Article by Rebecca Dutton: Scoliosis research update

As a team member of MELISA Diagnostics, I see many connections between heavy metals and illness. We asked for your help with on-going research into scoliosis and the possible link to heavy metals. The results of this research can be seen in the video "Scoliosis, Spinal Surgery and Metal Allergy" (available HERE).

You may want to know more about my own story. During the 1970‘s I was employed by a dentist as a practice manager and nurse for three years. I spent many hours each day mixing amalgam fillings in a rubber finger stall, exposed to mercury vapour from the action of rubbing silver alloy and mercury together. I had no personal protection equipment, gloves or mask and no ventilation system to filter the mercury. When I became pregnant during the latter part of my employment, my duties remained the same, apart from not being present when X-rays were taken. My daughter was diagnosed with a neurological condition and scoliosis at 16 years of age.

I firmly believe this was the result of her exposure to mercury in my womb. Her test results appear to support my theory, showing mercury on her DNA, a high sensitivity to mercury and displacement of essential minerals, necessary for the function of the cells. At 17 years of age, she underwent major spinal surgery to correct her curvature, which involved the removal of 6 intervertebral discs, a rib and the placement of a titanium rod in her spine. This caused many problems as the spine is designed to be flexible, not rigid. The psychological impact was huge, living with restricted movement and physical limitations. My daughter‘s experience made me determined to research the possible causes of scoliosis and to investigate alternative treatments which may prevent the need for surgery.

In 2008 I was asked to set up the website understandingscoliosis.org with the former Culture Correspondent of BBC Newsnight, Madeleine Holt. Our aim is to encourage people to investigate alternatives to surgery for spinal curvature, and to examine the possible causes of scoliosis. Madeleine developed scoliosis as a teenager (though she never had spinal rods) but now, after removing all heavy metals, is completely pain-free.

Scoliosis surgery has never been proven to eliminate spinal curvature, reduce pain, improve lung function or correct the deformity of the ribs and torso. The rate of complications may be higher than reported as may the long-term risks. Despite these facts, there is little or no interest in the orthopaedic community in finding methods of scoliosis treatment that do not involve scoliosis bracing or surgery.

I believe that there is a link between mercury and scoliosis, often as the "initial insult", and I have written a hypothesis on the connection. This was spurred partly by my observation that a pattern was emerging: many patients who contacted me with mercury sensitivity also had scoliosis. I contacted Professor Vera Stejskal, Associate Professor of Immunology and inventor of the MELISA test and asked if we could conduct a research study to see if mercury may be implicated in the development of scoliosis. She very kindly offered to put a questionnaire on my website. This was pioneering research, as yet not endorsed by the medical establishment, which hopefully, could play an important part in understanding why idiopathic scoliosis develops in the first place.

In 2014, I was appointed lead activist to represent the UK in the Global Minamata Treaty, to ban mercury pollution. One of the successful outcomes of this was the new EU regulation to ban dental amalgam use in children under 15 and pregnant and nursing women. This came into force in July 2018, in 28 EU countries including the UK.

In 2018, Dr Shideh Pouria, consultant Nephrologist, asked me to present at a conference in London: "Systemic Effects of Metal Exposure in Clinical Practice: Protecting Patients and Optimising Outcomes”. My presentation was on "Scoliosis, Spinal Surgery and Metal Allergy’" and included my research study on the link between mercury and scoliosis.