Help With Autism

Thanks to an increased understanding of heavy metals and their dangers, mercury and other forms of metal poisoning are becoming increasingly rare. However, cases of heavy metal poisoning do arise, and when they do, it’s nice to know that we now have effective treatment measures in place. In the past, people used to work with heavy metals on a regular basis and suffer severe poisoning that often went undetected and untreated.

Today chelation therapy is the most common treatment for those who acquire heavy metal poisoning, which comes from overexposure to lead, arsenic or mercury and can create a glut of symptoms. Chelation is simply the act of adding chelating agents to the bloodstream, which then work to eradicate the heavy metals. Many different chelating agents are used today depending on the patient, metal and preference of the clinician.

Every time I think about probiotics, the concept is a little hard to wrap my head around: Bacteria that are actually beneficial? This obviously seems counterintuitive, but by definition, bacteria are simply a group of single-celled organisms. Probiotics—the beneficial bacteria—are typically found in cultured milk products such as yogurt.

Researchers have already found myriad ways to utilize probiotics, but they are constantly looking for new diseases and disorders that respond to treatment. Probiotics have been used in conjunction with antibiotics as a way to reduce the adverse side effects. In clinical studies, probiotics have also been used effectively to curtail eczema, thwart the creation of stomach ulcers and reduce the risk of colon cancer. There has also been research into their ability to combat diarrhea, bacterial infections, and a host of other diseases and disorders.

In this blog we often examine how chelation therapy can be utilized to treat a host of diseases and conditions, but we’ve yet to delve into what is taking place at the molecular level. Chelation is when a bond exists or is formed by a multi-bonded ligand and a single atom. The resulting organic compounds are referred to as chelating agents, the compounds utilized in the therapies.

The chelating agents bind with certain metal ions to form soluble, complex molecules. This effectively inactivates the metal ions so they can’t react with other elements. These chelating agents have myriad uses, including food preservation and serving as water softeners in shampoo. Of course, chelation therapy is effective for heavy metal detox, as it essentially inoculates the metal agents in a person’s body.

In recent years, new heavy metal detox technologies have vastly improved the process of ridding our bodies of harmful elements. Through chelation therapy and dialysis, the eradication of these toxic metals is easier and safer than ever. For years, detox diets and other products have been marketed as means of accomplishing this task, but there is little evidence that supports their claims.

Exposure to these metals occurs in manifold ways, but one of the most common is digesting large amounts of seafood, particularly big predatory creatures like tuna or sharks. And while research has shown that the mercury in these fish probably aren’t harmful to the average person, fetuses and young children are particularly vulnerable to heavy metal exposure, which can lead to birth defects and health problems. This is the reason pregnant and nursing mothers are advised to curtail their seafood intake.

Although chelation therapy is used to treat a variety of diseases and disorders, there are few conditions where chelation is deemed “medically necessary” by medical practitioners and insurance providers. Some of these conditions include extreme heavy metal exposure, lead poisoning and Wilson’s disease. Although chelation is currently only believed to be “necessary” in these specific circumstances, it is used to treat a variety of other diseases and disorders as well.

The American Association of Pediatrics has issued guidelines for administering chelation therapy to children who have experienced excessive lead exposure, but there are few parameters set forth for other uses of the treatment. Many people advocate the use of chelation to remove mercury and other heavy metals, which some believe are the root cause of autism. With the scarce information available, there are sure to be future studies that expound the benefits of chelation and reveal possible side effects and drawbacks.

A study conducted at Cornell University has proven that chelation therapy can help solve learning and behavioral problems that result in rats from heavy metal exposure. While these findings are promising, it’s not all roses. There are implications and potential side effects to the procedure.

 The researchers at Cornell also found that when chelation therapy was used on rats that weren’t exposed to heavy metals, the chelating agents had a detrimental effect on learning and behavior. These chelating agents are already being used widely on children with autism despite little research into the possible adverse consequences. As of yet, there is also minimal quantitative evidence that shows chelation therapy can reduce the symptoms of autism.

Because autism is a disease that is shrouded in mystery, there are conflicting reports about the causes and means of effective treatment. One of the controversial treatment methods for the affliction is chelation therapy. During the chelation process, a patient is injected with chelating agents, which bond with toxins in the body over time.

There are inherent risks in the process, as there is no stopping the chelating agents from bonding with healthy cells. Some of the more specific risks of chelation therapy include liver and kidney damage, which in some cases may be fatal. The reason that chelation therapy is used by some in an attempt to treat autism is the belief that mercury poisoning is one of the root causes of the disease. Before undertaking any sort of medical treatment, you should always consult your doctor and weigh all of the viable options.

Although the retraction of Dr. Wakefield’s paper put the perceived correlation between autism and MMR vaccines into question, there are still other hypotheses that may link the two. Many feel that one of the root causes of autism is a specialized type of mercury poisoning—and many say the vaccines contain unsafe levels of the heavy metal. The symptoms of the two conditions are eerily similar, which has led many to suggest the heavy metal poisoning is one of autism’s causes.

There is currently no conclusive scientific evidence for or against this hypothesis, as there have been many conflicting reports. One of the difficulties is that virtually all of the studies use different criteria to determine the correlation. Even if heavy metal poisoning is not a cause of autism, it still poses a litany of other health risks. Luckily there are various heavy metal detox products now available.

While we have all heard cautionary tales about the ill-effects of heavy metal exposure—particularly mercury poisoning—few people know what the actual risks are. High exposure to mercury can cause damage to the central nervous system, as well as other organs such as the liver and intestinal tract. One of the reasons that mercury is so dangerous is that your body stores it up over time, which can magnify the health risks.

There is a way to treat excessive exposure to mercury and heavy metals: chelation therapy. In the US, DMSA is the most commonly used compound in this process. That acronym stands from dimercaptosuccinic acid, which is a organosulfur compound that latches onto the heavy metal molecules and works to remove them from the body.

Today people will do just about anything to remove toxins from their bodies. From juice fasts to colon therapy-people are tired of feeling the sluggishness and sickness that accompanies toxins built up in the system. Chelation is another, less common, way to remove toxins from the body.

Chelation therapy works by intravenously infusing the chemical disodium EDTA into the body. This chemical binds to metallic ions in the body and allows them to be excreted. Some research has suggested that chelation dissolves the calcium in arterial plaque and reduces hardening of the arteries and other circulatory problems.