Chelation Effective for Autism

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Chelation Effective for Autism

_http://mcs-america.org/mcsanewsdecember2009.htm_

(http://mcs-america.org/mcsanewsdecember2009.htm)

 

 

Two new research studies investigating the effects of chelation therapy on

the health and behavior of children with autism spectrum disorders have

discovered that the children receiving chelation had significant all-around

improvements.

 

 

Autism is a developmental disability characterized by social withdrawal,

communication deficits, and repetitive behaviors. Both genetic and

environmental factors have been implicated as causes of autism, though a high

body

burden of mercury and other toxic metals from vaccinations and environmental

exposures has been increasingly given more attention.

 

 

Major sources of exposure to mercury include seafood, mercury dental

amalgams, and thimerosal in vaccines.

 

 

Heavy metal toxicity in autism may be due to either a high exposure or a

decreased ability to excrete heavy metals. Infants are notoriously more

susceptible to low excretion because they do not produce enough glutathione.

Glutathione binds to toxic metals so they may be eliminated via the liver

excretion known as bile.

 

 

Mercury is often excreted from the body via hair. Adams and colleagues

cite, “children with autism had only 1/8 the normal amount of mercury in

their baby hair†and “a significant inverse correlation in the severity of

autism and the level of mercury in the hair, suggesting that the children with

the weakest ability to excrete mercury developed the most severe symptomsâ€

of autism.

 

 

Dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) is a chelation agent which binds to and

removes heavy metals from the body. It preferentially binds to lead, but also

increase the excretion of other toxic metals, including mercury.

 

 

Adams explains that “a decreased ability to excrete mercury should result

in a higher body burden, and that was demonstrated in a study which

investigated the effect of giving DMSA to 221 children with autism,†explains

Adams, “They found that the children with autism excreted 3.1 times as much

mercury into their urine.â€

 

 

In the new studies, the administration of oral DMSA to autistic children

led to a dramatic normalization of red blood cell glutathione and greatly

improved abnormal platelet counts. Children with autism typically have very

low or very high glutathione levels. After treatment with DMSA, glutathione

levels normalized within the acceptable clinical range. Adams states that

this is suggestive of a significant decrease in cellular inflammation which

may be responsible for the dramatic improvements observed.

 

 

Overall, DMSA therapy seems to be reasonably safe, effective at removing

heavy metals and reducing autistic symptoms.

 

 

Adams does caution that DMSA temporarily increases the loss of the

minerals potassium and chromium, indicating a need to supplement with these

nutrients during therapy.

 

 

References

 

Adams JB, Baral M, Geis E, Mitchell J, Ingram J, Hensley A, Zappia I,

Newmark S, Gehn E, Rubin RA, Mitchell K, Bradstreet J, El-Dahr J. Safety and

efficacy of oral DMSA therapy for children with autism spectrum disorders:

part A--medical results. BMC Clin Pharmacol. 2009 Oct 23;9:16.

 

 

Adams JB, Baral M, Geis E, Mitchell J, Ingram J, Hensley A, Zappia I,

Newmark S, Gehn E, Rubin RA, Mitchell K, Bradstreet J, El-Dahr J. Safety and

efficacy of oral DMSA therapy for children with autism spectrum disorders:

part B - behavioral results. BMC Clin Pharmacol. 2009 Oct 23;9:17.