AUTISM AND DETOXIFICATION
(Reasons to add Extreme Health’s Liver Support Formula)
Could autistic children be the proverbial "canaries in the coal mine" whose nervous systems are more susceptible to the impact of toxic heavy metals in the environment, incurring neurological damage even at low exposure levels?
One recent study found that in one group of 18 autistic children, 16 had blood levels of toxic heavy metals and chemicals exceeding adult maximum tolerance. This build-up of toxins may not arise simply from excessive exposure, but from a marked inability to process and eliminate toxins from the body. Indeed, when the children were assessed using a biochemical analysis to gauge the body’s ability to detoxify substances, researchers found that every child showed out-of-range results suggesting a defect in this two-phase detoxification process. Such a mechanism could lead to a back-up of toxic heavy metals and chemical toxins and increased free radical activity in the body, the researchers explained. Since the blood-brain barrier of children is still not fully developed, these toxic and oxidized molecules could penetrate into regions of the brain and damage neutrons, receptors, synapses, enzymes, and cell mitochondria, and also set off auto immune reactions that trigger further damage.
According to other studies, autistic children may have problems metabolizing and detoxifying certain compounds due to an impaired biochemical process called sulfation. Sulfation plays an important role in the second phase (phase2) of the detoxification process. Impaired sulfation could make autistic children more vulnerable to multiple heavy metal and chemical sensitivities. It could also help explain an exacerbation of behavioral problems after children eat foods containing phenol, tyramine, and phenyl compounds, which are normally neutralized through the sulfation process.
AUTISTM AND HAIR TESTING
Much concern has been raised over the link between exposure to heavy metal toxins and neurological brain damage associated with learning and behavior disorders in children. Indeed, research shows that exposure to heavy metals such as lead, mercury and antimony, can impair brain development at very early ages-even at low doses previously deemed "harmless".
Children are particularly susceptible to the deleterious effects of heavy metal exposure for several reasons. First, their developing nervous systems are more sensitive. Second, their bodies absorb toxins, more rapidly, yet clear them from the system more slowly, than adults. Finally, a child’s blood-brain barrier, the natural protective mechanism which blocks harmful substances from entering and damaging the brain, is not yet fully formed.
Many professionals working in the field of autism have expressed concern that some autistic children may have been exposed to potentially damaging levels of ethyl mercury, contained in a preservative used in certain vaccinations. Clinical neurobehavioral symptoms of mercury poisoning, they point out, seem to closely parallel many common symptoms of autism. In response to pressure from the FDA, the U.S. Public Health Service, and other regulatory health agencies, vaccine manufactures have since worked to reduce or eliminate the use of ethylmercury as a preservative in many vaccines.
In addition, several studies have associated high lead levels in children with autism. Elevated levels of lead in hair, signify long-term toxic exposure to this heavy metal, have been correlated with increased behavior abnormalities and learning disorders in children. Based on clinicians’ observations, antimony, a potential toxin found in some fire retardant materials, is also a possible cause for concern.
(Extreme Health’s Oral Chelation and Age-Less Formula includes 50 different ingredients to replenish.)
Nutritional balance and healthy metabolism are also very important. Dr. Lynn Wecker and his colleagues at Louisiana State Medical Centre observe that trace elements imbalances in the human body can disrupt neurotransmitter function and produce marked changes in behavior-many of which are consistent with symptoms of autism. For this reason, Dr. Wecker and his team evaluated trace element concentrations in the hair of autistic children. They found clear deficiencies of calcium, copper, zinc, and chromium that were so striking that they allowed them to discriminate between autistic children and healthy controls with a high degree of accuracy, using just test results. Deficiencies of mineral nutrients can make a child more susceptible to heavy metal absorption. Magnesium deficiencies, associated with attention-deficit disorder and hyperactivity, may also be clinically significant in autism.
ELEMENTAL HAIR ANALYSIS
Elemental Analysis (hair, blood, or urine) evaluates body burden of heavy metal toxins and nutritional adequacy of important mineral elements. Each specimen type provides a unique window into element status. A hair sample will reflect chronic toxic exposure and long-term.
