Have you heard about gadolinium toxicity? If you are lucky, probably not. Because gadolinium toxicity is something that has been hidden away from the general public. Why? Because like many faults in other systems, this is a very lucrative problem for a very big industry — big pharma.
And, perhaps this realization could not have come at a worse time. Now, more than ever, people need to trust medicine, doctors, and that with which we are being injected. But, we are not going to be complicit with its silence.
Gadolinium toxicity is a very serious condition affecting thousands of people in the US and all over the world. It is the main metal used for the contrast, a chemical that is injected on people for MRIs’ “visibility.”
“But, gadolinium is one of the most pernicious rare earth metal, it should never be injected into the body.”
Dan Root, Occupational Medicine Specialist 2021
After learning about this condition, Kulture Hub interviewed several people suffering from it, as well as experts, to learn exactly what is going on.
What is gadolinium toxicity?
Gadolinium is a silvery-white metal. Naturally, like mercury or any other metal, these have fatal effects on the body if not administered correctly. However, for years, gadolinium has been used in contrast to MRIs.
Although it is not 100 percent necessary, gadolinium contrast medium jets injected into the patient’s body to improve the quality of the MRI images.
And, even if physicians claim it is “generally very safe,” more than 8,000 people have been affected by it. The symptoms of intoxication include, but are not limited to, brain fogginess, muscle pain, dizziness, balance/coordination issues, and more.
“In fact, I want to use the correct term for this, we’re talking about xenobiotics. And these are heavy metals and synthetic chemicals that are foreign to the body; they should not be in the body.”
Daniel Root, 2021
Daniel Root, an occupational medicine expert, explained that these are chemicals that are not naturally produced nor expected to be in a person’s body. “These toxins are lipophilic,” he said.
And what that means is that livers and kidneys can’t run their normal detoxification process. Thus, these heavy metals wind up becoming sequestered in your fat. “That is when the problem starts.”
When the gadolinium contrast is injected into your body, your blood carries it all over. So, your brain, your muscles, and even your bones are affected by it.
“Oh, gadolinium. Totally medical malpractice. You hear of people dying. They can get something called NSF. It stands for Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis. This means that your organs turn into wood, basically, you die from the inside out. So that’s, that’s a common side effect of gadolinium.”
Erin Shackelfrod, Gad patient 2021
A huge ship to turn
The problem is that despite the vast amount of evidence that gadolinium contrast is affecting many people. Doctors, nurses, and, to no one’s surprise, big pharma industries have not only ignored the issue but invalidated its facts claiming that “the benefits outweigh the loss.”
Taking into consideration that an MRI with contrast costs significantly more than an MRI without contrast, it is not impossible to understand where such claims come from.
Hundreds of people joined Root’s Facebook group; Sauna Detoxication using Niacin, on a weekly basis. A group that largely focuses on providing detoxification programs for gad patients.
Thus, as the cases of gadolinium Toxicity significantly keep increasing, there is more information from outside sources floating around.
“There’s enough literature out there that they should know. The problem is, the medical industry is like a huge ship, that in order to get it to turn, it can take a long time. So, I don’t think most of the radiologists or technicians and nurses have not yet fully realized the damage they’re causing.”
Daniel Root, 2021
People suffering from gadolinium toxicity
In 2017, Gena O’Kelley (Norris), Chuck Norris’ wife, filed a lawsuit against Bracco Imaging, an Italian company that specializes in the Diagnostic Imaging Business. “Norris described a burning sensation, tissue thickening and a foggy mind persisting for years after a series of MRIs.”
After testing her for cancer, the doctors were unable to reach any explanations. She transferred to alternative medicine clinics in China and Reno, Nevada. For 5 months she laid in a bed at the clinic with IV’S. Her treatment revealed high levels of gadolinium remained in her body years after her last MRI.
The lawsuit was later “voluntarily dismissed” and neither party received any type of compensation.
So, you know shit gets real when it even affects Chuck Norris’ wife.
And, unfortunately, she is not the only one suffering the life-lasting effects of gadolinium toxicity. Catherine Laurent, was a member of the Kulture Hub team when all of a sudden she could not even move.
Catherine Laurent
“3 days before the MRI I took a physical and everything came [back] perfect. I was at my best, I used to be anemic and the physical even showed I was cured of that and in one minute, my whole life change”
Catherine Laurent, 2021.
Just hours after her first MRI she knew something was not right. It started with a simple headache that then quickly escalated into brain fogginess, dizziness, and muscle pain.
As the symptoms persisted, and her blood and MRI work showed nothing uncommon, she contacted the medical facility again. After a dance of referrals, from neurologists to physicians, Cat did some research herself.
Finding out about gad poisoning, she contacted the doctor that referred her to the MRI with contrast inquiring about the possibility of having it. To no one’s surprise, “she denied the possibility of being gadolinium toxicity and wanted it to be everything else,” Cat said.
“I feel like my body is rotting. You feel toxic. It starts feeling like the normal flu. But then, your body literally feels like it’s rotting inside.”
Cat Laurent, 2021
And, although she could not help us with video editing due to her condition, she was a substantial lead for this story.
Awareness of the issue
“I would say what has happened is that we’ve had several of our gadolinium group members, the Galilean poisoned group members say that they requested not to get injected and they were talked into it. Most of them have said that they were never shown any of the, you know, the inserts that would have all of the warnings and occlusions. And for the most part, a large group of them had no idea gadolinium was a problem. And so they were never told it was a problem. Which, you know, again, I think it goes to a lack of training on the newest information that’s available.”
Daniel Root, 2021
Like plenty of our issues, this one starts with a lack of awareness. We are not suggesting that doctors and nurses should stop using contrast (although maybe they should), but at least validate the problem by advising their patients about the severity of the possible side effects.
“Nobody ever told me about what side effects could be associated with the MRI. I’ve got all the paperwork that I’ve ever signed anywhere. And nobody ever said, you know, hey, this could happen to you. The neurologist never told me. The imaging place didn’t tell me.”
Erin Shackelfrod, Gad patient 2021
Like many others, Erin went to the ER with an entirely different condition. One that, without a contrasted MRI would have gone unnoticed or without many complications. “I have learned that I have a connective tissue disorder that was pretty much activated because of the MRI,” Erin told us later on.
Coverage of gadolinium toxicity
In the efforts to cover the severity of the problem, many doctors argue that the gadolinium contrast medium only affects those with pre-existing conditions. But, that is not exactly the case.
Like Cat, many healthy patients are affected by the poisoning. One of Daniel’s patients had an MRI with contrast 32 times. Before having them, she enjoyed a healthy life. But now, she has several brain surgeries to recover from.
“Her health went downhill after the first one. And then the gadolinium. A lot of people will get lesions on their brains because the gadolinium will actually settle in their brains. And she had two or three brain surgeries because they told her she had cancer of the brain. And it was Gad the whole time.”
Erin Shackelfrod, Gad patient 2021
Niacin detoxication
O’Kelley’s case leaves a huge precedent and a strong impediment for the issue to be solved. Thus, Root confessed that without a change in standards of care, the issue would probably get worse. Nonetheless, he has hope.
“Because I’m seeing too many people suffering from these injections. They’re finding out about our protocol and contacting me, and I give them hope, you know, and the thing is, is that the program is helping, but I don’t think anybody’s ever going to fully get the gadolinium out of their system.”
Daniel Root, 2021
The program, Get Detoxinated, originally started as a technique used in the clinical environment for 30 years. It was meant to help patients with any heavy metal exposure. In fact, the program treated over 200 responders of 9/11, who inhaled all the smoke and dust during the cleanup of ground zero. Not to mention radiation and Drug Addiction Rehab.
The light at the end of the tunnel
Thus, since gadolinium is a heavy metal, it is something the program helps to pull out. However, since gadolinium toxic material is in the body, you’re never going to be able to get it out 100 percent. Yet, Root promises that the quality of life and health does improve when doing the program more than once.
“The thing about gadolinium is is that and with any toxic material in the body is you’re never going to be able to get it out 100% and any amount of gadolinium in the body is not safe. So it has the ability to cause further problems”
Daniel Root, 2021
Detoxication is a 30-day program, where your body basically sweats all the toxins out. It uses Niacin, a B3 vitamin that induces two actions in the body. First, it opens capillaries, allowing more blood to flow.
But, most importantly, it rebounds lipolysis. Thus, it results in very large liberations of fat-stored toxins to be mobilized and put back into the blood, so that then you can then take that out through the sweat.
“I would say that we’ve got studies that show 30% to 65% of the body burden of certain chemicals and heavy metals can be reduced in a 30-day program. But with gadolinium, my best guess is that we’re only seeing 12% to 15% coming out 30-day program. So, I would recommend doing it more than once.”
Daniel Root, 2021
So how do we trust our institutions but still have good judgement on our own?
What else have we learned this year besides not trusting many, if not most, of our institutions?
The truth is, as revealing as Covid was about the social and racial injustices in most systems, we are far from disintegrating all that big institutions hold away from us, and the medical world is no exception. Turns out that for years, intoxicating people with a metal called gadolinium, something that is injected into your body when you get MRIs.
“I can’t tell you that there’s a large population of patients that have been injected with gadolinium, who are greatly suffering from it. And that is a travesty of science. And I think they need to actually reconsider whether or not it’s actually worth injecting a heavy metal into the body in order for them to be able to read the information. Whereas in most cases, it’s my understanding that the gadolinium is not needed. But it’s usually requested to make the job easier for them to read. I think that no, the gain is not worth the end result.”
Daniel Root, 2021