Mercury poisoning & enteroviruses

[jepps]

1. Any tip for liver protection/treatment (beyond increased Selenium and milk thistle both of which have been of some help);

2. Any reason that supports that ammalgam removal / chelation may be a worthwhile path to try in my specific case (what to watch for, regarding symptoms and response to supplements, for instance)....my hair test is not severe high for mercury or arsenic but just moderate high...is it worthwhile to try a provocation test? (my responses to Selenium, zinc and oxygenation and the progressive onset of my illness are other factors that attract my attention to this field too); and my bottom line is this: enterovirus infection + mercury poisoning + SNPs is a perfect storm that could explain my ME/CFS.

Much appreciated.

S.

@Sinclair, I would not chelate anything, unless the gut is supported, because mercury chelation is very hard for the gut. Supporting the gut also protects your liver and kidneys, because of the enterohepatic circulation. Supporting the gut means support the gut a few months, and then chelate.

Supporting the gut means: probiotics, prebiotics, diet.

 

[Sinclair]

@Sinclair Mercury may be responsible for your inverted CD4/CD8 ratio. The following study was done on workers in a mercury producing plant. These are not the best subjects for these studies as they are probably good excretors - otherwise they would get sick shortly after starting their job (as I did) and leave.

Many Thanks for the study. The immune problem I see more often reported by ME/CFS patients is high CD4 and low CD8, not the inverted ratio I have. And there you have the 'AIDS w/o HIV' thing. And once I discovered a CFS diagnosed patient who was mercury poisoned, and finally recovered saying "mercury might cause an HIV like immune system"...plus my hair test results and my ammalgams, I got interested in this hypothesis. Thanks again for the study which I had not see included in the mercury-immune system chapter of your book.

1 You might like to try artichoke (instead of or in addition to) to see if you helps your liver more than milk thistle. Ox bile may also help. I find 500 mg causes a burning sensation in my stomach so I only take one third of a capsule.

I don't recall noticeable improvements w/artichoke intake, and since I have markers of constant high transferrin saturation (w/o problems in the other iron overload markers) I try to avoid food high in iron. I have not experienced that much with digestive enzymes, but I recall that papaine has helped me in the past, thus I'll give a try to a supplement including both ox bile and papaine, amongst others.

2 My hair test showed only moderate levels of mercury (it was 30 years after I was poisoned)- hair tests only show how much your body is excreting - not the amount in your cells. The most reliable test is a trial of frequent low dose chelation. It sounds like you are pretty sick so you could start with doses as low as 1mg DMPS every 6 hours or 1 mg lipoic acid every 3 hours and see if your symptoms are exacerbated or improved. Either reaction is confirmation that mercury is at least partly responsible for your symptoms. I would never advise taking large doses of chelators for provocation tests - some people have a severe reaction which takes many months to recover from.

Very interesting. Is it not a problem doing a trial of FLDC still having ammalgams in the mouth?

Do you have a problem with high thiol foods? This is also very common in mercury poisoning. You could try excluding them for a couple of weeks to see how you feel.

I recall now that you talk about this in your book but I had forgotten, I will come back there.

What were your responses to zinc and selenium?

Good to Selenium. I had a mild worsening of symptoms when I reduced from 300 to 200. Now when I feel bad I try 400 with benefits. I couldn't make it w/o Selenium supplementation.

The first time I supplemented 15 mg Zinc I experienced such as an euphoric state, high energy recovered that lasted for a day or two. I have been on and off w/ Zinc supplementation (no higher doses that 15 mg), with some benefits but not as noticeable a the first time. My hair test showed high Zinc, but I understand this may be related to supplementation and could, paradoxically mean lack of zinc at the cellular level.

Many thanks for your reply Dave!
S.

 

[Sidereal]

However the ME/CFS doctor I visited is not a believer in it (he recalled a patient that after chelation had lost 25% right kidney function, with no improvements in ME/CFS symptoms)

Chelation is really serious business and if you get it wrong you can get severely and/or permanently worse or even die. What kind of chelation protocol did this patient use, though? If they did something random like infrequent dosing of chelators or high dose IV chelators, I wouldn't be surprised to see such an outcome. Cutler's frequent small dose protocol is the safest one in my opinion. I wouldn't go anywhere near IV chelators or challenge/provocation tests. If you're going to chelate, I'd recommend studying Cutler's books as well as @David Hammond's excellent book carefully.

 

[David Hammond]

@Sinclair You're right - you can't do a trial of chelation until you have had all amalgams removed. Sorry, I thought you had.

It can take a long time for mercury poisoned people to attain normal zinc levels. I supplemented 100 mg a day for three and a half years before my zinc level was high normal.

 

[melamine]

Regarding the spectrum of methylation capacity and its effects, helpful information may also be found here - http://alternativementalhealth.com/articles/pfeiffer.htm

 

[melamine]

Ben Lynch has this to say about testing ones methylation status:

Rudimentary Methods to Understand if You’re Hypomethylated or Hypermethylated

1. Measure blood levels of Histamine. Histamine requires methylation to be processed and broken down. If histamine levels are elevated, you are likely a hypomethylator. If histamine levels are normal, you are a ‘normal’ methylator. If histamine levels are too low, you are a hypermethylator.
2. Take some Niacin in the form of nicotinic acid. Chew 1/10th a tablet of Niacin and then swallow. Niacin utilizes s-adenosylmethionine (SAM) when breaking down. If you flush strongly on 50 mg, you are likely hypomethylated (lack of SAM). If you do not flush much, you are likely a ‘normal methylator’ (balanced SAM). If you do not flush at all, you may be hypermethylated (excessive SAM).
3. Side Effects from Methylfolate: If you are taking methylfolate and experiencing these side effects, then you are likely hypermethylated.

http://mthfr.net/mthfr-and-xyz-cancer-is-it-related/2012/03/12/

 

[aquariusgirl]

hey david. reading your book now & finding it very helpful. ahmo on here described a huge detox after supplementing zinc for a while....I'm guessing that was metals clearing out?

here's my other question...do all these mercury toxic folks have sky high copper or not? you would expect that if they had a big HMs problem right?

,

 

[aquariusgirl]

Ben Lynch has this to say about testing ones methylation status:

Rudimentary Methods to Understand if You’re Hypomethylated or Hypermethylated

1. Measure blood levels of Histamine. Histamine requires methylation to be processed and broken down. If histamine levels are elevated, you are likely a hypomethylator. If histamine levels are normal, you are a ‘normal’ methylator. If histamine levels are too low, you are a hypermethylator.
2. Take some Niacin in the form of nicotinic acid. Chew 1/10th a tablet of Niacin and then swallow. Niacin utilizes s-adenosylmethionine (SAM) when breaking down. If you flush strongly on 50 mg, you are likely hypomethylated (lack of SAM). If you do not flush much, you are likely a ‘normal methylator’ (balanced SAM). If you do not flush at all, you may be hypermethylated (excessive SAM).
3. Side Effects from Methylfolate: If you are taking methylfolate and experiencing these side effects, then you are likely hypermethylated.

http://mthfr.net/mthfr-and-xyz-cancer-is-it-related/2012/03/12/

rich and amy tell us we have a partial methylation block...so how can we be overmethylating.. Confused

 

[Hip]

My hair test shows 2.8 in Mercury (moderate high) and high Arsenic too.

Interestingly enough, arsenic trioxide has been shown to have good antiviral properties against coxsackievirus B infections.

See this very interesting study (full paper here) about the antiviral effects of arsenic trioxide on coxsackievirus B. Arsenic trioxide was able to reduce CVB replication in the brain too (most antivirals cannot cross the blood-brain barrier), which might be very significant in terms of treating CVB-associated ME/CFS.

Arsenic trioxide reduced the amount of enteroviral RNA in mice brains by 97% after just 7 days at a daily dose of 1 mg of arsenic trioxide per kg body weight (this was in an acute coxsackievirus B3 infection).

You can buy arsenic trioxide as a drug (Trisenox); however, the carcinogenic properties of arsenic would be a concern. I provided some analysis of the carcinogenic properties of arsenic in this post.

 

[Johnmac]

I developed kidney disease (glomerulonephritis) during my chelation campaign, and kept chelating.

I beat the kidney disease with diet change & Chinese herbs; I didn't have to stop chelating - in fact I increased dosages a lot.

 

[Hip]

severity of enteroviruses infections might increase when mercury overload is already present in the body, but not so when mercury is added after the enterovirus infection.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21984480

I have been thinking about that research you cited showing that enterovirus infection severity depends on the mercury level present in the body during the acute infection stage (ie, when you first caught the virus), but does not depend on any additional mercury exposure after the acute infection has finished, and the body has entered into the chronic infection stage (the acute phase of enterovirus infections last around 10 days, after which the chronic phase begins if the virus has not been cleared during the acute phase).

This situation with mercury seems similar to the circumstances that Dr Chia discovered regarding the danger of corticosteroids during the acute phase of enterovirus infection: Chia found that if you give immune suppressing corticosteroid drugs (such as prednisone) to the patient during the acute enterovirus infection stage, this was a recipe for triggering ME/CFS.

See this thread:

Corticosteroids (Steroids) Such as Prednisone Given During an Acute Viral Infection May Cause ME/CFS



In other words, it seems that the acute stage of enterovirus infection is a crucial time, and any immune suppressing corticosteroids drugs, if inadvertently given to the patent at this critical time, would appear to prevent the body from properly dealing with the acute enterovirus infection, thus perhaps allowing the infection to insinuate itself more deeply into the body, leading to a chronic infection that is deep-seated, such that the body cannot eradicate.

So this situation with corticosteroids this might help explain the cited mercury and enterovirus research: if there are high levels of mercury in the body at the time the enterovirus was first caught (ie, in the acute infection stage), this might result in a suppressed immune response and thus a more fierce acute infection, thereby allowing the infection to insinuate itself more deeply into the body. So one might speculate that high mercury levels at the time of contracting the enterovirus might conceivably be a factor in triggering ME/CFS.

Having said that, I am not aware of any research showing that mercury levels are higher in ME/CFS patients at the time they first contracted their triggering virus. In fact, I am not aware of any research whatsoever linking high mercury levels with ME/CFS.

The triggering of ME/CFS has been strongly linked pesticide exposure though (specifically to organophosphates,1 2 pyrethroids,1 and organochlorine pesticides.1 2 3 4), but not to mercury exposure.

 

[Sinclair]

@Hip thanks for this insight, very interesting!

 

[David Hammond]

hey david. reading your book now & finding it very helpful. ahmo on here described a huge detox after supplementing zinc for a while....I'm guessing that was metals clearing out?

here's my other question...do all these mercury toxic folks have sky high copper or not? you would expect that if they had a big HMs problem right?

,

Apart from its role in immunity and other functions, zinc is necessary for the synthesis of metallothioneins which are involved in the detoxification of heavy metals - so that could explain ahmo's experience.

Some mercury poisoned people have high copper, but most don't. Most mercury toxic people do have low zinc though.

 

[David Hammond]

@Hip There are a number of ways that mercury can disrupt the HPA axis. Rats were exposed to methylmercury for 6 weeks. At the end of this period, resting cortisol levels were the same as the controls. However, when they forced to swim they could only swim for 7 minutes compared to 180 minutes for the controls. If the poisoned rats were injected with cortisol they could last for 25 minutes. When the cortisol levels of the experimental rats was measured under stress, it was only half the level of the control rats.

In another study researchers looked at trace elements in women with fibromyalgia. While there were some differences, they were still within reported reference levels so the researchers decided they were not significant. One thing they overlooked was that the median blood Hg level in both groups was the same, while the urinary level of Hg in the fibromyalgia group was only one-third that of the control group. This means that those with fibromyalgia were excreting less mercury and it could therefore build up in their organs to the point where it could eventually affect adrenal and thyroid function. This is consistent with the theory proposed by Amy Holmes et al, that autistic children have a reduced ability to excrete mercury. Her group found that while autistic children had a greater exposure to mercury through their mother's dental amalgams and Rhogam injections, they had much lower levels of mercury in their hair.

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15287398009529877

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969707005529

http://ijt.sagepub.com/content/22/4/277.short

 

[Hip]

One thing they overlooked was that the median blood Hg level in both groups was the same, while the urinary level of Hg in the fibromyalgia group was only one-third that of the control group. This means that those with fibromyalgia were excreting less mercury and it could therefore build up in their organs to the point where it could eventually affect adrenal and thyroid function.

Certainly if we look at this from the perspective of the studies mentioned in this earlier post that showed coxsackievirus B can alter the distribution of mercury, and cause mercury build-up in specific organs, this might explain why fibromyalgia patients were excreting less mercury — because a virus might have caused a mercury build-up in specific organs in the body. Coxsackievirus B has been found in fibromyalgia patients.

It would be interesting to see if ME/CFS or fibromyalgia patients had mercury or other heavy metal build-up in their organs in postmortem studies. I stopped eating tuna fish (which contains a lot of methylmercury) after developing ME/CFS, as a precautionary measure.

Though often with virally-triggered ME/CFS, you can be hit with the full ME/CFS symptoms within a timescale of days after the viral infection (this is rapid onset ME/CFS). Or sometimes it can take many months for ME/CFS symptoms to appear after you contracted the virus (this is gradual onset). In the case of the former, this far to quick for any build-up of mercury to occur; but of course the level of mercury at the time of contraction of the virus might be a factor in the virulence of the infection; and a later virally-induced slow build-up of mercury in certain organs might conceivably play some role in the progression of the disease.


By the way, a few years ago, in an article I saw some figures for the amount of mercury that is removed from the body using chelation. I can't remember now which chelators were used, but I was surprised to learn that the amount of mercury removed each day using chelators is only around about double what is naturally removed by the body's own unaided detoxification pathways.

In other words, chelation will not quickly extract all the mercury from the body, but rather only augments the body's natural detoxification processes by a factor of 2.

As you clearly know a lot about this subject, is that roughly correct?



Though it does occur to me that if there is a large mercury build-up in certain organs, as a result of viral infection, perhaps chelation might help detoxify those specific organs at a much faster rate?

 

[David Hammond]

By the way, a few years ago, in an article I saw some figures for the amount of mercury that is removed from the body using chelation. I can't remember now which chelators were used, but I was surprised to learn that the amount of mercury removed each day using chelators is only around about double what is naturally removed by the body's own unaided detoxification pathways.

In other words, chelation will not quickly extract all the mercury from the body, but rather only augments the body's natural detoxification processes by a factor of 2.

As you clearly know a lot about this subject, is that roughly correct?

In one study, there was a 15-fold variation between the lowest and highest excretion rates in mercury poisoned workers taking DMPS which is the best extracellular chelator of mercury (DMSA is better for lead). A single oral dose of 300 mg of DMPS (a very large dose) increased mercury excretion 24-fold over 9 hours in subjects with dental amalgams and 19-fold in those without.

A single oral dose of 2 grams DMSA (not the recommended way to take it) increased urinary excretion by a factor of 2 in those with no occupational exposure, a factor of 3 in mercury exposed workers who were no longer exposed, and a factor of 4 in workers currently exposed to mercury.

Alpha lipoic acid is an intracellular chelator - a study in rats showed an increase in inorganic mercury excretion via the liver and feces of 12 to 37 times (alpha lipoic acid does not increase methylmercury excretion.


Though it does occur to me that if there is a large mercury build-up in certain organs, as a result of viral infection, perhaps chelation might help detoxify those specific organs at a much faster rate?

I am not a chemist, but I would guess that if there is more mercury available in an organ, then the chelator will be attracted to the area of highest concentration and the reaction would proceed more quickly in that region.

 

[Sinclair]

By the way, a few years ago, in an article I saw some figures for the amount of mercury that is removed from the body using chelation. I can't remember now which chelators were used, but I was surprised to learn that the amount of mercury removed each day using chelators is only around about double what is naturally removed by the body's own unaided detoxification pathways.

In other words, chelation will not quickly extract all the mercury from the body, but rather only augments the body's natural detoxification processes by a factor of 2.

As you clearly know a lot about this subject, is that roughly correct?

@Hip,

My intuition is that a factor higher than 2 does apply to ME/CFS patients much of which have impaired detox pathways (the baseline is much lower, I mean).

On the other hand, my understanding is that you cannot chelate while having a weak natural detox system because chelators are toxic in themselves.

So, I am not aware what is the standard here (Cutler, Hammond, Yahoo forum, etc.), but my understanding is this: optimize your natural detox system first, chelate only afterwards.

Where to look for likely weak detox processes (liver, gallbladder and beyond): SNPs links have been claimed by some, flushes might help is claimed by others.

A simplified methylation support protocol (mB12, active folic acid) has been of help in my case.

However, at this point I am close to the conviction that I cannot get further improvements w/o improving my natural detox pathways: I cannot tolerate lamivudine antiviral (tried it for 9 days) and I assume I wouldn't be able to tolerate chelators either.

@David Hammond any insight on this?

Best!

S.

 

[Hip]

In one study, there was a 15-fold variation between the lowest and highest excretion rates in mercury poisoned workers taking DMPS which is the best extracellular chelator of mercury (DMSA is better for lead). A single oral dose of 300 mg of DMPS (a very large dose) increased mercury excretion 24-fold over 9 hours in subjects with dental amalgams and 19-fold in those without.

A single oral dose of 2 grams DMSA (not the recommended way to take it) increased urinary excretion by a factor of 2 in those with no occupational exposure, a factor of 3 in mercury exposed workers who were no longer exposed, and a factor of 4 in workers currently exposed to mercury.

Alpha lipoic acid is an intracellular chelator - a study in rats showed an increase in inorganic mercury excretion via the liver and feces of 12 to 37 times (alpha lipoic acid does not increase methylmercury excretion.

Thanks very much for those detailed figures.

Can I ask, what would be a typical long-term daily dose of mercury chelators like DMSA, DMPS or ALA for those with chronic illnesses? And with such long term daily doses, presumably which will need to be taken daily for months or years, what sort of increases in mercury excretion rate over baseline could you expect to achieve?



I have often taken up 600 mg of alpha lipoic acid in one go without noticing much in the way of symptom exacerbation or improvement. Is that a good indication that I do not have any problems with mercury poisoning? Or at least, since you said earlier that alpha lipoic acid only chelates inorganic mercury, is that a good indication that I do not have any problems with inorganic mercury (like mercuric chloride)? I have no mercury amalgam fillings.



By the way, what do you think of fresh coriander (aka: cilantro, or Chinese parsley) as a means to increase the excretion of mercury from the brain? Dr Yoshiaki Omura worked on this, and his studies are here:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8686573
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8914687

I read that it has to be fresh not dried coriander herb. Dried coriander does not work, suggesting the active substance is within the volatile fat-soluble portion of the coriander plant.

I understand that you need to use coriander in combination with other chelators, because coriander may move mercury out of the brain and CNS into the blood and tissues, but then you need something to pick up this mercury and take it out of the body.

 

[David Hammond]

@Hip,

On the other hand, my understanding is that you cannot chelate while having a weak natural detox system because chelators are toxic in themselves.

So, I am not aware what is the standard here (Cutler, Hammond, Yahoo forum, etc.), but my understanding is this: optimize your natural detox system first, chelate only afterwards.

Where to look for likely weak detox processes (liver, gallbladder and beyond): SNPs links have been claimed by some, flushes might help is claimed by others.

A simplified methylation support protocol (mB12, active folic acid) has been of help in my case.

However, at this point I am close to the conviction that I cannot get further improvements w/o improving my natural detox pathways: I cannot tolerate lamivudine antiviral (tried it for 9 days) and I assume I wouldn't be able to tolerate chelators either.

S.

Actually chelators are less toxic in general than commonly used drugs. The LD50 for DMPS is 22 grams/kg in rats and 8 grams/kg in dogs. The LD50 for aspirin is 1.5 g/kg in rats and 700 mg in dogs.

The main reason mercury is so toxic to life is its affinity for sulfhydryl ligands which are found in DNA, enzymes, proteins and active sites of transporter proteins.The active site of cytochrome P450 contains a heme-iron center with the iron tethered to the protein via a cysteine thiol ligand. This would presumably make it susceptible to Hg poisoning.
The following article shows how mercury affects the expression of many cardiac cytochrome P450 genes. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24472606

Not all detoxification occurs in the liver - many other cells in the body can perform this function. The metabolism of lamivudine is not affected by hepatic impairment http://www.drugs.com/ppa/lamivudine-3tc.html So the fact that you have a problem with lamivudine does not mean you will necessarily have a problem with chelators. Lamivudine is metabolized by phosphorylation while DMPS is oxidized to the disulphide, and excreted by the kidneys.

My point is that chelation can improve liver function itself by removing mercury which causes liver dysfunction. Some people do have problems with chelation, but often I think it is due to not starting low enough and not perservering.

A member of the Yahoo FDC group recently posted his progress report after 6 years of chelation (much longer than the average person requires). Originally he had "tons of food sensitivities, extremely poor recovery from exercise, multiple chemical sensitivity, severe sun sensitivity (this symptom came after I started chelation), extremely low body temps, and a whole host of other symptoms that made it very hard to get through the day. Another point to make is that I’ve had serious symptoms even as a young child such as hot flashes, insomnia, anxiety, serious allergies, asthma, etc..."

His food allergies were so bad he lived on raw milk and kefir for 4 years, eating anything else would make his stomach knot up. "Most of my serious symptoms are GONE. Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, its gone (it was such a nightmare!!!), and I can finally exercise and feel like my body heals and recovers properly. Nearly all of my symptoms are gone. My digestion works good now, that was such an immense pain. Nearly all of my food intolerances are gone. There were years when I couldn’t be out in the sun without two long sleeve shirts and a wide brim hat, otherwise I would get terrible porphyria symptoms, and that is gone as well."

So I think it would be worthwhile for most people with ME to at least give chelation a trial (if they don't have amalgams). An exacerbation or improvement in symptoms is confirmation that mercury is a problem for you.

That said there are a couple of members on phoenix rising (Johnmac and stridor) who started off with chelation and then made further improvements when they added methylation.

 

[David Hammond]

Thanks very much for those detailed figures.

Can I ask, what would be a typical long-term daily dose of mercury chelators like DMSA, DMPS or ALA for those with chronic illnesses? And with such long term daily doses, presumably which will need to be taken daily for months or years, what sort of increases in mercury excretion rate over baseline could you expect to achieve?



I have often taken up 600 mg of alpha lipoic acid in one go without noticing much in the way of symptom exacerbation or improvement. Is that a good indication that I do not have any problems with mercury poisoning? Or at least, since you said earlier that alpha lipoic acid only chelates inorganic mercury, is that a good indication that I do not have any problems with inorganic mercury (like mercuric chloride)? I have no mercury amalgam fillings.



By the way, what do you think of fresh coriander (aka: cilantro, or Chinese parsley) as a means to increase the excretion of mercury from the brain? Dr Yoshiaki Omura worked on this, and his studies are here:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8686573
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8914687

I read that it has to be fresh not dried coriander herb. Dried coriander does not work, suggesting the active substance is within the volatile fat-soluble portion of the coriander plant.

I understand that you need to use coriander in combination with other chelators, because coriander may move mercury out of the brain and CNS into the blood and tissues, but then you need something to pick up this mercury and take it out of the body.

The dose that you begin chelation on depends on the severity of your illness. 12.5 mg of any of the chelators is a
reasonable dose to start with. Some start as low as 3 mg, or even 1 mg every 3 or 6 or 8 hours depending on the half life of the chelator. The reason for dosing continuously at a period equal to or less than the half life is to maintain a constant level of the chelator in the bloodstream. This helps keep side effects to a minimum and reduces redistribution.If you feel neither better or worse after 2 or 3 rounds you can double the dose and try a couple more rounds ( 3 days minimum). Once you find the dose that you can tolerate without too many side effects you stay on it for a few months. The maximum doses for chelators depend on your own tolerance, but generally 200 to 300 mg for ALA, 125 mg for DMSA and 30 to 50 mg for DMPS (mainly because it is expensive - I have used 135 mg DMPS).

Few people who chelate measure the change in excretion once they start chelation. ALA increases excretion is mainly via the liver, while DMSA and DMPS increase renal excretion and tests are expensive. The best way to monitor progress is through your symptoms. There have been no sudden improvements in my health over almost 5 years of chelation (the average person needs to chelate for 2 to 3 years). Gradually the side effects of chelating at a certain dose have decreased and if I look back over 3 to 6 months I can see I have improved.

The fact that you took 600 mg ALA in one go without noticeable side effects does not rule out the possibility of mercury poisoning. This produces a sharp spike in blood ALA which drops quickly and there is not enough time to draw the mercury out of the organelles in the cells such as the mitochondria. Also, for some who take ALA once a day, the negative effects may not occur until they have been taking it for several months. And as you say, ALA does not chelate inorganic mercury. However, over time methylmercury is oxidized to inorganic mercury.

Coriander does seem to chelate mercury, however there are many reports on the Yahoo FDC group by members who have had severe reactions to coriander which took many months of frequent low dose chelation to recover from. These adverse reactions included "burning brain". I haven't tried it myself but I have read that it must be taken with chlorella to prevent redistribution to the brain. Many people also have problems with chlorella. So while I am generally a person who feels that "natural" is better, in the case of chelation, I would stick with DMPS, DMSA and ALA until some better studies have been done on how to safely use coriander and chlorella in mercury poisoning.