The Italian findings tie in with older US research that found that people with amalgam fillings had significantly more heart-related problems than those with healthy teeth. Amalgam-filled patients also had more irregular heartbeats and fatigue - typical of CHF (Sci Total Environ, 1990; 99: 23-35).

Similarly, when Soviet doctors studied workers exposed to mercury, they found that the heavy metal had a profound effect on the heart, interfering with its normal contractions, electrical conductivity and overall regulation. Like the Italians, they too found that mercury accumulated in the heart tissue and valves (Cardiotoxic Effects of Mercury, DHEW (NIH) Publication No 74-473, 1974: 109-34, 199-210).

So, with mercury accumulating in the heart, could it be affecting levels of CoQ10, which is also primarily found in the heart? Nobody knows for sure because the research hasn’t been done, but such a mechanism seems plausible.

Tony Edwards