Mercury, Autism, Chemical Sensitivity - New Study Gives Hope

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Autism has taken on epidemic proportions without any clear signs as to what causes the illness. While there is much data that links vaccines and especially the mercury contained in them to autism, a report released by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) on 13 December seems to bring us a step closer to the truth. As Dr. Mercola points out, the report cites a specific metabolic impairment in autistic children which may explain why some are more sensitive to environmental toxins including vaccines and the mercury they contain, than others who seem to survive without visible damage.

The implications however go beyond the vaccines/mercury/autism debate. If impairment of a natural glutathione based detoxification mechanism can explain why some people seem to be more sensitive to environmental factors than others, perhaps a solution can be found to multiple chemical sensitivity, a problem that has been "pushed under the carpet" by chemical industry and compliant medical authorities for understandable reasons. Liabilities for the contaminators would be huge were it discovered that the toxins they produce actually do cause illness and suffering on a large scale.

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Major implications for Multiple Chemical Sensitivity

The EWG report recites in its summary that the findings "could have major implications for public health protections from toxic chemicals in the environment. They identify a subgroup of people at increased risk of harm, and provide important new evidence that policies designed to protect the average person, or even the average child, from chemical exposure, are insufficient to fully protect the public health. Environmental and health officials must evaluate the adequacy of current laws and policies to protect individuals with a heightened sensitivity to chemical exposure."

Just how far the influence of the chemical and pharmaceutical industries is reaching into medical research and how blind "official" medical science can become as a result is quite amazing. A statement by US Congressman Dave Weldon, MD gives us an idea:

As a practicing physician and a Member of Congress, I have been increasingly alarmed by mounting evidence over the past several years suggesting a relationship between mercury exposure in newborns and the rising epidemic of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs), including Autism. Mercury is a known neurotoxin. It does not take a great leap of faith to believe that even low exposures to mercury at a critical stage of neurodevelopment could cause neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs).

A study released today conducted by Dr. Jill James demonstrates that children with regressive autism have a defect in the pathways used by the body to detoxify and excrete heavy metals such as mercury. Not only does her research help to explain why these children may be uniquely vulnerable to mercury-related injuries, but her research also provides avenues for the potential treatment of mercury-associated NDDs. This work by Dr. James is highlighted in a report issued today by the Environmental Working Group.

The work of Dr. James and others have continued with private support. Unfortunately, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has not yet dedicated funding to better understand and develop interventions for the epidemic of children suffering from NDDs, particularly those that may have resulted from mercury exposures from childhood vaccines.

When the Institute of Medicine at the National Academies (IOM) issued their May 2004 report denying any causal association between autism and mercury exposure from childhood vaccines, I responded by stating that their report was "premature, perhaps perilously reliant on epidemiology, based on preliminary incomplete information, and may ultimately be repudiated." Today's study, along with several other recently published scientific studies, demonstrate clearly that the IOM overstated their conclusions. Dr. James' work begins to identify a subgroup of children that may be highly vulnerable to certain levels of mercury previously thought safe for all children. None of the five epidemiology studies on which the IOM based their report would have detected this subgroup; they simply were not designed in such a manner to identify a genetically susceptible population.

I recommend reading the whole report as published by the EWG. You can find it here:

See also related:

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Mercola: The Link Between Mercury and Autism

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The above four links were forwarded by Steve Tvedten - TheBestConrol.

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