Vaccine issue: Study establishes link between heavy metals and autism.

May 31, 2006

E-NEWS FROM THE NATIONAL VACCINE INFORMATION CENTERVienna, Virginia http://www.nvic.org* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * UNITED WAY/COMBINED FEDERAL CAMPAIGN #8122* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *"Protecting the health and informed consent rights of children since 1982." ==========================================================================================http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg19025535.400 & feedId=online-news_rss20New Scientist Magazine (newscientist.com)May 30, 2006Heavy Metals May Be Implicated in

AutismURINE samples from hundreds of French children have yielded evidence for alink between autism and exposure to heavy metals. If validated, the findingsmight mean some cases of autism could be treated with drugs that purge thebody of heavy metals.Samples from children with autism contained abnormally high levels of afamily of proteins called porphyrins, which are precursors in the productionof haem, the oxygen-carrying component in haemoglobin. Heavy metals blockhaem production, causing porphyrins to accumulate in urine. Concentrationsof one molecule, coproporphyrin, were 2.6 times as high in urine fromchildren with autism as in controls.Autism is thought to have a number of unknown genetic and environmentalcauses. Richard Lathe of Pieta Research in Edinburgh, UK, says he has foundone of these factors. "It's highly likely that heavy metals are responsiblefor

childhood autistic disorder in a majority of cases," he claims. Thestudy will appear in Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology.Lathe says these porphyrin metabolites bind to receptors in the brain andhave been linked with epilepsy and autism.The researchers restored porphyrin concentrations to normal in 12 childrenby treating them with "chelation" drugs that mop up heavy metals and arethen excreted. It is not yet known whether the children's symptoms haveeased, but Lathe cites anecdotal reports suggesting the drugs might do somegood.The study is available online at:http://filariane.org/anglais/DOC/MSFINAL.pdf=============================================News@... is a free service of the National Vaccine InformationCenter and is supported through membership donations. Learn more about vaccines, diseases and how to protect your informed consent rights http://www.nvic.org "Our ideal is not the spirituality that withdraws from life but the conquest of life by the power of the spirit." - Aurobindo.