Questions About Mercury As the Cause of Autism Spectrum Disorders
Question:As I understand it, the DAN/ARI perspective states that vaccines (that is, thimerosal and live viruses) are major causes of autism. Is this the case?Answer: Yes!
Question: Mercury injected as a part of a vaccine is generally excreted from the body within just a few weeks. How would chelation months or years later have any impact on that mercury? Is it the DAN perspective that autistic children would never excrete the mercury?
Answer:In individuals with healthy immune systems—this is correct, however, many children/adults on the spectrum do not excrete Hg and other heavy metals and this can lead to gut issues etc. Please see studies by Holmes, Adams etc.
Questions and Answers About Chelation
Question:If mercury from vaccines does cause brain damage, is chelation thought to have any impact on the brain damage? If not, why would children show improvement in social/communication skills as a result of the chelation itself?Answer:More than brain damage our doctors have discovered major intestinal disruptions. The gut-brain connection is pretty well established. Removing these toxic substances and then treating any remaining gut issues has lead to reduced inflammation among other improvements. As the child’s/individual’s overall health is restored social/communication skills “come back” (often in conjunction with some sort of behavioral interventions).
Question:Mercury is present throughout our environment. If mercury is the problem, would autistic children require ongoing chelation to maintain their mercury-free (and presumably lead-free) status?
Answer: Some parents do take their children in for periodic treatments, however, for many children after successful treatment (which is more involved than chelation alone) the immune system appears to be strong enough to handle the “everyday” exposures.
[b[Question:Many families send hair and nails to a lab to determine whether their child is toxic. I understand that such tests are not especially reliable. What is your take on this?
Answer: Hair analysis is particularly challenging with our population. Since these children typically do not excrete the metals (usually detectable through hair)—a regular analysis may show a false negative when in fact there is heavy metals present. Procedures known as “Challenge Tests” help get around this problem and indicate if chelation is warranted or not.
Question: Many families do not have access to DAN doctors, and make use of chelation treatments supplied through online sources (often described as "safe" or "rational."). What is your recommendation to parents who don't have access to a DAN doctor?
Answer:We hear, almost, on daily basis, of new “detox” treatments. Some may work, others may not. There are simply far too many for us to know about. The Autism Research Institute publishes on our website the modalities that we are most familiar with and know that have benefited children.
Questions About the MMR Vaccine As the Cause of Autism Spectrum Disorders
Question: As I understand it, the MMR is thought to infect the body with viruses that can cause developmental issues. What is the DAN perspective on why certain children would have this reaction while others don't?Answer: As with all of the potential “environmental triggers” in autism—children (every child) reacts differently to various “insults.” It is clear that there is an underlying genetic predisposition that these children must have in order to regress into autism as a result of contact with one of these triggers.
Question: What would you recommend to parents as the “best policy†for vaccinations? (obviously no one wants their child to come down with a potentially deadly disease, and the CDC does offer a variety of options.)
Answer: I suggest parents do their own homework on each of the vaccines that their pediatrician is suggesting. I also highly recommend that every parent or soon-to-be parent read Dr. Stephanie Cave’s What Your Doctor May Not Tell You about Children’s Vaccinations. This book details a modified vaccine schedule that is definitely worth examining if vaccines are going to be administered.
