.
And if you’re wondering why the FDA hasn’t proposed something similar, that’s a very good question — one a lot of people would like to have an answer to.
Obviously, you can’t wait on the FDA to do something, as European regulators did. So, once again, you’ve got to take matters into your own hands with three simple steps:
- Make sure an MRI is really necessary for your situation or that of a loved one. Docs often over-prescribe these tests to avoid being sued.
- If it turns out that you really do need it, find out if the MRI will involve a GBCA (which is called an “enhanced” MRI).
- And if you’re told it will be enhanced, follow the advice of HSI panel member Dr. Allan Spreen… and “adamantly” refuse it.
Remember — you can get an MRI without these dyes, which are only used for the convenience of the doctors, a convenience that comes at a very dear cost.
