There's a new drug emerging from Berkeley and a company spawned from there called HOPO [1]. The drug is a chelator that has a special affinity for heavy metals in the lanthanide group, which happen to be some of the more toxic metals. This includes gadolinium, which is found in MRI contrast agents, and has been known to cause many-year retention in the bones and skull [2] from just a single dose.
"The chelating agent 3,4,3-LI(1,2-HOPO) has been specifically optimized for the selective binding of heavy metals, and it promotes their rapid removal from the body. Unlike other chelating agents, it does so without depleting the body of essential mineral elements such as zinc and calcium."
They were initially focused on gadolinium but have recently pivoted to lead poisoning as a seemingly more addressable market.
Gadolinium seems like one of those things that won't even be allowed in most circumstances in a few more years. It has been used for decades and conventional wisdom was, if your kidneys are fine it all leaves the body in 24 hours. Then just a few years ago we learn this is false and that deposits can be found years later in the brain.
The effect may be highly lagged or small, but have to believe it isn't healthy.
No, not healthy at all. There is a condition known as Gadolinium Deposition Disease (GDD) that some people are developing from the retention. The mechanics are not fully understood, and there is a multi-billion dollar industry preventing (or at least not encouraging) any serious inquiry into the matter, but my understanding is that if your body views gadolinium as a threat (similar to an allergy), it will mount an immune response against it. However immune responses are futile against heavy metals. So think of it as a permanent, never-ending allergic reaction to an element that refuses to leave your body.
I thought the issue with Gadolinium is with repeated doses. The occasional one of dose is not retained to any significant amount in bones and the brain.
This is quite surprising seeing how widespread it is, searches suggest its used in millions in the US alone from any age.
Gadolinium will get you blank stares from a lot of people. Lead is well known. Look at the reception this article, which is basically just a summary of the state of affairs ghost written by an activist organization, got. To get people to care about <insert chemical you've never heard of> you something that's well written, tugs at heartstrings and confirms biases (imagine a New Yorker article about DuPont dumping something in some rural watershed, that's the kind of media you'd need) to get people to engage just as much. Lead has a MASSIVE mind share among the people who like to fancy themselves as caring about these sorts of things. If they have a drug that can treat lead poisoning they can springboard off of that mind-share in order to sell their drug. They'd be stupid not to.
"The chelating agent 3,4,3-LI(1,2-HOPO) has been specifically optimized for the selective binding of heavy metals, and it promotes their rapid removal from the body. Unlike other chelating agents, it does so without depleting the body of essential mineral elements such as zinc and calcium."
They were initially focused on gadolinium but have recently pivoted to lead poisoning as a seemingly more addressable market.
[1] http://www.hopotx.com/science/
[2] https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-safety-and-availability/fda-d...