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When a person is diagnosed with autism, panic ensues. Can they be cured as soon as possible? Is autism really just mercury poisoning? Can they remove it from my child's body?!
Scientists say no. Autistics say no. So probably it won't help.
Read on - this lens is all you need to know about chelation so you will never inflict it on your family.
Chelation: Can It Cure Autism?
The idea of chelation of autistic people is based on a theory, which has been disproved by science many times, but still refuses to go away.
This theory boldly states that children get autism from being brain-damaged by some childhood vaccines with traces of mercury.
Chelation is supposed to cure autism completely by removing mercury from the organism.
Chelation does remove heavy, harmful metals - it really helps if you got yourself into some nasty industrial accident. But it also takes zinc and other important stuff. Some children have died from this.
Maybe it does help the organism a bit (much more popular idea is that chelation fixes heart problems - but even that is not proven), but mostly it doesn't.
Chelation does not repair brain damage.
And autism is not about brain damage anyway.
This theory boldly states that children get autism from being brain-damaged by some childhood vaccines with traces of mercury.
Chelation is supposed to cure autism completely by removing mercury from the organism.
Chelation does remove heavy, harmful metals - it really helps if you got yourself into some nasty industrial accident. But it also takes zinc and other important stuff. Some children have died from this.
Maybe it does help the organism a bit (much more popular idea is that chelation fixes heart problems - but even that is not proven), but mostly it doesn't.
Chelation does not repair brain damage.
And autism is not about brain damage anyway.
What do you think?
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Chelation News
More on Chelation as Cure for Autism
If you're willing to give chelation a try, here's some pages on the theory of chelation.
- The Safety and Efficacy of Chelation Therapy in Autism
- This basically states that:
chelation is safe;
it's used to remove heavy metals, not cure autism;
somebody has said that chelation improved their child's condition [note the use of the term "improved", not "cured"]. - Chelation: The story behind the headlines
- This article says that somebody has died after being chelated, but you should try chelation anyway.
- Autism Research Institute: Autism is Treatable!
- If you enjoyed chelation, you might also want to check out their other miraculous cures for autism.
- Chelation therapy
- Wikipedia says that chelation is "alternative practice" for heart diseases and such. It curtly states that there is no scientific evidence that chelation cures autism.
- Autism: Treatments
- Chelation of Mercury. An MD says you can treat autism this way.
- American Heart Association: Chelation Therapy
- This article says they're conducting a proper scientific investigation to find out if you can cure heart disease by chelation. No, they are not interested in autism.
Worth to check out: if it doesn't cure autism, at least your autistic could have a healthier heart. - Q&A about Chelation Therapy
- American Heart Association further discusses the possibility that heart diseases could be fixed by changing your lifestyle while doing chelation, not by chelation itself.
Chelation on Amazon
My extensive search through Amazon lead to this conclusion: chelation is only used, recommended and advertised for heart health situations.
These are the two books who seem to know the most.
These are the two books who seem to know the most.
Everything You Should Know About Chelation Therapy
Amazon Price: $12.89 (as of 12/26/2009) 
A Textbook on EDTA Chelation Therapy: Second Edition
Amazon Price: $54.75 (as of 12/26/2009)
Chelation as a Waste of Your Time
Let's see the reasons why you shouldn't try chelation on an autistic person.
- Through the Looking Glass
- This guy (an MD) explains how he got involved in chelation attempts to cure his two autistic sons. And why he shouldn't have.
- Unproven Claims and Unsound Theories
- A PhD discusses the uselessness of chelation.
- Chelation Watch
- Yet another MD has a whole skeptical website about chelation. Lots of useful information even if you're still desperate enough to try the therapy no matter what.
- Misconceptions about Immunization
- Why vaccines don't cause autism.
Chelation on CafePress
The worst thing about chelation is that these attempts are basically this: medical experiments with children. People just say, "nothing is worse than autism", and that is used as a license to do anything, commit any atrocity, inflict any pain to the children.
The truth is, all children want (and have the right) to love the world, explore the endless opportunities and live their life without fear and pain.
If you care - why not wear your opinion on your sleeve!
The truth is, all children want (and have the right) to love the world, explore the endless opportunities and live their life without fear and pain.
If you care - why not wear your opinion on your sleeve!
The Face of Chelation
There's one really notorious autism-related blog on the net. The author, John Best, is best known for his all-out promotion of chelation, and also for attacking Neurodiversity and Amanda Baggs.
He likes to call his opponents nitwits, lunatics and idiots.
It also seems he has an autistic son who has allegedly gained significant improvement by means of chelation (although it is widely known that autistics tend to improve and regress again on their own, regardless of any diets and chelation attempts). Apparently with all that help John Best's autistic son still can't speak.
Warning: includes quite a lot of hate speech.
Here's the feed of that blog:
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byHey, Don't Lose Hope!
There are many other ways to help your autistic loved one. First of all, you gotta stop that panic and start reading the web.
How do I know you're in panic? Well, you did read about chelation, didn't you?
Trust me, you don't need to resort to such desperate measures as chelation or other kinds of quackery.
There are many places where you can get hope. I'd recommend this one for start.
P.S. most of the readers of this page are looking for ways to cure autism. For those of you who would consider making your autistic loved ones happy and accomplished human beings BEFORE a reliable cure becomes available (and in case cure doesn't, ever, become possible, you should consider happiness as an option too), I'd suggest further reading.
How do I know you're in panic? Well, you did read about chelation, didn't you?
Trust me, you don't need to resort to such desperate measures as chelation or other kinds of quackery.
There are many places where you can get hope. I'd recommend this one for start.
P.S. most of the readers of this page are looking for ways to cure autism. For those of you who would consider making your autistic loved ones happy and accomplished human beings BEFORE a reliable cure becomes available (and in case cure doesn't, ever, become possible, you should consider happiness as an option too), I'd suggest further reading.
Is This Lens Informative?
Please let me know if this lens was any help. Your opinion and experience with chelation is very welcome.
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Reply
- Aphex Aphex Jul 5, 2008 @ 7:31 am
- You are evil scam artist. Stop telling lies about a "miracle cure". People are born with autism - it's DNA and not mercury poisoning.
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Reply
- Aphex Aphex Jul 5, 2008 @ 7:31 am
- You are evil scam artist. Stop telling lies about a "miracle cure". People are born with autism - it's DNA and not mercury poisoning.
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Reply
- Des Des Apr 10, 2008 @ 6:24 pm
- I'm slightly discouraged that the polls are leaning towards those who believe that chelation crap...
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Reply
- True_Group True_Group Mar 8, 2008 @ 4:06 pm
- Joe,
Funny you don't appear to have any technical qualifications, yet you make the sweeping statement that 'all autistics' have immune dysfunction.
Maybe true for a lot of the 'normal' population who have had their natural immune function stripped away by forcibly injection diseases into their bodies (vaccines I think they are called).
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Reply
- True_Group True_Group Mar 8, 2008 @ 4:02 pm
- Autistic kids have high toxic burdens due to their system not working properly to get rid of all the rubbish they ingest. Chelation, particularly DMSA is not dangerous at all, and is a brilliant way to remove lead and mercury. Since it doesn't cross the blood brain barrier, the only thing it could possibly do is deplete a child's minerals. SO...you supplement between each chelation round.
Vaccines don't cause autism, but they certainly tip some children over the edge!
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More Information: What Are The Costs Of Chelation?
John Best mentioned somewhere in his blog that it only costs him 30$ a month to chelate his son - but I can't find that link at the moment.
In that same blog, a commenter mentions paying 200-300$ a month for biomedical interventions (that's a favorite euphemism for chelation).
This article quotes 75$ to 125$ per session - with 5 to 30 sessions required.
Doctor Edelson used to charge up to 12000$ to cure a child. He didn't cure any.
So you can see that the costs do vary quite a bit.
In that same blog, a commenter mentions paying 200-300$ a month for biomedical interventions (that's a favorite euphemism for chelation).
This article quotes 75$ to 125$ per session - with 5 to 30 sessions required.
Doctor Edelson used to charge up to 12000$ to cure a child. He didn't cure any.
So you can see that the costs do vary quite a bit.
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