Aspies For Freedom

Clinical trials being carried out in Arizona will look at the effectiveness of two autism therapies, including one that has been met with skepticism by some doctors.

A clinical trial already under way is testing the effects of potent vitamin and mineral supplements on autism symptoms. Children with autism suffer from social withdrawal and the inability to interact and communicate with others.

A second trial beginning in about two weeks will test what's known as chelation therapy, in which a drug is used to extract heavy metals from the bodies of autistic children. Mercury has emerged as a prime suspect in the increasing numbers of autistic children in the United States.

Dr. Sanford Newmark, a Tucson pediatrician, is the lead physician on both the chelation and vitamin trials. He is conducting physical and nutritional examinations of all the children involved, totaling more than 150 from Tucson and Phoenix, and will monitor their physical health during the trials.

About half the autistic children will receive the active chelation drug or vitamins and a control group will receive a placebo.

Neither the families nor the researchers will know who is receiving which until the trials are concluded by early next year.

Seventy-eight autistic children, ages 3 to 9, are being recruited to test a vitamin-mineral supplement given in powder form three times daily during the four-month trial.

Jim Adams, professor of chemistry at Arizona State University, who is supervising both trials, said previous small studies have shown autistic children have lower blood levels of crucial nutrients than non-autistic children.

Some 80 children will be enrolled in the chelation trial. All will be given initial doses of the chelating agent known as DMSA, dimercaptosuccinic acid, which causes excretion of heavy metals in the urine.

Chelation therapy has been used on many autistic children in the country, but without any scientific proof that it works, and despite the skepticism and disapproval of many physicians.

"I have been very reluctant to recommend chelation," said Newmark, who specializes in integrative medicine, combining mainstream with alternative treatments.

"Right now, there is absolutely no scientific evidence it affects autism, so I don't have confidence in it. But that's why we want to do these trials, to see if we can offer parents some real answers."

The vitamin study is funded by the Phoenix chapter of the Autism Society of America, ASU and the Autism Research Institute.

The chelation study is funded by the Scottsdale-based Wallace Foundation.
http://kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=3869501

This is some information on the Wallace Foundation who are funding the chelation study.

The Wallace Foundation of Arizona was established in 1977 as a private family foundation whose mission is to promote social responsibility through funding nonprofit agencies that demonstrate innovative solutions to the growing problems of social and economic injustice in Arizona communities.

It doesn't say how the chelating drug will be given, I hope it won't be intravenous, but I don't think children can just swallow it either.

I didn't see anything in that article that suggested that there would be no intravenous administration of the chelation drug. Am I missing something?

It was unclear.

Dr. Sanford Newmark, a Tucson pediatrician, is the lead physician on both the chelation and vitamin trials. He is conducting physical and nutritional examinations of all the children involved, totaling more than 150 from Tucson and Phoenix, and will monitor their physical health during the trials.

Here's Dr. Newmark's webpage >> http://www.doctornewmark.com

Does anyone else have an uneasy feeling about these trials, what they will actually do, and who is behind it?

Because of the nature of later development for children with autism, such as delayed speech, I am always wary when parents say 'I tried brand x and 6 months later my child's speech/behaviour/sleep had improved'.

I sincerely hope they have good controls and take these factors into account.

For the vitamin part it will be orally, but it didn't specify for the chelation part.

Great to see you again Stella, there were requests for more of your stories in the Tescos thread in the Time Out forum. :smile:

Stella wrote

:lol:

Have the mercury and vaccine ratbags explained the link between the engineering profession and supposed negative biological reactions to vaccines yet? I'm not holding my breath!

I fear that the trial of chelation will be dangerous to the treament group subjects, as I have not seen evidence that the chemical used is safe by any method of administration. I also fear that the trial will present risks for no benefit, as so many of the "clinical trials" of autism "therapies" that have been done in the past have been judged to be scientifically worthless or seriously flawed when placed under scientifically rigorous scrutiny, such as the systematic reviews of the Cochrane Collaboration.

Noetic, I think you are naive in thinking that a clinical trial showing that a "therapy" does not work would have any impact on the choices of most parents of autistic children. Some doctors bother to read up on clinical trials, the vast majority of patients and health service consumers never read about this stuff, nor read credible publications that might report such trials.

Your assumption that a death cannot occur under medical supervision is wrong. The boy who died from chelation recently was pparently under the care of a qualified medical doctor. I can't tell from the news stories whether the procedure was done in a properly-equipped facility, but I did read that the doctor had credentials.

Hmm... I think you underestimate people Lili. Most people want to be properly informed about medical treatments before undergoing them, even more so if the person having them is their child. I know a lot of parents of disabled people who are very critical consumers when it comes to choosing therapies and treatments, since they have often had to wade through so much bullshit to get some truth about what's good for their kid and what's not.

Noetic, do you mean that parents who use or consider using chelation, are those who feel it is 'natural'? I have not considered that before.

Is it being sold as a natural alternative to medication?

If the companies promoting it have targeted a certain group of parents, it would be even more worrying.
I have seen things about clay bath treatments, don't know if others have heard of them, and they do claim to be natural.

I'll have a look for some chelation ads, and see if there are provocative, appealing keywords.

Did you hear about the arizona horse**** scam?

Someone well known in the community made an article on how a certain ingredient in horse manure on arizona was proven to cure autism, it was all completely bogus and no real medical evidence provided, just an email.
The person got lots of emails from parents wanting to buy some, and one lady that I know was actually about to spend her savings on going to arizona to collect some fresh specimens of manure to use for her son.

Thankfully the person came clean about the hoax, but its proves that desperate parents will buy into any nonsense if its presented well.