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On 07/22/97 Jao Paolo said: It is hard for me understand how this mineral clay(bentonite) would indeed function on ours bodies as a desentoxing agent. > >This is a important issue as long many researchers as you well know >consider some heavy mineral absorption by the brain as one of the >culprits for neuro deseases such as PD and others. The practice of eating clay, for any purpose, reminds me of the form of geophagia (dirt-eating) that is called Pica. It was a common practice based on traditional folklore, and probably hunger, in some areas of the US in days past, for pregnant women to eat the local dirt which had a clay-like consistancy. Aside from being a problem leading to malnutrition, it always seemed to me it could be a source of fecaliths (i.e. human versions of a hairball.) Given a choice between eating clay and an FDA approved standard medical practice in use since the 1940's, I'd rather put my money on the latter. Today, the current and approved therapy for removing excess or toxic metals from the body is chelation therapy using the intravenous administration of EDTA,(Ethylene Diamine Tetra-acetic Acid.) The treatment involves a course of some 20-50 intravenous infusions that must be supervised by a MD or OD. Excess metals are literally grabbed (Chelate refers to "crab-like") and flushed from the body via the kidneys. The number of injections is largely determined by the severity of the problem, and by the need to prevent damaging the kidneys with too large a load of metals at a time. In addition to being the therapy of choice for removing metals like lead from children to prevent brain damage, it is frequently used to treat diseases of the blood vessels. It is an efficient arterial plaque remover. For those with PD, it is its ability to help prevent the free radical formation in the brain that is now believed to play such a destructive role in the development of PD and other diseases of aging. An excellent on-line source for information about the use of EDTA can be found at the website of the Environmental and Preventative Health Center of Atlanta at http://www.envprevhealthctratl.com/chelther.htm Martha Rohrer [log in to unmask]