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MusicMaker1
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11 Feb 2008, 4:20 pm

Supposedly some people think that mercury and other toxins may cause autism and there is a way to rid these substances from the body through something called Chelation.. I've been reading a little about this.. and was wondering if there was any truth to this theory..

Have any of you heard of chelation or know of anyone that had any success with this?? What do the experts like Tony Attwood, etc.. think of this? I would like to rid the mercury from my body if it could be done safely, regardless of whether or not it would help the autistic spectrum disorder.. I was wondering if there was a way to do this safely?

I got to thinking about this when I was trying to decide whether to get a flu shot or not. I called my doctor's office and they told me that all the flu shots they had contained mercury.. I decided not to get the flu shot this year because of that.. and I stumbled upon chelation while trying to figure out how damaging mercury in a flu shot could be..

Thanks for any info.

~L



Last edited by MusicMaker1 on 11 Feb 2008, 4:41 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Strapples
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11 Feb 2008, 4:22 pm

i am starting to get sick of this chelation things and things to "cure" autism... chelation is a very dangerous painful proceidure that needs to be done at a GOOD hospital... it is ONLY used in severe cases as a last resort in acute poisoning. and should NOT be used for autism!


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11 Feb 2008, 4:27 pm

See here. (That's a friend of mine, met online and offline both.)


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MusicMaker1
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11 Feb 2008, 4:29 pm

Oh.. I didn't know..

I tried to look it up in the "search" feature on this forum.. but that feature doesn't work?? I wish it did because I think alot of posts are probably duplicates... I wouldn't have posted on it if I had known it was in another earlier topic...

Maybe it's like one of those snake-oil type gimmicks that really hasn't been studied at all.... I just thought if there was a way to get those toxic metals out of my body, regardless of whether it helped autism or not, then it would be a good idea as long as it could be done safely.. But apparently your saying it's really dangerous? wow.. I just don't know anything about it and was just starting to read about it.. they make it sound like it's easy to just take some pills??? Maybe it's just another rip-off.. :(



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11 Feb 2008, 4:32 pm

Basically, it takes out the toxic metals, which is good. It also takes out a lot of important other things, which is bad. And it's very, very hard on the body. What happens unfortunately is often people are given it when they either don't have real heavy metal toxicity (everyone has some amount of these metals in their body). Even in some cases where they do have it, by the way, the damage is done already and taking it out would be more dangerous than leaving it in. So it's only used (appropriately) sometimes, and with extreme caution by someone with a license to do it and with a lot of instructions on how to take care of yourself in the meantime.


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11 Feb 2008, 4:45 pm

There is at least one chelating agent, alpha-lipoic-acid - a well known health product, present in many everyday foods.

This makes me think there might be something in it, but perhaps people are over-doing it or using unsuitable chelating agents. Perhaps a long-term natural nutritional approach would make more sense.

As an aside, i think i saw one of them (EDTA?) on a household cleaning product - possibly even soap. I found that quite surprising.



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11 Feb 2008, 4:57 pm

I think it's worth trying. According to the American College of Advancement in Medicine, more than 800,000 patient visits were made for chelation therapy in the United States in 1997. It seems to be relatively safe with a low occurrence of side effects although a few people have died using it (happens with many drugs). Wikipedia has a good article on it. I plan to try it in a few weeks after I get my amalgams removed (I worry it may pull mercury out of my teeth).



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11 Feb 2008, 5:05 pm

IF Autism was caused by MERCURY in the body then CHELATION would be fantastic as a cure


(except for the obvious side effects of removing other things the body needs - such as calcium and the risk of permanent liver damage).

Unfortunately, it's been demonstrated that while the effects of autism can be mimicked by filling a poor lab rat up with mercury, this is not the reason for autism in humans.

So...

That means Chelation doesn't do any good.

but the side-effects are still there.



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11 Feb 2008, 5:06 pm

I wouldn't try it.


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11 Feb 2008, 5:20 pm

Strapples wrote:
i am starting to get sick of this chelation things and things to "cure" autism... chelation is a very dangerous painful proceidure that needs to be done at a GOOD hospital... it is ONLY used in severe cases as a last resort in acute poisoning. and should NOT be used for autism!


Agreed!


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