Heavy Metal Mercury Poisoning – Chelation and the Link With Autism – Asperger’s and ADHD
Similarities of Mercury Poisoning and Autism Spectrum Disorders, ADHD and Sensory Integration Dysfunction
Mercury Poisoning is thought to be one of the major biomedical causes of Autism, Attention Deficit Disorder Hyperactivity ADHD, Asperger’s Syndrome, Sensory Integration Dysfunction and Pervasive Developmental Disorder PDD!
Mercury can affect the body in a variety of areas including speech and motor processing, cognitive and social abilities and create sensory abnormalities. Many of these symptoms are similar to those displayed in children on the autism spectrum or those with Asperger’s syndrome, Pervasive Developmental Disorder PDD, sensory integration dysfunction and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ADD/ ADHD.
“Mad hatters” syndrome was a direct result of the mercury used to cure felt when making a hat. Due to the mercury exposure, people who manufactured hats often suffered from dementia, mental illness or in general confusion. New studies are linking heavy metal toxicity to Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
Symptoms of Mercury Poisoning
Social withdrawal and lack of eye contact or visual fixation
Anxiety and mood swings
Failure to develop speech, articulation problems and echolalia (repetitive vocalizations)
Sound sensitivity
Abnormal touch sensations or touch aversion
Over sensitivity to light
Flapping or repetitive motions
Excessive salivation or drooling
Clumsiness and poor coordination
Difficulties in sitting, walking, crawling
Sleep difficulties
Poor concentration / attention issues / ADHD symptoms
Rashes or eczema
Digestive problems / diarrhea and constipation
Where did the mercury come from?
Vaccinations
A form of mercury called thimerosal was in several vaccines. According to the CDC “until 1999, vaccines given to infants to protect them against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), and Hepatitis B contained thimerosal as a preservative. Today, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the only vaccines routinely recommended for children 6 years of age and younger that contain thimerosal are: one vaccine for DTaP, and three vaccines for influenza (flu). These four vaccines contain only trace amounts of thimerosal.”
The vaccines do not cause autism, but if the body’s detoxification system is not working properly, the person can have a difficult time expelling what would normally be considered unharmful amounts. Because the body can not expel these harmful toxins properly they are harboring within the body causing the symptoms listed above. This is part of the reason why it is critical to not get a child vaccinated when they are ill, even if it is just a cold.
Mercury Amalgam Dental Fillings
For dental work, stay away from mercury amalgam fillings. It is just safer to go with composite fillings. Again it may not be a problem for everyone, but for those individuals with impaired detoxification systems it can cause severe problems. The more fillings the greater the risk due to the cumulative effect of toxins. Before beginning chelation therapy mercury amalgam dental fillings should be removed to avoid further exposure to mercury!
Seafood
Unfortunately our food supply is contaminated. Tuna, swordfish and sea bass are amount the mostly highly contaminated fish with high levels of mercury. The website www.GotMercury.com has an online calculator to help you determine how much mercury is in your food.
Other Sources of Mercury
Damaged nonstick cookware or aluminum cookware
Toxic air from coal burning plants
Lawn and garden pesticides
Success Story
I ate tuna fish several times a week when I was pregnant and swordfish several times a month. The warnings that these larger fish were generally high mercury due to environmental pollution were just emerging in between my first and second child. I also received the flu shot as recommended when I was pregnant which does have thimerosal or mercury in it. I am sure these were contributing factors to why both my children were discovered to have toxic levels of lead and mercury in their little bodies. The Happy Sun shows actual before and after lab results of chelation therapy.
Chelation Therapy
Chelation therapy is the process of removing heavy metals from the body by taking a medication, which attracts and attached to the mercury and helps excrete it from the body. There is some medical controversy about using chelation for treatment of autism and ADD / ADHD issues because it is considered an “off label” treatment. However using botox for wrinkles is also an “off label” treatment as botox is designed to stop facial spasms and tics. You are in essence not treating autism or ADD / ADHD with chelation, but rather first testing the child to determine if heavy metal toxicity is an underlying problem and then using chelation therapy to treat the heavy metal toxicity. Click here to read more about testing for heavy metals.