Heavy Metal Hair!
January 8, 2010 8:08 AM Subscribe
Testing hair for heavy metals and minerals. Is this some kind of quackery or does it actually mean something?
The chiropractor I go to wants to do a hair analysis on me to see if I have excess or too little of minerals and metals in my body. She wants to do this because I have an autoimmune disease and am sick a lot and she says she feels that my "system" is stuck (my therapist also recommended hair analysis).
She thinks the hair analysis will reveal what is making me sick and then I can change my diet to add or remove those things from my body to get my "system" to flow and then I'll be more healthy.
So, I know that hair can be used for drug testing, but can hair also be tested for metals and minerals? And what would the results even be compared to -- is there a standard for the amount of Cu, Pb or As, etc. that's in your body compared to your hair?? I'm obviously a bit skeptical, but curious. How does this work?
The chiropractor I go to wants to do a hair analysis on me to see if I have excess or too little of minerals and metals in my body. She wants to do this because I have an autoimmune disease and am sick a lot and she says she feels that my "system" is stuck (my therapist also recommended hair analysis).
She thinks the hair analysis will reveal what is making me sick and then I can change my diet to add or remove those things from my body to get my "system" to flow and then I'll be more healthy.
So, I know that hair can be used for drug testing, but can hair also be tested for metals and minerals? And what would the results even be compared to -- is there a standard for the amount of Cu, Pb or As, etc. that's in your body compared to your hair?? I'm obviously a bit skeptical, but curious. How does this work?
Best answer: Hair testing can show the presence of at least some metals. It seems to be a common way to test for mercury levels, for example, though even this seems to be controversial. Your chiropractor's search for heavy metal toxicity strongly resembles other schemes I've seen that were definite quackery, and I think you're right to suspect it.
Here's a peer-reviewed article from an NIH journal: The pitfalls of hair analysis for toxicants in clinical practice: three case reports: "We present three separate cases in which patients came to our clinic believing that they needed treatment for metal toxicity. In each case, the patient's beliefs were due to the results of hair analysis and other diagnostic tests."
posted by mbrubeck at 8:18 AM on January 8, 2010
Here's a peer-reviewed article from an NIH journal: The pitfalls of hair analysis for toxicants in clinical practice: three case reports: "We present three separate cases in which patients came to our clinic believing that they needed treatment for metal toxicity. In each case, the patient's beliefs were due to the results of hair analysis and other diagnostic tests."
posted by mbrubeck at 8:18 AM on January 8, 2010
Best answer: FWIW: The AMA considers this practice to be particularly unreliable in terms of providing consistent measurement and subsequent recommendations.
posted by honeybee413 at 8:21 AM on January 8, 2010
posted by honeybee413 at 8:21 AM on January 8, 2010
If you have an autoimmune disease, you should be working with a specialist for that. For example, I have Hashimoto's Thyroiditis and I see an endocrinologist for it. A chiropractor would make my back feel good but could nothing to help treat my thyroid.
posted by onhazier at 8:42 AM on January 8, 2010
posted by onhazier at 8:42 AM on January 8, 2010
Your chiropractor's testing? Quackery.
A scientist using state of the art atomic testing, having controls and comparisons in place for the variables of DNA, environment, ethnicity, rate of hair growth, and the date of the last haircut? Maybe.
posted by Chuckles McLaughy du Haha, the depressed clown at 8:47 AM on January 8, 2010
A scientist using state of the art atomic testing, having controls and comparisons in place for the variables of DNA, environment, ethnicity, rate of hair growth, and the date of the last haircut? Maybe.
posted by Chuckles McLaughy du Haha, the depressed clown at 8:47 AM on January 8, 2010
A good doctor is able to recognize things outside of her expertise and refer patients to appropriate care providers.
A chiropractor is no more qualified to deal with heavy metal toxicity than she is to deal with a clogged toilet. If she suspects a toxicity, then she should be referring you to someone who can manage chelating and your auto-immune condition.
posted by 26.2 at 8:53 AM on January 8, 2010
A chiropractor is no more qualified to deal with heavy metal toxicity than she is to deal with a clogged toilet. If she suspects a toxicity, then she should be referring you to someone who can manage chelating and your auto-immune condition.
posted by 26.2 at 8:53 AM on January 8, 2010
Grain of salt: If a chiropractor does anything other than mess with your back, it's quackery.
That's not a grain of salt, that's a rule of thumb! Regardless of the accuracy or usefulness of testing hair for heavy metals, your chiropractor wanting to do this should be viewed with the same suspicion as if your auto mechanic told you he needed to test your refrigerator. Your body isn't a system, it's a bag of systems. Hand-waving makes for crappy healthcare, and this suggestion does not inspire much confidence in this practitioner's ability to address your problems.
posted by ulotrichous at 8:59 AM on January 8, 2010
That's not a grain of salt, that's a rule of thumb! Regardless of the accuracy or usefulness of testing hair for heavy metals, your chiropractor wanting to do this should be viewed with the same suspicion as if your auto mechanic told you he needed to test your refrigerator. Your body isn't a system, it's a bag of systems. Hand-waving makes for crappy healthcare, and this suggestion does not inspire much confidence in this practitioner's ability to address your problems.
posted by ulotrichous at 8:59 AM on January 8, 2010
Response by poster: I'm definitely not relying on the chiropractor for anything more than helping my back feel better. I see a rheumatologist on a regular basis.
Science-wise, the hair analysis seems to be bunk. I'll tell her this, so that she stops asking me if I want to have it done. It sounds like she takes the hair sample and sends it to a lab to have it tested (so she's not really doing it herself), but it also sounds like the way it's tested is not accurate and really has no meaning.
Thanks all!
posted by backwords at 9:14 AM on January 8, 2010
Science-wise, the hair analysis seems to be bunk. I'll tell her this, so that she stops asking me if I want to have it done. It sounds like she takes the hair sample and sends it to a lab to have it tested (so she's not really doing it herself), but it also sounds like the way it's tested is not accurate and really has no meaning.
Thanks all!
posted by backwords at 9:14 AM on January 8, 2010
Just as a point of reference: I work in an environment where heavy metal and other chemical exposures are a concern. We get blood tests for exposure, not hair. As mentioned above, there are too many variables in hair testing for it to be considered reliable when H&S issues are actually important.
posted by bonehead at 9:21 AM on January 8, 2010
posted by bonehead at 9:21 AM on January 8, 2010
Skeptic filter: Maybe she gets a kickback from the hair analysis people for referring you and bringing them the sample.
posted by Knowyournuts at 10:21 AM on January 8, 2010
posted by Knowyournuts at 10:21 AM on January 8, 2010
You may find the information at rmalab.com useful to further inform yourself. There are cases where hair testing can be valuable. It is sensitive to environmental factors but not nearly as much as some of you may think. There are specific protocols for where and how close to the scalp the sample is taken from, if a hair sample can be used at all (for instance, colored hair cannot be tested), and how to interpret the test results. Of course a chiropractor has no business recommending or interpreting a hair analysis but there are other alternative health care professionals who do!
posted by drewgillson at 12:37 PM on January 8, 2010
posted by drewgillson at 12:37 PM on January 8, 2010
backwords: "It sounds like she takes the hair sample and sends it to a lab to have it tested (so she's not really doing it herself"
When people talk about venturing beyond expertise, it's more than not doing the tests personally. How does your chiropractor interpret those test results? If your health is genuinely at risk, a specialist should be the person looking at the results, and determining the kinds of tests worth a damn in the first place.
posted by pwnguin at 1:56 PM on January 8, 2010
When people talk about venturing beyond expertise, it's more than not doing the tests personally. How does your chiropractor interpret those test results? If your health is genuinely at risk, a specialist should be the person looking at the results, and determining the kinds of tests worth a damn in the first place.
posted by pwnguin at 1:56 PM on January 8, 2010
The whole stuck/flow thing is pure quackery and it's likely she's using it in her treatment of your back too. So no to the hair testing (because the whole premise of why she thinks you need it is flawed regardless of how valid the test she uses is), and also possibly time to find a physiotherapist of similar for your back, someone who will treat you based on biomechanical/anatomical principles rather than subfluxions and energy flows.
posted by shelleycat at 2:13 PM on January 8, 2010
posted by shelleycat at 2:13 PM on January 8, 2010
I'll tell her this, so that she stops asking me if I want to have it done.
I wouldn't. This is roughly equivalent to asking a fundie not to pray for you because you don't believe in Hell.
If you do tell her this, expect her to react to the closed-minded stuckness that she will instantly believe to be the root cause of what's making you sick with genuine sorrow.
Don't try to teach a pig to sing. It just wastes your time, and upsets the pig.
posted by flabdablet at 3:00 PM on January 8, 2010
I wouldn't. This is roughly equivalent to asking a fundie not to pray for you because you don't believe in Hell.
If you do tell her this, expect her to react to the closed-minded stuckness that she will instantly believe to be the root cause of what's making you sick with genuine sorrow.
Don't try to teach a pig to sing. It just wastes your time, and upsets the pig.
posted by flabdablet at 3:00 PM on January 8, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by unixrat at 8:14 AM on January 8, 2010