Research Chelation Therapy

It seems there is some confusion these days as to who the true experts on treating autism are. With so many experimental new drugs, treatments and behavioral therapies, both seasoned doctors (who’ve found a new niche specializing in autism treatment) as well as coalitions of parents and naturopaths are vying for a place being recognized for making great leaps in treating autism.

The Chicago Tribune, for one, has been busy casting aspersions on the legitimacy of the “crusades” of apparent non-AMA doctors, experts, activists, etc.  Specfically, those led by Dr. Mayer Eisenstein and Dr. Mark Geier and his son David.

One of the issues in their recent stories is the use of Lupron to treat aggression in autistic children who have high levels of testosterone — a move which has been hugely controversial.  The treatment is slammed as “unproven and potentially damaging” in the Tribune. Another of their attacks goes: “In the absence of definitive answers, unproven treatments have proliferated, including diets that eliminate wheat and dairy, chelation drugs that leach metals out of the body, and treatment in hyperbaric oxygen chambers similar to those used to treat scuba divers with ‘the bends.’ ”

But what does the Chicago Tribune know, really? Do they have a team of staff doctors and scientists with real medical facts to trump these experimental new forays, or simply just…cynicism on their side? It seems the establishment has taken great pride in bashing anything that doesn’t bow to Big Pharma’s vaccination agenda.

Will there be a new “autism vaccine” coming out from our friends in the industry soon? I don’t think the parents, doctors and scientists who actually want to see true remedy from the dual spikes in vaccines and autism will really care. They’ll be too busy doing real scientific work aimed at getting these kids detoxed and free of epidemic neuropathies such as autism.

Chelation has shown positive results. See for yourself at www.AwakenNutrition.com

Chelation and clathration both facilitate the removal of heavy metal compounds from the body. But there are some distinct differences between the two. Although both techniques “neutralize” toxic heavy metals in the bloodstream, and orient them toward elimination from the body, the structure of the two differs to some extent.

If chelation (the term is from the Greek phrase for “claw like”) grabs onto the heavy metal compound and pulls it out of the body, clathration forms a “cage” which incorporates the offending compound into its own structure, effectively (if the process works according to maximum efficacy) imprisoning the substance and escorting it out via the elimination process.

Another difference is that chelation can be thought of as a more one dimensional process, where clathration is a more three dimensional one. In clathration, specifically-sequenced glycoproteins and peptides form a lattice or inclusion complex and multiple receptor sites attach to a toxic molecule with irreversible bonds, literally wrapping themselves around the toxic substance, preventing additional reactions with tissues and organs as it is eliminated from the body.

Chelation has been used since World War I, when it was developed to remove toxic gas particulates from the blood. Clathration is a much more recent discovery.

The similarities are obvious — both disable toxic heavy metal compounds. Both are utilized by various clinicians who are now engaged in progressive study and treatment of autism and autism-related disorders, such as Asberger’s and Rett Syndrome.  Both have produced varying degrees of results within the bodies of patients and test subjects.

There is no doubt that we will be hearing much about these two procedures in coming years where concerns treating heavy metal toxicity and autism and autism-related disorders.

Chelation therapy is catching on – and for good reason. It’s proving to restore needed balance to those suffering heavy metal toxicity, as well as autism and autistic-related disorders, which have been found to be related to heavy metal poisoning – particularly through methylmercury found in vaccines. Unfortunately, methylmercury is a common and quite dangerous environmental contaminant that ends up accumulating in the human body, with unpleasant results.

Methylmercury is a bioaccumulating substance – meaning, it makes its way up the food chain through fish and other organisms, such as bacteria, propagating its presence exponentially in the ecosphere. Mercury itself is a neurotoxic heavy metal, the symptoms of which can present as any number of other things. The best thing is to get tested if you suspect you’ve been exposed to mercury, or methylmercury (the version of mercury that bioaccumulates in fish).

Supporters of chelation therapy rely on the testimonies of people who’ve had it done. Many people claim that their lives were saved and their health improved because of chelation therapy. Opponents say the results aren’t clear enough. But neither are the results clear on the myriad of barely tested drugs out there on the pharmaceutical market, so – you decide.

And these aren’t the only claims. Supporters also claim that chelation therapy significantly improves blood flow through previously narrowed blood vessels in some patients. Another claim is that chelation therapy has restored lost bodily function and reduced pain in some cases. Whatever the case is, positive results are being shown

The process of chelation actually removes harmful metals from the bloodstream. In fact, chelation therapy is the only way to treat lead poisoning. But lead isn’t the only metal cleansed from the body through chelation therapy. A chelation agent will also bind with most metals, mineral deposits, calcium-based plaques and other chemical toxins. Because of its positive impact on the bloodstream, chelation therapy has proven to benefit a number of medical conditions, including atherosclerosis and arteriosclerosis.

What exactly is chelation?

Chelation is a well-known method of heavy metal and toxin removal in which a special chemical compound called a chelate – such as dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA), dimercaptopropane sulfonate (DMPS), or ethylene diaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) – is given, usually intravenously. The chelate finds and forms a single attachment to the toxin with one reversible ionic bond. With that bond intact, the toxin is grabbed onto, pulled off the cell and carried from the body. However, the toxin is not neutralized during this process and is potentially able to attach to other cells on its way out.

That’s the traditional form of chelation therapy. Great strides are being made, namely with oral therapy, which provides a painless, easy way of self-administering treatment, and with positive results. A new oral chelation therapy from Awaken Nutrition provides a speciallypatented method of introducing chelating substances into the body. Made up of peptides such as glutamic, fulvic and tartaric acid, Awaken Nutrition oral chelation spray offers those suffering from heavy metal toxicity and/or autism or autism-related disorders (or those with loved ones with such afflictions) new hope for wellness.

Expert testimony: chelation benefits

And, the experts are weighing in on the benefits of chelation therapy.

“There is no question that chelation, taking the mercury out of the kids, is by far the most effective treatment available,” says psychologist Bernard Rimland of the Autism Research Institute in San Diego, as quoted in a recent article on MSNBC. He’s only one of many health professionals weighing in about chelation therapy’s benefits. Other practitioners prescribe caution, but they, too, are having to behold the affirmative evidence now coming in.

Janet Hightower, M.D. is one of a group of emerging doctors who have experienced mercury toxicity in her patients, and acted upon it. Many of her patients were complaining of dizzyness, hair loss, forgetfulness and fatigue. She had some of them tested (the hair test is very easy and relatively affordable), and voila! Mercury toxicity. Dr. Hightower knew the battle was on, and she especially took issue with the gulf between an unsuspecting public and a government and special interests too greedy or callous to provide adequate food labeling and warning – especially to pregnant mothers, who are most susceptible.

See for yourself the benefits and the hope being generated by Awaken Nutrition’s oral chelation therapy spray. It’s affordable, easy-to-use, doctor-recommended, and available to anyone seeking greater vitality and wellness, and an escape from heavy metal toxicity.

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Awaken Nutrition’s patented chelation formula is specifically designed to bind to dangerous, toxic substances found in our environment today which, studies show, are likely responsible for many physiological and neurological disorders. The specially sequenced peptides in our doctor-recommended formula form a chemical bond that claws heavy metals with multiple receptor sites on the peptide, which irreversibly bond to a toxin, such as lead, thallium or arsenic. These powerful peptides wrap around the toxins, preventing any additional reactions with organs or tissues as it is eliminated from the body.

Further chelating substances in our highly effective detox formula “claw” the targeted toxin with a reversible bond at single receptor sites, in an attempt to tow it out of the system, leaving it free to interact with anything it may come into contact with while in transit. Laboratory studies of Awaken Nutrition’s chelation spray have shown that our product effectively clears heavy metals, toxins, plaque, pesticides, chemicals, and residues from past bacterial and viral infections. It also lowers elevated enzyme counts by seemingly targeting the liver as well.

The Effects of Awaken Nutrition Detox Formula

Awaken Nutrition Detox Does:

Wrap around the toxin, keeping it in circulation for elimination
Bond to toxins with ionic, covalent and hydrogen bonds
Gain easy access into the mitrochondria of the cell
Bind with greater affinity to the cell receptor sites than heavy metals, preventing reattachment
Target non-complex, loosely bound metals
Bind to an excess of a natural mineral in the body

According to the neurotoxicity theory, toxic pollutants, especially toxic metals, cause learning disabilities, an increase in aggressive behavior, and, most important, loss of control over impulsive behavior. This has a ripple effect through the network of children, causing even generally mild children to become progressively more defensive themselves in response to the uncontrollable, impulsive behavior by a few. These traits combined with poverty, social stress, alcohol and drug abuse, individual character, and other social factors contribute to producing individuals who commit violent crimes. In fact, pollution robs children’s intelligence and causes them to commit violent crimes including homicide, aggravated assault, sexual assault, and robbery, according to new research by Roger D. Masters and co-workers at Dartmouth College.

Our transmucosal oral chelation spray works on the cellular level (site-specific) to rid the body of toxic pollutants and free radicals which greatlyincrease the chances of developing debilitating, chronic and terminal diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Cancer, a myriad of CNS (Central Nervous System) disorders and more. Our spray helps return the body to its pristine state, where it was meant to be. At no time in recorded human history have people (mostly in the developed world) been so polluted by everything from industrial chemicals to simple household products to the very food we eat. Having a balance to the regular ingestion of these chemicals, heavy metals and free radicals is absolutely essential. Awaken Nutrition’s oral chelation spray is your answer to better health now!

Our easy-to-use, affordable chelation therapy product is scientifically proven to bind to and remove these materials from the body, without removing essential minerals and enzymes.  In fact, chelation therapy is the only way to treat lead poisoning. But lead isn’t the only metal cleansed from the body through chelation therapy. A chelation agent will also bind with most metals, mineral deposits, calcium-based plaques and other chemical toxins. Because of its positive impact on the bloodstream, chelation therapy has proven to benefit a number of medical conditions, including atherosclerosis and arteriosclerosis.

Chelation is a well-known method of heavy metal and toxin removal in which a special chemical compound called a chelate – such as dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA), dimercaptopropane sulfonate (DMPS), or ethylene diaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) – is given, usually intravenously. The chelate finds and forms a single attachment to the toxin with one reversible ionic bond. With that bond intact, the toxin is grabbed onto, pulled off the cell and carried from the body. However, the toxin is not neutralized during this process and is potentially able to attach to other cells on its way out.

That’s the traditional form of chelation therapy. Great strides are being made, namely with oral therapy, which provides a painless, easy way of self-administering treatment, and with positive results. A new oral chelation therapy from Awaken Nutrition provides a speciallypatented method of introducing chelating substances into the body. Made up of peptides such as glutamic, fulvic and tartaric acid, Awaken Nutrition oral chelation spray offers those suffering from heavy metal toxicity and/or autism or autism-related disorders (or those with loved ones with such afflictions) new hope for wellness.

Awaken Nutrition is a company devoted to the idea of a neurologically and physiologically well-balanced individual. Their thorough research and development, and dedication to providing the very best nutritional supplements possible for those who are experiencing chronic toxicity and need immediate treatment is garnering praise from doctors as well as users of their products! Why not experience health, wellness and true vitality with Awaken Nutrition today!

And, the experts are weighing in on the benefits of chelation therapy.

“There is no question that chelation, taking the mercury out of the kids, is by far the most effective treatment available,” says psychologist Bernard Rimland of the Autism Research Institute in San Diego, as quoted in a recent article on MSNBC. He’s only one of many health professionals weighing in about chelation therapy’s benefits. Other practitioners prescribe caution, but they, too, are having to behold the affirmative evidence now coming in.

See for yourself the benefits and the hope being generated by Awaken Nutrition’s oral chelation therapy spray now, at www.AwakenNutrition.com. It’s affordable, easy-to-use, doctor-recommended, and available to anyone seeking greater vitality and wellness, and an escape from heavy metal toxicity.

Raleigh, NC (OPENPRESS) February 20, 2009 — The Carolina Center for Integrative Medicine (CCIM), the Triangle’s leading provider of integrative medical treatments and therapies, is pleased to announce the recent election of John Pittman, MD as President of the North Carolina Integrative Medical Society. NCIMS provides educational opportunities to practitioners, as well protects the rights of practitioners to treat patients with the best health care modalities available.

Dr. Pittman founded the Carolina Center in 1994. He received his MD degree from Mercer University in Macon, Georgia and attended the Pediatric Residency Program at NC Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem with an interest in Preventive Medicine. He is one of the area’s most outspoken advocates pushing for the removal of mercury from dental amalgam fillings and Thimerosal in children’s vaccines. He testified at the Environmental Defense public hearing to discuss the current health crisis caused by mercury toxicity and was one of several speakers to speak at the State Capitol Building to support legislation to ensure safer vaccines and flu shots for North Carolina’s children and pregnant women.

Dr. Pittman is the only local physician fully certified in chelation therapy for the treatment of heavy metal toxicity and only one of six medical practitioners in the state of North Carolina who is a Diplomate through the American Board of Clinical Metal Toxicology. He is a regular guest lecturer for the UNC School of Medicine Division of Integrative Medicine, speaking annually to medical students about the dangers of heavy metal toxicity and the use of chelation therapy as a treatment for this condition. Most recently, Dr. Pittman was recognized by Business Leader magazine as one of their 2008 Triangle Impact Health Care Leaders.

Dr. Pittman was one of a small group of North Carolina physicians who formed NCIMS in 2002. He helped organize the society’s statewide conference in 2004 where he was the keynote speaker on Mercury Toxicity. NCIMS continues to attract new members and associates, growing to a group of nearly 100 doctors statewide. Dr. Pittman said that he’s looking forward to the opportunities his new role will bring, especially the ability to reach out to non-conventional physicians.

“The fact that I’m the new president of NCIMS brings a new dimension to my work, realizing that I am now the spokesperson for Integrative Medicine in North Carolina,” says Dr. Pittman. “My personal goal as NCIMS president is to bridge the divide that has split conventional and non-conventional doctors and help educate more mainstream physicians about the scientific research that exists and supports the use of many non-pharmaceutical modalities.”

NCIMS believes that the combined knowledge of mainstream medical practices and alternative medicine is ultimately superior to a single-model approach to health and wellness. The organization thinks this integrated approach will ultimately lead to safer, faster, more affordable, and more effective healthcare. For more information, visit www.ncims.com.

About the Carolina Center for Integrative Medicine
The Carolina Center utilizes a combination of the most progressive alternative therapies, along with dietary and lifestyle modifications, to treat a wide variety of chronic illnesses and immune system dysfunctions. Conditions treated include Atherosclerosis & Disorders of Circulation, Chronic Digestive Disturbances, Chronic Infections & Immune Dysfunction, Degenerative Neurological Disorders, Fibromyalgia, Lyme Disease, Natural Hormone Replacement Therapy, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity/Environmental Allergies, and Pediatric Program for Autism. The Carolina Center also provides Chemical Detoxification and support for patients injured through exposure to mold, pesticides, mercury, and sick building syndrome. For more information, call (919) 571-4391 or visit www.carolinacenter.com.

Media Contact:
Louise Cottrell
FireBrand Marketing, Inc.
(919) 848-1025
louisec@firebrandmarketing.com

by Julia Hawes
Feb 15, 2009

Children, one of the more vulnerable patient groups, are often treated with medicine that has only been tested in adults, researchers said Saturday at the American Association for the Advancement of Science conference.

“About three-quarters of the drugs, I actively prescribe to my pediatric patients daily have never been adequately tested in children,” said Dr. Michael Shannon, who works in pediatrics and clinical pharmacology at Children’s Hospital Boston. He estimated that the number increased to almost 90 percent in pediatric intensive care units.

Shannon and other speakers at the “Medicines for Children” symposium argued that the disparity between adult and pediatric physiology is great enough that there are both ethical and medical implications of administering medicine that has not been tested expressly for pediatric use.

“The assumption that children are just small adults consistently results in drug overmedication, undermedication and unanticipated adverse events,” Shannon said. “There’s a great need to expand drug discovery and development in children.”

Shannon and other researchers have found their subject and research areas are affected by the limited number of adequately tested pediatric medicine.

He explained the benefits of chelating drugs on childhood lead poisoning. Such drugs eliminate lead from the body, but not always when the lead levels are lower than with severe poisoning.

D-Penicillamine can serve as both a copper and lead chelator, even in children with lower lead levels. However, children given large quantities of the drug have suffered adverse side effects, such as hepatitis and aplastic anemia, resulting in a high failure rate for the chelator. Shannon described a federally funded penicillamine clinical trial for children aimed at learning how to better study a drug—previously only tested on adults—may be improved for pediatric use.

Gilles Vassal, a cancer specialist with the Institut de Cancérologie Gustave Roussy in Villejuif, France, outlined a plan to expand oral pharmaceuticals and therapies for children suffering from cancer. Unfortunately, he said, many of the basic cancer-fighting compounds are not available for children from the pharmaceutical companies.

“The market is too small, and the return investment is not high enough,” Vassal said.

The panel agreed that the focus on changes in childhood metabolism should be expanded in order to develop new pharmaceuticals, whether it’s in using lorazepam for epilepsy or cyclophosphamide for leukemia and lymphoma. The latter is not currently available as an easily administered oral drug for young children—especially those who cannot swallow medicine—and Vassal hopes research on the drug can be expanded to better serve pediatric oncology patients.

Shannon described the basic ways a new drug are discovered and subsequently developed—modification of an existing drug; test uube or animal testing; basic clinical observation, and systematic clinical research.

Despite two American laws relating to pediatric drug development, clinical trial methods remain controversial.

Shannon, Vassal and Dr. Fergal Donnelly, an officer in health biotechnology with the European Commission, feel that the ethical concerns surrounding pediatric clinical trials must be compared to what they feel is the more extreme ethical challenge—children being administered medicine that has not been tested adequately.

The international panel expressed hopes that there would be closer integration of European and U.S. research in pediatric medicine.

Donnelly dismissed a question about whom exactly the European Commission and domestic facilities are trying to serve with the push for more testing because of the interplay with the pharmaceutical industry.

“We are not responding to the needs of the industry, but to the needs of our patients,” Donnelly said.

The National Institutes of Health now spends more than $120 million a year studying things like yoga and herbs.

Its National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine is applying rigorous scientific tests to alternative treatments. But the center also has drawn criticism for studying therapies that are popular, rather than the ones that scientists believe have the best chance of working.

One of the treatments now being studied is a powerful chelation drug called EDTA.

Chelation drugs are typically used to reduce dangerous levels of lead and other metals. But in alternative medicine, EDTA is marketed as a way to clean out blocked arteries.
So the NIH is spending $30 million to study EDTA.
Edward Colditz, 67, is a volunteer in the study. The retired steelworker lives near Baltimore and has a long history of heart disease.

“It was April 7, 1994, when I had the major heart attack,” he says. Since then he’s had a quadruple bypass and five stents inserted into his arteries.

So when Colditz heard about the chelation study, he was interested.

Now he comes to a clinic at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center every Wednesday. During each visit, he spends several hours with an IV dripping fluid into his body. The fluid may be a placebo or EDTA — neither Colditz or his doctors are allowed to know which.

He says the treatments are no big deal.

“All you do is you sit here and watch TV and holler if you want a coffee,” he says. “I don’t feel a thing.”

Colditz’ doctor is Pamela Ouyoung. She’s a cardiologist who says she never expected to use alternative medicines. But she agreed to participate in the NIH study because so many patients seem to believe that chelation works.

“I Remember one young man who had severe coronary heart disease that I thought should go to bypass surgery,” she says. Instead, he chose chelation. Ouyang doesn’t know what happened to him.

That was years ago. At the time, chelation advocates believed EDTA cleared arteries by removing calcium. That made some sense because calcium is a major component of plaques that build up inside blood vessels.

Studies eventually showed that chelation had no effect on the calcium in these plaques. But Ouyang says the treatment remains popular.

“People think, well you know, I have all this buildup in my arteries,” she says. “Going to get something that sounds like Drano is appealing.”

These days, advocates of EDTA say it may work by reducing free radicals in the body. But the drug still removes calcium. And that can be risky.

Dr. Cecilia Davoli, who uses EDTA to treat children with lead poisoning at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, says that without enough calcium, muscles in the body don’t work.

“An important muscle is the heart,” she says. “So the heart won’t beat appropriately when the calcium level is too low.”

Or it may not beat at all. EDTA has been linked to several deaths.

Davoli uses a version of EDTA that doesn’t remove calcium. But the NIH study uses a type that does because it’s what chelation practitioners most often use.

Dr. Gervasio Lamas of Mt. Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach is the chelation study’s principal investigator. Lamas says the EDTA study is a big departure for him. He usually tests conventional drugs developed in the lab.

“With alternative medicine, it’s different,” he says. “These are treatments that are out there. People are using them. Hypotheses have been proposed about them. Some studies have been done. But the scientific underpinning is less.”

Even so, Lamas thinks the chelation study is worthwhile. One reason is that thousands of people with heart disease are already using the approach.

Lamas says that if the study shows it works, cardiologists will have a new way to treat heart disease. And if it doesn’t, consumers should know the truth.

“They need to know that they are going to be wasting their money,” he says. “So practice habits and patient behavior in terms of seeking alternative therapies will certainly change based on this trial.”

Lamas says the NIH study was designed with help from the American College for Advancement in Medicine (ACAM) — a group that represents chelation practitioners.

Lamas says that means these practitioners are likely to accept the results.

Dr. Allan Magaziner, a former president of ACAM, is less certain. He’s treating patients in the NIH study at his clinic in New Jersey. But he says he’ll be skeptical if the results are negative.

“Sometimes statistics can be manipulated in certain ways in certain studies,” he says. “So we’d have to make sure that wasn’t the case here.”

Magaziner says it’s possible that a negative result might change the way he uses chelation. But he adds, “I don’t know if I’d stop completely because we’re seeing great results with it.”

Ouyang hopes practitioners like Magaziner won’t dismiss a negative result.

But she hopes the study will show some benefit from chelation.

“You have to be willing to hope that it would work,” she says. “Clearly if I felt there was absolutely no way this thing could work then it would be rather pointless to ask patients to participate in it.”

Ouyang says one reason she’s comfortable with the study is that patients in it are getting the best mainstream care along with their infusions.

Edward Colditz says that’s certainly been true for him.

“Every week I’m taken care of very good,” he says “So that’s what I’m getting out of it right now. As far as what I’m feeling from this, I don’t know.”

The NIH trial of chelation is still enrolling patients. It should should be completed sometime in 2008.

by Jon Hamilton NPR

If there is any good news, it is that researchers are taking seriously the impact of rising numbers of diagnosed cases of Autism.  Kaiser Permanente, a major medical organization, has joined an intensive 5-year study on children and families with autism studying the genetic and environmental factors associated with the disorder and the possible effective treatments for Austim.
See full article below:

Kaiser Permanente joins 5-year examination

Researchers are launching the largest-ever U.S. study aimed at solving one of the most perplexing mysteries of modern times: the cause of autism.

The incurable disorder now strikes nearly one in 150 American children and shows no sign of letting up. California recently shattered a record by adding more than 1,000 new cases of autism to its regional center system in just three months.

The five-year, $5.9 million study by Kaiser Permanente and other organizations will explore genetic and environmental reasons for the rapid rise in diagnosed cases.

The prevailing opinion among scientists is that one or more environmental factors, linked with genetics, play a role in causing the disorder, said Lisa Croen, a Kaiser epidemiologist and the study’s principal investigator in California.

“What’s become very clear is that autism results from a combination of having a genetic predisposition or genetic susceptibility, plus the added extra exposures from environmental factors or other kinds of lifestyle factors,” Croen said.

Investigators will look at everything from family medical history to what happened during pregnancy, medications the mother took, a child’s vaccination history, and whether the parents’ occupations or home locations exposed them to harmful substances.

Also included will be such lifestyle issues as whether the mother smoked.

“We’re looking for factors that might be associated with predicting these conditions,” Croen said. “Once we identify factors, if these findings are replicated in other scientifically valid studies, then you can start building intervention strategies and prevention strategies.”Families in Alameda and Santa Clara counties will be invited to participate, along with people from five other sites across the nation.

All told, researchers hope to enroll 2,700 children.

In addition to Kaiser Permanente’s Division of Research in Oakland, other organizations involved in the study include Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

The national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will fund the study.

Its wide scope won praise from some parents of autistic children.

“I’m pleased to see the research moving in the direction of looking at environmental factors,” said Rick Rollens, the father of an autistic child and a co-founder of the M.I.N.D. Institute at University of California, Davis.

The study is unlikely to shed light on one of the most controversial issues in autism today — whether thimerosal, a mercury-based vaccine preservative, contributed to the rapid rise in cases. The research will focus only on children born from September 2003 to August 2005. That was after many pharmaceutical companies voluntarily removed thimerosal from children’s vaccines.

Despite this limitation, Rollens said he is pleased that vaccine history will be a part of the review.

“Vaccines still contain aluminum, formaldehyde, MSG, live viruses and killed bacteria, among many other things,” Rollens said.

Just a few decades ago, autism was considered a rare condition. Today, it has become so prevalent that the American Academy of Pediatrics now recommends autism screening for all children between the ages of 18 and 24 months, even if parents have not noticed anything unusual.

The Wallace family of San Jose may provide proof of the genetic component to autism.

Leland, an engineer at Apple Computer, and his wife Vanessa, who teaches music at home, are raising five children. Four of them have some form of autism. Three are from Leland’s first marriage. The two youngest are Leland and Vanessa’s offspring.

Eighteen-year-old Ian and 11-year-old Connor have both been diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, a high-functioning form of autism. The Wallaces began to notice that despite his high IQ, Ian had some unusual behaviors, including speaking in what sounded like a British accent.

“He really had not a clue about how friendship worked,” Vanessa said. “If plans changed, he’d get upset.”

Obsessed with video games, Ian speaks about them in great detail in a flat, monotone voice.

“He doesn’t pick up on cues that you’re no longer interested in the subject,” his father said.

Ian is taking computer classes at West Valley College in hopes of becoming a video game designer.

Sixteen-year-old Briana is not autistic. Four-year-old Meghan was diagnosed with a high-functioning form of the disorder after her parents noticed that she often had difficulty maintaining a conversation, yet could echo phrases she heard on television. Two-year-old Gillian also has been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder.

Despite the challenges, the Wallace family appeared to be a happy, close-knit group during a recent interview.

“You look at what their strengths are,” Vanessa said. “That’s just parenting.”

Bay Area researchers hope to recruit 450 families, divided evenly among children with autism; those who have other developmental disorders; and those who are developing typically. Kaiser members and non-Kaiser members are eligible to participate.

The assessments will be done at Kaiser’s autism center in San Jose. Included will be a family interview and a 40-minute observation of how a child plays, said Dr. Pilar Bernal, who directs Kaiser’s regional autism program.

Investigators will also collect cheek swabs, and blood and hair samples.

The Wallace family eagerly awaits the findings.

“Every little bit of data that we collect helps us as parents to be better parents for our children,” Vanessa said.

Author: Sandy Kleffman
925-943-8249 or skleffman@bayareanewsgroup.com
Source: http://www.insidebayarea.com

For more information on autism related information and nutrition visit: www.awakennutrition.com

New scientific data and opinion supports nutrition and dietary intervention as helpful for those with autism. Newly updated book by Autism diet expert, Nourishing Hope, explains the scientific rationale for applying special diets.

San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) November 27, 2007 — For every one in 150 children diagnosed with autism, traditional thinking recommends only behavior and communication therapies and medicines to control symptoms. Julie Matthews, Certified Nutrition Consultant and author of Nourishing Hope, knows that something is missing. Treatment options have been limited due to a narrow perspective of autism as strictly a brain, or ‘psychiatric’ disorder. “Fortunately, science is now rethinking autism and new data supports the idea that special diets can help,” Julie says.

Scientists from the University of Western Ontario recently linked a compound produced in the digestive system (also found in wheat and dairy products) to autistic type behavior, which may demonstrate that what autistic children eat could alter their brain function. Commenting on the study, Dr. Martha Herbert, Assistant Professor in Neurology at Harvard Medical School, recently told CBC news in Canada, “Now we’re learning that the brain and body can influence each other. There are chemicals produced by and influenced by foods that can affect the brain.” If you remove those foods, that negative impact can stop.

The new edition of Matthews’ book, Nourishing Hope, highlights recent research in biochemistry and nutrition for autism, and explains the scientific rationale for dietary intervention to help restore health. Doctors and researchers are now recognizing what nutrition experts like Julie have known for years, that the brain is “downstream” from the body’s biochemistry, and not the sole origin of the problems seen with autism.

Indeed, the editor-in-chief of the peer-reviewed journal, Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, Mark A. Hyman, M.D., posits a new “systemic way of thinking” about autism in his current editorial, Is The Cure For Brain Disorders Outside The Brain? He states that nutritional deficiencies or imbalances can explain some symptoms of autism and that “the body’s influence on the brain must come to the forefront of research and treatment.”

To help with autism, Julie recommends avoiding gluten and casein (wheat and dairy) because these foods are known to affect a brain response similar to morphine leading to foggy thinking and food cravings in children. Next, she suggests introducing foods that are easy to digest, rich in good bacteria, and packed with nutrients such as homemade broths, naturally fermented foods, and pureed vegetables hidden in meatballs, as well as supplements such as cod liver oil, probiotics (good bacteria), B6, magnesium, and zinc.

Children with autism tend to have very limited diets, so the idea of removing wheat and dairy can initially seem challenging to some parents: however, Julie provides encouragement by explaining, “Once you remove the problematic foods that can be addictive, children often expand their diet tremendously.” Thousands of parents who’ve applied nutrition intervention attest that what they feed their kids clearly makes a difference.

Since parents determine children’s diets, this major key to autism is literally in their hands.

Julie Matthews is a Certified Nutrition Consultant specializing in autism spectrum disorders. She speaks at national autism conferences, and leads cooking demonstrations on traditional healing foods. Julie has a private nutrition practice and weekly radio show in San Francisco and assists families from around the world.

For more information: NourishingHope.com
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For information on nutritional products for Autism please visit www.awakennutrition.com

Researchers at the Ohio State University Medical Center said an old drug may offer new hope for children struggling with autism.According to the Autism Society of America, autism is the fastest growing developmental disability in the United States. There is no cure, but researchers are testing a variety of treatments, including a drug called mecamylamine.Mecamylamine was first used to treat high blood pressure in the 1950s. Researchers at the Ohio State University Medical Center said the drug has been effective more recently in helping children control the symptoms of conditions like Tourette syndrome and attention deficit disorder. They hope it might also help with autism.

“There is some hope that it will make a significant improvement in the core symptoms: the social impairment, the communication, the repetitive behavior, such that it will help them to faster get along the road to rehabilitation,” said researcher Dr. Eugene Arnold.

For the current study, 20 children age 4 to 12 with autism will receive the drug or placebo over 13 weeks.For more information about the study, contact coordinator Kristy Humphries at (614) 292-3698 or humphries.33@osu.edu.To learn more about autism, go to: www.autismspeaks.org

For information on autism nutrition and treatments please visit: www.awakennutrition.com

Source: http://www.clickondetroit.com/health/14525264/detail.html