healthykids
guArDiNg AgAiNst
how Environmental toxins may contribute
to Autism spectrum Disorder
by Brita Belli
W
hen the results of an autism study were published dren with autism were found to contain twice the mercury as
in the journal Pediatrics in October 2009, the fig- those of typical children.
ures were shocking—one in every 91 U.S. children Adams’ findings have also uncovered one common
was reported to have autism. That was up from one in 500 thread in the medical history of children with autism: heavy
a decade ago, with boys four times as likely to acquire the use of oral antibiotics in infancy. He explains that antibiot-
disorder. ics disrupt the gut’s good flora, further diminishing the child’s
Behaviors of autism include: failure to respond to stimuli ability to excrete toxins. Such treatments are primarily used for
or make eye contact; speech delays; compulsive behavior recurring ear infections, but as Dr. Jerry Kartzinel reports in his
like head-shaking; stacking objects or intense repetition of book, Healing and Preventing Autism (co-written with celeb-
daily activities; and extreme noise sensitivity. rity autism treatment advocate Jenny McCarthy), those frequent
For years, research into the causes of autism has re- ear infections are, “the most common marker for immune
volved around genetics. Even as the rate of autism among system dysfunction... in babies and
the nation’s children continues to rise at an astonishing 10 to very young children.”
17 percent a year, research has been slow to shift its focus to
other factors—namely, environmental toxins.
A New Approach
A growing number of
The Chemical Connection
doctors like Kartzinel
New autism research is making the case that environmen- and researchers like
tal toxins such as mercury, lead, polychlorinated biphenyls Adams are subscrib-
(PCBs), flame retardants and pharmaceutical drugs—includ- ing to the protocols
ing antidepressants in utero or antibiotics in infancy—may be set out by Defeat Au-
aggravating a pre-existing genetic condition. tism Now! (DAN),
Yet James Adams, head of the Autism/Asperger’s Re- a project of the
search Program at Arizona State University, remarks that, nonprofit Autism
“There is still extremely little money out there for looking Research Institute,
into environmental issues.” which supports a
Adams’ own research has discovered a correlation biomedical basis
between heavy metal exposure and autism severity. In one for autism and its
study, Dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA), a medication used treatment. DAN
to treat lead poisoning, was administered to children with practitioners, according
autism. The researchers found that children with autism to the group’s description,
“dumped three times as much mercury as typical children,” “do not regard psychotropic
reports Adams, suggesting that their bodies could not prop- drugs as the best or only means
erly excrete the toxin. In another study, the baby teeth of chil- of treating autistic patients.”
22
San Diego Edition
www.na-sd.com
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