Autism. 2005 Jul;9(3):290-8.
Toxic trace elements in the hair of children with autism.
Fido A, Al-Saad S.
Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medecine, Kuwait University, Kuwait. fido@HSC.EDU.KW.
Excess or deficiency of natural trace elements has been implicated in the etiology of autism. This study explores whether concentration levels of toxic metals in the hair of children with autism significantly differ from those of age- and sex-matched healthy controls. In-hair concentration levels of antimony, uranium, arsenic, beryllium, mercury, cadmium, lead and aluminum from 40 boys with autism and 40 healthy boys were determined by Perkin-Elmer mass spectrometry. The children with autism had significantly (p<0.001) higher in-hair concentration levels of lead, mercury and uranium. There was no significant difference between the two groups in the other five toxic elements. The ratio between nutritional elements and toxic metals among children with autism was within the normal range. The possible sources of the toxic metals are discussed. Such testing is informative but at present the practical implications in terms of diagnosis and clinical management are limited.
PMID: 15937043
Can I be somewhat sceptical here. The study is being conducted in Kuwait, wasn't there a war there, and people who fought in it had worries of a 'gulf war syndrome'?
I would not like to wonder what chemicals were used during that and what environmental affects it had.
Of course, Amy, the children may well have been contaminated with military residues, and heaven knows what effects they might have on a person, or what vested interests there might well be in manipulating such data.
But it's much the best that we should have our eye on claims of this kind, so we are as well-informed as can be about current developments.
Stella
Who would put uranium in a vaccine (or lead or arsenic for that matter)? I don't think that expriment is that valid, as they never give a source for these metals.
I went to school with an amanda fido, who, I seen to recall, had a (low functioning) autistic brother I wonder whether it could be the same person?
Apart from the question where the uranium comes from are still other questions unanswered. How significant would such a testing be with only 80 children involved (I don't know, it's long time ago I did statistics). And that, being as much NT children as there are autistic children. Will the result be the same in other cultures/environment of the children? Still a lot of questions to solve.
Even if the results are true and can be proven by another group of scientists, what would the result/achievement be from it? It might be that the plus in those toxic metals are only a result of a different metabolism and that metabolism would be the cause of being autistic. As long as those questions aren't cleared, one could only do conjectures/presumptions (?) about what's the cause and what's the effect.
It is well known nowadays, that some ppl can take a very high amount of a toxic substance that would have killed other individuals in a lower dose. That's different metabolism because of evolution. We remember, a population that has a wide range of genetic different individuals is more likely to survive changes in environment than a population with a lot of clones.
Sibylle
The abstract does end by saying Such testing is informative but at present the practical implications in terms of diagnosis and clinical management are limited
I found this article interesting. I remain skeptical that mercury (or other heavy metals) are the sole causative agent for autism.
But clearly something is going on aside from purely hereditary effects. Otherwise, identical twins would occupy essentially identical places on the spectrum, while in fact there is variation even between identical twins.
The "answer," when ultimately discovered, may be more subtle than anyone has guessed so far. It may be more than genes, or fetal testosterone, or mercury, or anything else that has been hypothesized to date. Yet some or all of these factors might have an influence, or a contingent influence, on what makes a brain the way it is. And the role that these, or other factors, may have might become clear only when a deeper understanding is eventually found.
The full paper may be found by a simple search on scholar.google.com.
Here are some excerpts:
The most probable source of the high concentration of lead in this sample may be due to the much higher Pb exposure occurring in Kuwait in the past decade when leaded gasoline was used. In contrast, the high inorganic mercury may have resulted from the consumption of ocean fish with methyl mercury contamination, or more likely from domestic bread containing methyl mercury fungicide widely consumed in Kuwait. . . . Uranium is considered an environmental pollutant. The most common sources, other than occupational exposure, are from coal burning emissions and phosphate fertilizers, both of which are common in Kuwait. Whether or not the uranium depleted weapons (UDWs) used in the first Gulf War contributed to this effect cannot be ascertained at this stage. It should be noted, however, that hair uranium does not represent the radioactive form of this element.
Although the toxic metal in-hair concentrations obtained from this sample of autistic children were significantly higher than those from the age-matched sample of healthy controls, we should be careful in drawing an analogy between the gross higher toxic metal levels reported by Cox et al. (1995) in Iraq and the marginally elevated levels presented in this study.
The mechanism responsible for the possible toxic effects of these metals on the development of autism is not known. However, Rodier (2000) has suggested that migratory cells undergoing mitosis in the neural tube of the fetus are particularly vulnerable to toxic insults. A growing fetus also lacks the important capacity for drug detoxification, and the incomplete development of the blood/brain barrier further increases vulnerability at this stage. Even if the toxic elements are not directly involved in the cause of autism, it is possible that they may still have a role in the course of this disorder. The interactions of the natural trace elements system in the body are complicated and interconnected . . . .
It is recognized that this study has several limitations. First, the estimate of the children’s diet was missing and it is not clear whether their nutritional status was worse than that found in non-autistic children. Second, monitoring metals in hair generally does not present as reliable information of the oral intake of metals as would monitoring of blood and/or urine. Third, no direct comparison was made with children who are globally intellectually impaired but do not have autism. Logistics and funding precluded our ability to obtain such comparative data. Such a comparison warrants further study. . . .
Although the conclusions are speculative, the findings may offer an avenue for further research in this area. It is worth pointing out, however, that while testing of this kind may be informative for research purposes, given the current state of our knowledge, the practical implications in terms of clinical management are limited.
"But clearly something is going on aside from purely hereditary effects. Otherwise, identical twins would occupy essentially identical places on the spectrum, while in fact there is variation even between identical twins."
Funnily enough that is being discussed in the 'genetics' forum right now.
What's the point? I think people have been watching too much of that horrible Schwarzenegger film The 6th Day, anyway. Next you'll see people there claiming that identical twins lead identical lives. :roll: