Understanding the Environmental Influences of Neurotoxins on Your Brain:

Contaminated (drinking) Water, Part II

by Dr. Pamela Costello MD PC

“The best way to detoxify is to stop putting toxic things into the body and depend upon it’s own mechanisms.”   Andrew Weil, MD

Water is the necessary elixir of life. Safe drinking water is fundamental to healthy living.  It helps maintain body temperature, removes waste from the body, and provides the basic component of all bodily functions, cellular processes, and all body fluids. It is a renewable resource, replenished by rain and melted snow. Overuse, new weather patterns, the toxic byproducts of geoengineering, depleting aquifers, toxic spills, and shrinking glaciers, have all destabilized previously reliable natural water sources.The human body is composed primarily of water, and it requires healthy drinking water to properly flush the kidneys and liver, as well as remove toxins and waste via the colon.Unfortunately, whether from a well or municipal source, most tap water is far from pure. Heavy metals such as lead, arsenic, aluminum, fluoride, radiation, pharmaceutical drugs, toxic halide products (chlorine), and a multitude of other disease-causing toxins, are all found in drinking water.The toxicity of our drinking water spans back millenia. Lead toxicity in water was among the first heavy metals known to ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, and Hebrews. Through the centuries, toxic heavy metals such as lead, mercury, and arsenic were studied, both as to their usefulness in industrial purposes, as well as to their toxicity in water, foods, and medicines. As their use increased, so did the awareness of their poisonous effects on the human body. The concept of illness resulting from bioaccumulation, or long term storage, of even low dose exposures to heavy metal toxins, was described by Paracelsus in the early 16th century. Despite centuries of awareness of disease caused by toxicities in drinking water, we remain without safe water to drink, as poisons such as lead leach into our tap water from unsafe plumbing. There are more than 80 “regulated” contaminants and more unregulated toxins present in most tap water, including silent poisons such as radiation from nuclear arms and energy industries.When we drink tap water, we are actually consuming water that contains a mixture of toxic poisonous chemicals that are rapidly absorbed by our bodies, and stored in our nervous systems and bones. These stored toxic substances (such as fluoride, lead, mercury, arsenic, and aluminum), create a constant stimulation of the brain’s immune system, leading to chronic

brain inflammation and excitotoxicity, which have been linked to abnormal brain development and to neuroinflammatory disorders. Proper water filtration is necessary to create clean, pure drinking water. To be absolute lycertain you are getting the purest water you can, you need to test water with sufficient, biological grade sensitivity, as well as to properly filter water.  Caution is necessary, however, as when radiation toxicity exists; even elaborate sophisticated home systems are inept. Buying commercially filtered water by a conscientious source, not merely the bottled municipal water that most water companies deceptively market as ‘pure’, is critical.Besides adequate water purification, it’s critical to drink  “structured water”, the type of water found in all of your cells. This water has healing properties, and is naturally created as water from deep springs, as structured water is created under pressure.Identifying accumulated or stored neurotoxins, as well as ongoing toxic water sources or exposures, is a critical step toward achieving maximum health and vitality. By cleansing your body and eliminating toxins from your environment, your body and brain can begin to heal itself,prevent disease, and achieve it’s maximum health.

The beverage giants Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have given millions of dollars to nearly 100 prominent health groups in recent years, while simultaneously spending millions to defeat public health legislation that would reduce Americans’ soda intake, according to public health researchers.

The findings, published on Monday in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, document the beverage industry’s deep financial ties to the health community over the past five years, as part of a strategy to silence health critics and gain unlikely allies against soda regulations.

The study’s authors, Michael Siegel, a professor at the Boston University school of public health, and Daniel Aaron, a student at Boston University’s medical school, scoured public records including news releases, newspaper databases, lobbying reports, the medical literature and information released by the beverage giants themselves. While some of the incidents cited in the study already have been reported by news organizations, the medical journal report is the first to take a comprehensive look at the industry’s strategy of donating to health organizations while at the same time lobbying against public health measures. The study tracked industry donations and lobbying spending from 2011 through 2015, at a time when many cities were mulling soda taxes or other regulations to combat obesity.

“We wanted to look at what these companies really stand for,” said Mr. Aaron, the study’s co-author. “And it looks like they are not helping public health at all — in fact they’re opposing it almost across the board, which calls these sponsorships into question.”

Mr. Aaron said that the industry donations created “clear-cut conflicts of interest” for the health groups that accepted them.

The report found a number of instances in which influential health groups accepted beverage industry donations and then backed away from supporting soda taxes or remained noticeably silent about the initiatives.

In one instance cited in the study, the nonprofit group Save the Children, which had actively supported soda tax campaigns in several states, did an about face and withdrew its support in 2010. The group had accepted a $5 million grant from Pepsi and was seeking a major grant from Coke to help pay for its health and education programs for children.

Responding to the new research, Save the Children said, in a statement, that the group in 2010 had decided to focus on early childhood education, and that its decision to stop supporting soda taxes “was unrelated to any corporate support that Save the Children received.”

When New York proposed a ban on extra-large sodas in 2012, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics cited “conflicting research” and didn’t support the effort. The academy accepted $525,000 in donations from Coke in 2012. The following year it took a $350,000 donation from the company.

The academy said it no longer has a sponsorship relationship with the beverage firms.

The N.A.A.C.P. and the Hispanic Federation have publicly opposed anti-soda initiatives despite disproportionately high rates of obesity in black and Hispanic communities. Coke made more than $1 million in donations to the N.A.A.C.P. between 2010 and 2015, and more than $600,000 to the Hispanic Federation between 2012 and 2015. The groups did not respond to requests for comment.

“The beverage industry is using corporate philanthropy to undermine public health measures,” said Kelly D. Brownell, dean of the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke, who was not involved in the new research.

The American Diabetes Association accepted $140,000 from the company between 2012 and 2014. The American Heart Association received more than $400,000 from Coke between 2010 and 2015. And the National Institutes of Health received nearly $2 million from Coke between 2010 and 2014.

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Toxic Tap Water: Part I.

by Pamela Costello, MD PC

“The art of healing comes from nature, not from the physician. Therefore
the physician must start from nature, with an open mind.”
Paracelsus, Father of Toxicology, (1493-1541)

I had the extraordinary privilege of training in Neurosurgery under James Tait Goodrich, MD PhD, one of the world’s leading pediatric neurosurgeons. He taught me a great deal of what I know about childhood neurological disease and it’s surgical repair, as well as honed my writing skills, as we co-authored numerous papers and presentations together. He notably held a second doctorate in medical history, providing me with a very rich training in that area as well.

During our monthly Journal Club meetings, we reviewed scientific articles on various neurosurgical topics. His scope ranged from the biblical to medieval, to Renaissance, to the father of neurosurgery, Harvey Cushing, and to contemporary authors. This invaluable experience with Dr. Goodrich provided me with a deep understanding of the great scientific minds that came before, as well as taught me how to best access their fund of knowledge. In my career as a neuroscientist and neurosurgeon, as well as through access to my own personal collection of historical works, I’ve been provided the unique opportunity to reflect on what came

before modern medicine, including writings on neurotoxins dating back to the Romans.My writings on neurotoxins are therefore not a recent discovery of mine, but rather reflect a life-long study and increasing awareness of the toxicity of our environment on our nervous systems.Our environment dramatically affects our health and, as our air, water, and soil become increasingly polluted, our lifelong exposures to those toxins lead to the bioaccumulation of toxic substances in our tissues. These deadly toxins accumulate in our brains, nervous systems, and bones, damaging cellular processes, tissues and organs, leading to inflammatory and degenerative processes, causing the vast majority of modern day health problems. Understanding the phenomenon of bioaccumulation is critical to achieving your best brain health.The brain and nervous systems are composed by volume largely of negatively charged fat or lipid bearing tissue called Myelin, whose role is to provide the necessary insulation which facilitates electrical conduction through the vastly complex array of neuronal elements. Many environmental toxins are positively charged substances that readily gain entry into our bodies through drinking, cooking, and even bath water. Once these toxins enter our systems, their attraction to our bodies’ fat bearing tissues and Myelin becomes a one way path to tissue storage, bioaccumulation, inflammation and tissue destruction.

Industrial and naturally acquired water neurotoxins include: Mercury, Methane, Nitrogen Oxides, Perchlorate, Persistent Organic Pollutants, Pesticides, Phthalates, Polybrominated/Polychlorinated Biphenyls, Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons, Polyvinyl Chloride, Propane, Solvents, Toluene, Uranium, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), Acetone, Ammonia, Arsenic, Asbestos, Benzene, Bisphenol A (BPA), Cadmium, Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Monoxide, Chlorine, Chlorofluorocarbons, Chromium, Crude Oil, Diesel, Dioxins, Endocrine Disruptors, Ethylene Glycol, Fluoride, Formaldehyde, Gasoline, Lead, radioactivity from atomic bomb/nuclear arms testing and nuclear power plant leaks. (NIH: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences).

What role does contaminated water play in aging you and your brain?
Using only well-established, documented clean water for drinking, cooking, and bathing is the first step in halting the process of bioaccumulation and ongoing exposures. The next step is to have your current toxic burden assessed and a safe individualized treatment protocol developed. Please contact my office at 505-503-8325 to schedule an appointment.