CopperToxic.com

"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)
• Most of the health benefits commonly attributed to copper reverse when copper accumulates in excess. In essence, the higher the degree of copper accumulation, the higher the degree of bioavailable deficiency.
• Common symptoms include increasing fatigue, racing mind, and brain fog. At higher levels, the risk increases for adrenal burnout, depression, paranoia, and deadening of emotions. Hypothyroid, panic attacks, Alzheimer’s, schizophrenia, and even cancer can all also be linked to copper toxicity.
• Copper toxicity is paradoxically the primary cause of copper ‘deficiency’ in the West, yet most articles promoting copper fail to make this connection.
• Since excess copper is tightly stored in tissue, relying on a blood test to determine copper status can be highly misleading. This is a primary reason why copper toxicity remains poorly recognized and so often mis-treated.
• The detox of excess copper must be done slowly and gently to avoid symptoms of copper dumping. For example, the mobilization of copper into the bloodstream after burnout will increase adrenalin, on top of an already increased adrenalin level stimulated by the body’s attempt to correct burnout-induced hypoglycemia. Adrenalin is an anxiety and panic hormone, and these psychological reactions can amplify when copper is mobilized into the bloodstream (ie: through detox). 
• Studies that rely on blood results, practitioners who ignore tissue levels, articles that speak only about copper deficiency, and even outright denial of copper toxicity by some individuals and organizations - these factors all suppress the notion of copper toxicity and prevent people 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.