Copper Toxicity

"Many of the most prevalent metabolic dysfunctions of our time
are related in some way to a copper imbalance." ~ Dr. Paul Eck

• Copper Toxicity is a build up of stored bio-unavailable copper in the body. The liver is the primary storage location. The brain, secondary.
• Birth control pills, copper IUDs, vegetarian diets, copper piping, and estrogen are just some of the contributing factors that have made copper toxicity a growing epidemic.
• Though copper is an essential mineral, not all copper is ‘safe’. Copper sulfate used on crops for example is a known toxin. Also, “Copper becomes toxic when it accumulates in the body's tissues in excessive amounts” (Pfeiffer, 1975; 1987)
• Copper offers many health benefits at a 'normal' level, however what is rarely mentioned is that the benefits reverse with excess copper.  Energy turns to fatigue. Cognitive clarity turns to brain fog.  Fungal control turns to candida.  Positive emotions turn to depression and apathy.   Other common symptoms include racing mind, insomnia, thyroid hypo-function, burn-out, anxiety and panic attacks, even Alzheimer's, schizophrenia, and cancer can all also be linked to copper toxicity.
• The higher the degree of copper accumulation, the higher the degree of bioavailable deficiency. Most articles promoting copper deficiency fail to make this connection, as most copper deficiency in the West is caused by excess.
• Since excess copper is tightly stored in tissue, blood testing to determine copper status can be very misleading. This is a primary reason why copper toxicity remains poorly recognized and so often mis-treated.
• As detox often brings to the surface some of the worst symptoms, detoxing excess copper should be done slowly and gently.  For example, the mobilization of copper into the bloodstream after burnout increases adrenalin on top of an already increased adrenalin level stimulated by the body’s attempt to correct burnout-induced hypoglycemia.  Since adrenalin is an anxiety and panic hormone, these psychological reactions need to be understood.
• Common copper detox approaches typically miss the fact that many symptoms/reactions are not necessarily solely caused by copper but by the cascade of changes excess copper causes to the broader mineral profile. These other mineral imbalances at the cellular (not blood) level need to be understood and also addressed as part of any complete healing approach.  
• Reliance on blood levels, dismissal of HTMA, articles that speak only of copper deficiency or the benefits of copper at a healthy level, standard nutritional training that ignores the inter-relationships of minerals, the disconnect between fields of nutrition and psychology, and even outright denial of copper toxicity and the blocking of information by some - these factors all have suppressed public awareness of copper toxicity and prevent those affected from getting real answers to their health challenges.
• Copper toxicity is one of the most widespread yet misunderstood epidemics of our time, and is a major factor in many of today's most prevalent conditions. It should therefore be a key route of investigation for any of the above mentioned symptoms.

"Virtually all MDs, including psychiatrists, still have not heard of this health problem. They practice medicine and psychiatry with an incredible lack of awareness that such a serious health problem even exists. They claim to be practicing “evidence based medicine”, yet they are practicing without the most basic evidence – real laboratory data showing the presence of excess (toxic) copper that has a profound effect on both the physical and mental health of the vast majority of their patients. Ever since Carl Pfeiffer, MD, PhD first wrote about the devastating health effects of copper toxicity in 1975, it has been a challenge for him and others among us to get the message out to the public and health professionals. Until medical doctors and other “health” care practitioners begin to study the mind/body’s mineral system especially as it is reflected in HTMAs, the medical / mineral disconnect will remain.  Without HTMA data, medical doctors will not recognize the epidemic nature of the copper toxicity problem. Today, the time is ripe for getting the copper toxicity message out to the public."    ~ Dr. Malter, Ph.D.

Copper toxicity may sometimes be referred to as hypercupremia, though it is a misleading term since hypercupremia literally translates to mean 'high copper concentration in the blood' even though blood levels are almost entirely irrelevant in assessing copper toxicity. Symptoms of copper toxicity can very much exist even when blood levels are normal or low. Another erroneously used term being used recently, copper dysregulation, while it eludes to the body's inability to regulate copper due to low ceruloplasmin, is a narrow-minded view that fails to address the bigger picture of why we have this epidemic in the first place, not to mention completely ignoring copper’s proven toxic attributes at high levels. Copper toxicity, as research has shown since the 1970s, is far more than just a dysregulation issue that can be ‘fixed’ by regulating ceruloplasmin.  Our modern epidemic of copper toxicity is largely the result of ever increasing exposure to copper with each new generation over the past half century, a concept of paramount importance that is trivialized by using the term ‘dysregulation’.​ Copper toxicity, in the context of this site, differs somewhat from Pyroluria (a genetic condition in which the individual produces excess kryptopyrrole which in turn causes B6 and zinc deficiency).  Copper toxicity, though sharing some similarities with Wilson's Disease, is different in that the latter is an inherited & rare genetic disorder which, like copper toxicity, causes copper to collect in the liver, brain and other body tissues, but has a more dire prognosis than copper toxicity, and for which a different treatment approach is required. As the majority of people have a copper imbalance, copper toxicity should not be seen as a black or white 'label' that defines a person, but rather is a progression to varying degrees of accumulation along a continuum.