Aspies For Freedom

This information on heavy metal poisoning and chelation states clearly that once neurological damage is done, it cannot be reversed.
The claims of being able to reverse so called autism symptoms caused by chelating are totally false.

"Treatment

The treatment for most heavy metal poisoning is chelation therapy. A chelating agent specific to the metal involved is given orally, intramuscularly, or intravenously. The three most common chelating agents are calcium disodium edetate, dimercaprol (BAL), and penicillamine. The chelating agent encircles and binds to the metal in the body's tissues, forming a complex; that complex is then released from the tissue to travel in the bloodstream. The complex is filtered out of the blood by the kidneys and excreted in the urine. This process may be lengthy and painful and typically requires hospitalization. Chelation therapy is effective in treating lead, mercury, and arsenic poisoning, but it is not useful in treating cadmium poisoning. As of 2004, no treatment had been proven effective for cadmium poisoning.

In cases of acute mercury or arsenic ingestion, vomiting may be induced. Washing out the stomach (gastric lavage) may also be useful. The affected person may also require treatment such as intravenous fluids for complications of poisoning such as shock, anemia, and kidney failure.

Prognosis

The chelation process can only halt further effects of the poisoning; it cannot reverse neurological damage already sustained.
http://www.healthofchildren.com/G-H/Heav...oning.html

In contrast this quote from Evidence of Harm " The story of Lenny Hoover, 6 years old, from Royal Palm Beach, Fla., is one that advocates of chelation therapy often cite.

Lenny Hoover's parents say chelation helped reverse his autism. He now attends regular kindergarten."
http:// www. evidenceof harm. com/wsj.htm

Also from the head of Generation Rescue "Every day, another 50 kids are diagnosed with autism," adding, "Too often the parents receiving this life-changing news are not aware of the real, medical treatments available to reverse autistic symptoms.

That is from this wikipedia page - http:// en. wikipedia .org/wiki/ Generation_Rescue

I added this paragraph to their wikipedia page "JB Handley claims that autism symptoms can be reversed. Autism is a neurological condition, if, as Generation Rescue broadly claim, autism signs can be reversed using chelation, this is in contradiction of the scientific capabilities of chelation. Quote from Encyclopedia of Children's Health "Prognosis - The chelation process can only halt further effects of the poisoning; it cannot reverse neurological damage already sustained." Therefore any effects from mercury poisoning that appeared to simulate autism would not be reversed by such treatment anyway."

i think this whole losing of diagosis is the result of one or both of the following:

1. autistic children develop diffrently than most, and aquire skills that most 2 year olds learn by the time they enter school.  the fact that they learned skills during the cheleation period is just a coidence.

2. these children are being told to act a certian way by adults and they fold and conform to this way in order not to be abused.  the cheleation is just reencorment of the ideals.

consdier that a big autism sterotype is that autistics cannot learn ever without aba or quack thearpy and will stay the way they are without the thearpy.  the mercury parents hold tight to this sterotype and say cheleation helps their brains learn.

i think the losing the diagosis is made on the basis that autistics stay at the 3 year old state forever, and that they never develop mentally from that point, saying that they are deveopmenly disabled.  if you tested me today on the same test as a child, of course i won't be considred autistic, becuase the test is made based on a very limited age range.  i think more tests should be made avabile for diffrent stages, becuase i grew and developed naturally without quack thearpies.  the diagostic tests are based on sterotyped assumptions about autistics at their child state.  if you had a test for being a child, of course adults will not score in that.  this whole losing diagosis is a bunch of quack.

I think there's a chance that mercury might contribute to the development a lot of conditions in conjunction with genetic factors (autism, MS, lupus and other autoimmune problems), but my opinion is based a lot on anecdotal evidence after having grown up in one of the most mercury-polluted (and othewise polluted) areas in the USA.

What I don't get is since there's obviously no way to reverse any of those three syndromes, why aren't these parents focusing on REAL sources of mercury exposure, like eating fish from polluted waters?  There are huge amounts of mercury in Indiana, especially, just in the everyday environment.  Autism isn't going to kill anyone...other conditions with a more proven link to mercury are, so why not work for environmental protections and cleanups to halt the contamination, thus preventing further mercury-influenced cases, rather than latch onto the microscopic amounts present in vaccines while ignoring the larger issue?

Because there's no money to be made from environmental cleanups, whereas the snake-oil chelation peddlers are raking in the bucks.

It's all a con game.

That's true.  I too often make the unfortunate assumption that people aren't selfish jerks.