On Autism Detox
“Detoxifying” a child’s body of “heavy metals” via chelation is an alternative, and not uncontroversial, treatment for autism. It is based on the belief that exposure to environmental toxins is one factor behind the increase in the number of children diagnosed with autism in the past decade-plus. This book talks about the dangers of heavy metal poisoning; this book provides a “protocol” for treating such “poisoning”; these liquid vitamins are said to provide “natural detoxification.” The Body Ecology Diet is offering a three-day workshop to “take the mystery out of autism”; the workshop is “designed to help parents have a basic understanding of our 7 principles, like cleansing, acid/alkaline, principle of uniqueness, step-by-step, etc.” A document from the Autism Research Institute describes the safety and efficacy of chelation; in 2005, 5 year-old Tariq Nadama died after receiving intravenous EDTA chelation. Celebrity autism mother Jenny McCarthy has said that she used “detox methods” to “recover” her son Evan from autism.
The Body Ecology Diet website suggests that a number of ailments—-including psoriasis, heartburn, indigestion, ADHD, autism—-can be treated using its protocol. “Detoxing” and the “detox diet” are have been called fad treatments promoted by celebrities.
The May issue of the Harvard Women’s Health Watch reports that detox diets do not generally promote health and that the human body is able to cleanse itself of “environmental insults and occasional indulgences.” From the April 29th Science Daily:
Intestinal cleansing: Kits typically include a high-fiber supplement, a “support” supplement containing herbs or enzymes, a laxative to be used daily, and enemas. The aim is to eradicate parasites and expel fecal matter that allegedly adheres to the intestinal walls.
Foot detox: One method employs a special type of adhesive pad worn on the bottoms of the feet during sleep. Another approach is to immerse the feet for 30 minutes in an “ionic foot bath,” containing salt water and two electrodes that supply a low-voltage electric charge. Both methods claim to stimulate the outflow of toxins through the feet. However, there is no scientific evidence that ionic changes in the environment can stimulate a discharge of toxins through the feet—or any other part of the body.
Detox diets: A seemingly infinite array of diets is available for detoxifying the whole body. However, studies have shown that fasting and extremely low calorie intake—common elements of detox diets—cause a slowdown of metabolism and an increase in weight after the dieter returns to normal eating.
I’ve read about these and other detox practices for women—-and one for cats—being used for autistic children. There are online testimonials about the results that parents have seen from chelating their child; one mother notes that she will continue to use these methods for her autistic daughter “until every last microgram is gone from her body and brain.” Until, that is, every last iota of those poisonous heavy metals is expelled from “her body and brain.”
To paraphrase Lady MacBeth, Out, damn’d metals.
But does chelating those heavy metals out of an autistic child’s symptom truly render her or him less or non autistic? Are these detox treatments for autism just a sign of times—of our culture’s larger fascination with cleansing and colonoscoping the body in the interest of better health—and not at all specific to what might help autistic children?
One of the reasons that chelation and the notion of “detoxification from heavy metals and from heavy metal poisoning” have caught on in the autism community is because they provide a concrete visualization of what is causing a child to seem withdrawn and unresponsive, not to speak, to display unusual repetitive behaviors, and more; to cause a child to get a diagnosis of autism. If you believe that “heavy metals” have caused, have made, your child have autism, there is a straightforward solution to “healing” the child, by expelling “every last microgram” of mercury or other metals from the child’s body. Get rid of those metals and the child gets better and—it is hoped—is on the path to “recovery from autism.”
But the very notion of the cleansing and purification of the body as a means of healing it and also of recovery is not exclusive to the treatment of autistic children of 21st-century women concerned about their health and appearance. Say the word “detox” and chances are your audience will think you are talking about treatment for alcoholism and drugs—small wonder that people talk about “getting over autism” and, yes, “recovering” from autism.” Talking about autistic children as in need of heavy metal detoxification suggests that there is a biomedical remedy to their condition; that there’s something that can be put in, and that something (”autism”) will get taken out, and that a child will be well, whole, and normal again, and autism reversed.
And I’m wondering if these are notions that it’s high time we weaned—detoxed—ourselves off from.
Tags: alcoholism, asd, asperger, autism, bioemdical, chelation, detox, detox diet, diet, drugs, Health, jenny mccarthy, pdd-nosRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Cause, Environment, Epidemic, Junk Science, Treatment
27 opinions for On Autism Detox
Bonnie Sayers
Apr 30, 2008 at 11:40 am
I thought Jenny McCarthy said her son was cured, yet there is a page advertising here at some conference and says she is the parent of an autistic child. How is that possible if he is cured?
When I was going through my rosacea and eczema flareup months ago I read so many posts in the rosacea and eczema groups about detox and very similar postings to that of autism groups. It was kind of spooky to see the similarities in the same groups. They were talking about chelation, epson salt baths (we do this) and HBOT. The same supplements are used as well.
Bonnie Sayers
Apr 30, 2008 at 11:40 am
That second line should read “her” instead of here. Sorry have to leave for state testing and did some quick reading first.
David L.
Apr 30, 2008 at 1:13 pm
About that notion of underdeveloped “deep feelings”, do you think there is anything to this? I had once even considered trying to have “deep contact” done to me. Maybe what I and even professionals think is autism is really an emotional disturbance which starts in infancy.
liquid zeolite
Apr 30, 2008 at 1:42 pm
Aw, as subject I know about. There are a lot of detox products, some mild, some harsh. The harsh ones strip everything including minerals needed for good health and must be done with a doctor. I don’t recommend the strong EDTA detox’s however as I don’t think stripping essential minerals from the system (even for a short time) is ever a good idea. There have been deaths reported in some cases using this protocol.
There is a clinically tested detox product I re-sell that was developed by a doctor called HMD (heavy metal detox) It’s based on cilantro liquid, Chlorella, and an organic lavage. To see the doctors 1M 3 yr study, click on this link: http://www.detoxmetals.com/images/PDFFILE/bnj24.pgs14-17.pdf
There there is liquid zeolite. Waiora is a zeolite only brand that is sold MLM marketers. I sell a liquid zeolite that was developed by doctors going back 20 years and uses humic-fulvic acid (bio-available vitamins and minerals) to suspend the nano-zeolite. This is a mild detox product that also raises the ph. (buy ph test strips to confirm) It also re-mineralizes as any detox will result in loss of minerals. A lot of wairora zeolite customers come to us after experiencing cramps or heart palpitations caused by stripping of minerals from the muscles (potassium, etc) If you use the waiora product, add a lot of water and minerals to your diet. With our product, you’re getting minerals so it’s not an issue. You can also consider a nano-zeolite (not liquid) to add to your morning cereal. It will detox the gut
only but most toxins go through the get. I found a supplier who has a MSDS sheet on his nano zeolite and a lab analysis for purity (96%) so I’ll soon have that detox product to try for myself and my friends then sell if we have a good response.
The most natural detox is simply to eat a lot of cilantro + metamucil. These are natural detox agents and mild.
To sum up, from what I’ve gathered, the only clinically studied detox product is HMD. Regardless of Waioras’ liquid zeolite claims, all tests with liquid zeolite over the years has been with the powered form, not a liquid form. I tell people who want a liquid zeolite detox product as much but many swear by this product and love it …as long as they know it’s not clinically studied, I’ve provided my disclaimer. My best friends child has autism and I gave him the HMD product along with a 17 live stain organic probiotic, digestive enzymes, an 8 mushroom formula from japan, and some supplements. Since starting this program, he’s been making great advances. He used to pound on stuff for long periods of time and he no longer does that. He used to be a lot less responsive and after only 2 months on the HMD
and supplements. The other supplements FWIW that we give him 1) a broccoli fortified flax hull product from Canada, a nono humic-fulvic mineral complex product, L-Carnosine and L-Carnitine we bought from puritan.com, some omega 3 + immune building supplements. We’re giving him so much stuff it’s hard to know exactly what is giving him the positive effect to be honest. Is it the detox or the immune building? Is it the improved digestion and elimination? Is it a combination of all 3? One last thing we’re doing with Sam, we’re only allowing him to drink distilled water spiked with a coral calcium tea from japan to raise the ph of the water to 10. No more juices, drinks, etc. No more milk. He’s following a detox type diet (but not super strict, still has cheeseburgers on the weekends, etc) I’m curious to see how the nano liquid zeolite powder works as he’s almost done with his HMD detox protocol. We’ll give him both the liquid and the powder to detox moving forward. Sam’s doctor is amazed at his quick progress after suffering a seizure and becoming ill. We don’t plan on exploiting him by making a website, etc as he’s a friend of the family and we only want him to continue showing improvements, not help with the sale of product. However, if any doctors out there want to see Sam’s medical records and watch his progression on our detox-immune building protocol, give me a holler, we’ll be happy to share.
Regan
Apr 30, 2008 at 4:14 pm
This detox thing has been around since the Egyptians apparently, and re-surges in one form or another at different times via treatments, colonics, diets, and in what I thought was an extreme and disturbing example, surgery. (Not for autism–those are just examples of the attractiveness of the idea over the ages).
liquid zeolite
Apr 30, 2008 at 4:31 pm
Follow-up to my last post. I don’t want to heavy metal or toxins cause brain damage or autism all the time as that is not true. Sam developed autism after getting as slew of shots all at once which suggests toxins caused his condition and detoxing would help, and it has. I do not want to make it sound like a detox or boosting the digestion and elimination organs or the immune system will reverse what appears to be a trauma to the brain or a much more complicated genetic problem that may exist. That’s not the case. Doing my research I’ve come across a lot of what appear to be scams that promise cures for everyone for not only autism but also cancer. I avoided trying those products. My approach is to use the least expensive natural remedies first and to only buy something if there’s a 100% money back guarantee. (I’ve sent back plenty supplements that didn’t work) Also, it goes without saying that unless the FDA or other gov agency has evaluated a product to do x y or z, stating that it does x y or z is against the law, so steer clear of products that promise to cure or treat any illness that has not been evaluated by the FDA.
Emily
Apr 30, 2008 at 4:36 pm
Regan, at least. It’s always been popular to rid oneself of “humors” and “devils” and other noxious, uninvited guests via purgatives, laxatives, etc. Of course, these approaches reflect a complete ignorance of physiology, and history shows clearly that there’s very little in the way of efficacy derived from them. Yet, we continue to try. Interestingly, and probably something many here already know, mercury was widely used as a therapeutic/medical intervention. After all, it *is* “natural.” ;)
The reality is that those purgatives and laxatives and all those bleedings would no more rid you of your noxious “humors” than chelation will rearrange your neural networks and suddenly alter your developmental background. And there’s something rather horrifying to me in the idea of scouring the brain of one’s child with chelation agents. Yikes.
Marla
Apr 30, 2008 at 6:09 pm
I too am tired of these cleansing debates. It does not work. I think what most people are seeing is development over time.
liquid zeolite
Apr 30, 2008 at 6:44 pm
Hi Marla,
Why are you so sure it doesn’t work, if you don’t mind me asking? I noticed a difference myself when I detoxed from heavy metals in my ability to think clearly and my energy levels. I guess you would be correct if we didn’t live in a toxic world but don’t you believe that there is a toxic assault (ref: Body Burden, Over 200 chemicals in umbilical cord study) and that riding oneself of toxins might have benefits? Also, isn’t it true that a child’s immune system is easily compromised with a toxic overload and logically getting rid of that burden would yield a positive result?
Kassiane
Apr 30, 2008 at 7:18 pm
Zeolite shill.
If it was the cause and cure and all that crap, wouldn’t it be FDA approved by now? Um yes.
I had clinical heavy metal poisoning a few years back, treated in the standard fashion, and am still autistic. The *actual metal poisoning symptoms* cleared up though.
Did you ask Kristina’s permission to advertise all over her blog?
Kristina Chew, PhD
Apr 30, 2008 at 9:15 pm
Well, if we’re going to reference historical notions of detoxification, the first comes to mind to me is the notion of katharsis—”ritual purification,” a religious concept from the ancient Greeks.
Somehow it seems to me, that suggesting that a certain supplement etc. can “treat” more and more conditions (autism, diabetes, cancer, etc., etc.) would undermine the use of that supplement as treating something specific about (for instance) autism. And the hard thing, or an added complication, with autism is that parents also tend to have their children doing educational therapies and in school at the same time as they are using various medical/biomedical remedies, so it’s hard to tell what is causing what directly.
It’s ultimately harmful, I think, to talk about detoxifying autistic kids from, well, autism.
daedalus2u
Apr 30, 2008 at 10:16 pm
All of this over the counter detox stuff is complete nonsense. It is just a scam to sell useless crap. There are no generic “toxins”. There are specific compounds that are toxic. Every one of those has a real name, a real source, a real toxic level and can be analyzed for and toxic levels be identified.
Humans don’t accumulate “toxins” to toxic levels unless they are in kidney failure, liver failure, colon failure or lung failure. If any of those systems are compromised or failing to the point where “toxins” are accumulating, then you need to call 911 and get to the nearest hospital because you are near death and without prompt expert high level medical attention you will die. If you don’t go to a hospital and don’t die, that is excellent evidence that your toxin elimination systems are working just fine.
If you have “real” heavy metal poisoning, the heavy metals show up in blood and urine and hair tests. If you have “real” heavy metal poisoning you need real treatment by a real doctor who monitors your actual levels so you know when you have had enough chelation. The quacks chelate until the child can’t take it any more, or when the parents run out of money (or gullibility). The quacks never run out of excuses or hubris.
100 and 200 years ago the problem was intestinal parasites. Many people had them. The way you got rid of them then was through purging and by taking heavy metals. There are much better agents now. Things that work better and are less toxic.
Mike, as for why you felt better? Maybe the though of how much money you could make selling useless crap made you giddy?
liquid zeolite
May 1, 2008 at 12:15 pm
The only study I’ve seen that suggests a heavy metal detox helps autistic kids comes from 26,000 parents of autistic children. 74% of the 803 parents who said they tried a detox program said their kids got better vs. 3% who said they got worse and 23% who said they seen no difference pro or con. I’d say those numbers speak for themselves. Compare that to a prescription drug such as PhenobarbitalD given for behavior. 47% of the 1109 parents said their kids got worse, only 16% said their kids got better on the drug. Compare the prescription drugs to the supplements and you’ll find that overwhelmingly the supplements made the kids better and the drugs primarily made the kids worse or no difference. What can we conclude from this study? 1) The 26,000 respondents to this test are liars. 2) Nothing, supplements have never been studied by the drug companies therefore this anecdotal evidence by parents who are obviously out of their minds means nothing. 3) Treating any disorder with natural products always beings better results than treating an illness with man-made drugs. (don’t mess with mother nature). I rest my case, your honor.
liquid zeolite
May 1, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Oh yes, the study I referenced in my last post can be found here: http://www.autism.com/treatable/form34qr.htm#biomedical
daedalus2u
May 1, 2008 at 1:32 pm
Oh, so injecting completely “natural” products such as urine (as per Dr Buttar) are to be preferred over injecting the slightly less “natural” apple cider vinegar which is to be preferred over injecting the completely “artificial” injectable grade sterile saline?
How about using something that has actually been shown to be effective in double-blind clinical trials?
Oh, but there isn’t anything that has been shown to be effective in double-blind clinical trials. Don’t let a lack of research slow the flow commerce.
I wouldn’t call the parents liars, I would call them desperate. They are desperate people being taken advantage of by quacks. Quacks preying on the hopes and dreams that all parents have for their children. Desperation is a powerful thing. It makes people do desperate things. Desperate things such as listen to quacks lying to them about pretend “toxins”. Desperate enough to imagine that any glimmer of “improvement” is significant and is due to the treatment de jour. Then when the hope fades, too ashamed to admit they were deceived and duped and allowed their child to be experimented on.
Regan
May 1, 2008 at 2:14 pm
“(don’t mess with mother nature)”
———————
Seems to me that all of this is nothing but messing with mother nature.
There are reasons that double-blind experiments are used…it’s called the placebo effect or placebo by proxy. If you don’t control for expectancy effects or other possible confounds of concurrent treatments or other events, it is difficult to correctly attribute what caused the positive effect or whether there was positive effect. Self-selected respondents to any survey make the results unreliable because it’s not a random sample.
To be charitable, if there is a genuine positive effect, the same paradigm applies–anecdotal report and self-selection still throw the reported results into doubt.
Such results do not make anyone a “liar”; simply human.
liquid zeolite
May 1, 2008 at 4:03 pm
So you guys are saying these parents of Autistic children don’t know the difference between a positive and negative effect? My mom wasn’t a doctor but she could tell if I was depressed or getting sick before I even know it. It’s called a mothers intuition. I think the statistics are drastic enough to call into question the effectiveness of pharmaceuticals. Who best to judge a positive or negative effect than a parent?
Regan
May 1, 2008 at 4:21 pm
I am the parent of an autistic child, a mother as a matter of fact, and I know that I have to watch for expectancy effects, as well as potentially false attribution of effect. My husband is also the parent of an autistic child, a dad as a matter of fact, and he often gets the “reason” wrong, because he is a person particularly susceptible to seeing what he wants to believe. It’s what we tend to do as people, and why controls were developed.
It’s one of the reasons why people ask to continue a placebo treatment, even if it is just saline or water, after a controlled study is over.
Certainly anecdotal report can pose a hypothesis; but it’s not enough to confirm it.
liquid zeolite
May 1, 2008 at 4:45 pm
Fair enough. However, shouldn’t it be expected, if the pharma drugs were as effective as the supplements, that both pharma and supplements would show similar results? I guess what I’m saying is that no parent would give their child something unless they expected to get a good result, right? Why then do the pharma drugs have “worsened condition” much more than the supplements? I can see where parents just “think” the supplements helped, but I can’t understand why someone would “think” they made the condition worse unless in fact it did.
stopautismquackery
May 1, 2008 at 5:49 pm
Hmm, the pharma drugs didn’t worsen the condition. Look at the chart again. From what I see (and maybe i’m wrong), in nearly every case, if you add “no effect” plus “good effect” (or whatever words they used) it exceeds the “negative effect” for each pharma med. Also, remember this survey is generally taken by those who subscribe to the ‘DAN’ premise of treatment. They’d need to have an interest in that and then go to that site and fill-in the survey. So it’s rather biased toward those following the ‘DAN’ premise. At the time one is following that treatment plan and taking that survey, one needs to generally confirm within themselves that they’re doing the right thing — thereby ranking the supplements (DAN protocol) over pharma meds for example.
Regan
May 1, 2008 at 5:55 pm
Don’t know why in the case of this survey, and it is a self-selected survey, which does not specify the “behavior” (a pretty broad brush). If I were a less honest person, I could go and randomly type in “data”, which would be included in the database for good or for bad.
Perhaps there is an effect of looking more critically at standard medications (and I do note that some of those do have postive:negative ratios which err to the positive). The natural and diet interventions overwhelmingly err to the positive, which speaks to the self-selection, and possibly the expectancy. I also note that some of the alternative treatments also cite negative and no effect.
But again, this is not a controlled survey in either direction.
If you expect an improvement and nothing happens, subjectively that could be construed as a negative reaction. Medications also have side-effects; example, I can’t take a particular type of antibiotic. The antibiotic portion did, and does the job of handling the infection, but a constituent disagrees with my stomach. That is a negative effect, but the overall effect is positive.
And sometimes things are misprescribed or things are misdiagnosed. Without the specifics of the situation, it is speculation.
Regan
May 1, 2008 at 6:15 pm
What the survey may indicate more than anything is the popularity of certain things among people who choose to respond to the survey over some unknown timeframe, or more specifically the opinions of the people who choose to visit this website. Since they don’t indicate the timeframe of the survey and whether people return to amend the scores, in addition to composition of the group or the specifics of the information, it strikes me as possibly interesting, but not particularly reliable.
liquid zeolite
May 1, 2008 at 6:18 pm
stopautismquackery,
I couldn’t find info on the ARI (autism.com) website that they were a dan organization. From their home page:
“The Autism Research Institute (ARI), a non-profit organization, was established in 1967. For more than 40 years, ARI has devoted its work to conducting research, and to disseminating the results of research, on the triggers of autism and on methods of diagnosing and treating autism. We provide research-based information to parents and professionals around the world.”
From what data do you base this premise:
“Also, remember this survey is generally taken by those who subscribe to the ‘DAN’ premise of treatment.” Also, I didn’t say pharma drugs worsen autism, I said “Why then do the pharma drugs have “worsened condition” much more than the supplements?” Better said, “much more often than..” For example, if you add “got worse” and “no effect” vs “got better”, you’ll find that only 6 phara drugs out of 54 reported “got better” more than “got worse or no effect” What the hell, people are paying big money for drugs that only improve symptoms about 10% of the time? That is ridiculous in my opinion and an outrage! Compare that to the so called “quack” cures, ie, supplements, detox, and diet. 21 out of 39 times “got better” outscored “got worse or no effect”. That’s better than 50% of the time! The results would be 32 of 39 if you lower the standard to supplements that rated “got better” with scores of 40% or more vs “got worse” or “no effect” and if you put “got better” head to head vs “got worse”, only St Johns Wart rated 16% “got better” vs 18% “got worse”, the rest reported “got better” much higher than “got worse”. Not so for the pharma drugs. 23 out of the 54 drugs produced “got worse” responses that were HIGHER than “got better”. Are you okay with that?
stopautismquackery
May 1, 2008 at 8:54 pm
http://www.autism.com/dan/index.htm
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Kristina Chew, PhD
May 12, 2008 at 3:49 pm
Orac posts about “clean rooms” as a “a high tech form of the same old detoxification.”
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