Posted on 06/04/2006 4:49:14 PM PDT by Coleus
The unorthodox practice of chelation No one knows for certain what causes autism, but one theory has ignited an intense debate
Autism is a mysterious and devastating disorder that is believed to affect as many as 500,000 children in this country. No one knows for certain what causes autism, but one theory — chelation— has sparked controversy. Now, Jim Adams wants to put that theory to the test. In a desperate quest for answers, he is using his scientific know-how to test a controversial therapy called "chelation." And he has a special reason for taking on this mission — his daughter Kim.
Kim Adams knows every word, every move, every pause by heart because she has watched this same video thousands of times. Kim Adams, autistic girl: Barney’s Birthday! Like many diagnosed with autism, she is trapped in a world of repetition and ritual.
For example, her father Jim knows his daughter will want two braids because it is Wednesday. Kim insists on wearing two braids and a dress to school every Wednesday.
Her need for order is extreme. Even a minute change in routine, like a spot appearing on her father's shirt, can make her world feel frighteningly out of whack.
Kim Adams: Daddy’s shirt…
Jim Adams, Kim's father: Oh, daddy’s shirt is dirty.
Kim Adams: Mommy, daddy’s shirt is dirty.
Marie Adams, Kims mother: That’s okay.
At 13 years of age, Kim is still a child who needs help with life's most basic skills. She can't brush her teeth without a list of directions, or make her bed without a series of pictures.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
My nephew is autistic. Every time I speak to him, he starts the conversation the same way...Aunt Hildy, what you have for dinner? Every single time for years and years. He's 21 years old now.
Well, I don't know whether chelation "cured" it or not, but in fact, my son showed remarkable improvement (as diagnosed by clinical professionals) after a program of chelation, gluten-free casein-free diet, enzyme supplements, other dietary supplements, and applied behavior therapy.
He was diagnosed PDD-NOS (on the autism spectrum) at age 3.5, and diagnosed borderline normal after 18 months.
Did chelation do it? Did the GFCF diet do it?
I don't know.
But the fact is that his heavy-metal levels went down after 3 months of chelation therapy. Thimerosal wasn't an issue, because he's never had shots, but he did have elevated levels of other metals, e.g. uranium.
self ping
but he did have elevated levels of other metals, e.g. uranium.
Can i ask if anyone determined the source of the uranium?
It was never determined. And uranium wasn't the only one, or even necessarily the highest one, just the one I remember most easily.
He was born in San Antonio, and we moved to Maine when he was 23 months old.
The funny thing is, they do a hair test, where a low level in the hair is a BAD thing, because it means the body is NOT excreting it.
I'm not sure of the chemistry, but the chelating agent (DMSA in my case) somehow binds to the metals and drags them out of the body. We had to give him pills every four hours around the clock for two days on, then twelve days off, for three months per session. I think we did three sessions in that 18 months.
A danger in chelation, is that the heavy metals are excreted by the liver or kidneys; and the high amount of heavy metals being concentrated in those organs can itself, cause organ damage. Thus chelation is usually viewed as a somewhat dangerous procedure.
Indeed. Warnings abounded (at least in our case), that, because the chelation process "stirs up" the metals (which were otherwise stationary in the body's cells, including brain cells), the chances of an INCREASE in symptoms during the "on" time was possible. We didn't see it ourselves, but the possibilities were there.
Still, the prospect of a damaged liver was less daunting than the prospect of a damaged brain, especially at such a formative age.
Bump for later.
I have seen absolute miracles where this was used on heart patients with no hope elsewhere. It needs to be done correctly and the US is not sufficiently knowledgeable for the most part about this.
Big Pharma is dead set against it because it relieves them of too much profit and of course profit is the most valuable thing.
Hogwash. Because the chelating agents are not proprietary no company can recover the R&D costs of tuning it into a product. Also the safety issues that have been mentioned above are a big red flag. Drugs used for sick kids are a big target for lawyers as it is easy to convince a jury that the latest bad thing to happen to a sick kid who took the drug is due to the big bad Big Pharma.
Otherwise well-intentioned jurors with your attitude is one reason for high drug costs - the TORT tax. They also seeth with that kinda mouth foam and award the lottery to the lawyer - oh, yeah the patient gets to keep a bit too.
I suppose you work for free? - or are profits Ok for you but not for others? You don't make profits unless you have some consideration of your customers.
Interesting article. Thank you for posting. I hope this therapy works.
What is casein? What products contain casein?
Never mind. I found the answer myself.
What is casein? What products contain casein? >>
the protein found in milk, it's used in wallpaper paste
http://www.nomilk.com
Doesn't mean it's wallpaper paste. Many foods are or contain compounds that are useful to industry. ie Soybean oil is used as a dispersing agent in the manufacture of inks and insecticides. It's also the main ingredient of most commercial salad dressings.
Wilson's Disease (reprise), which can also be treated by chelation:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000785.htm
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