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Dr. Mercola
May 14 2007

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Origins of Autism

You may be familiar with the work of Dr. Boyd Haley, who chairs the University of Kentucky's chemistry department and is one of America's foremost experts in the field of mercury toxicity as it relates to the plague of autism harming our children.

Dr. Haley makes an even more compelling case for the toxicity of mercury in this short and powerful video from Autism Media.

 


Dr. Mercola's Comment:

If you have any experience with autism you will know it is not a pretty picture. I have treated many hundreds of autistic children and most of them would tear up our office on their first visit and want to destroy nearly everything in sight unless they were carefully monitored and supervised.

However, by their second visit they were typically much better because they had applied the simple dietary principles that we teach, which are the foundation for addressing much of the dysfunction that is present.

Unfortunately, most parents rely on clueless doctors to help them treat the condition and they never experience improvement.

The good news is that there are skilled physicians out there and wonderful support networks that can help autistic children regain most, if not all, of their functioning. There are also a number of pioneers in this field and Dr. Boyd Haley is certainly one of them.

Dr. Haley got involved with the issue of mercury and autism after a number of parents of autistic children contacted him. They had heard about a proposal he'd made to a group of physicians studying Gulf War Syndrome (actually a variant of Lou Gehrig's disease).

French soldiers who weren't vaccinated didn't suffer from the illness, while American and British soldiers given a vaccine were more susceptible to it -- and the susceptible ones were not necessarily those who had served in Iraq or Saudi Arabia. In Haley's estimation, if vaccines triggered Gulf War Syndrome, the mercury-based preservative thimerosal was the likely candidate.

After being flown to conference after conference, Haley soon came to be deeply involved in the controversy over this vital health issue. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) claims that thimerosal is no problem at all, and that research into its connection to autism should be set aside for "other promising avenues" of research.

Of course, the IOM has never bothered to identify exactly what these "other promising avenues" are.

Dr. Haley called anyone who would deliberately expose a child to toxins like thimerosal and render them incapable of having a full life a criminal. After watching this video, I'm sure you'll agree with that assessment.

Related Articles:

Mercury, Vaccines and Medicine

Autism Linked to Mercury Vaccine

Autism Epidemic Soars in America





 
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Comment on This Article Community Comments (89)
 
 
Posted On May 14, 2007
The good Doctor is correct, in his hypothesis, as well as PROVEN research, verifying that hypothesis.

Anyone ignoring such evidence is indeed a criminal, or engaging in criminal behavior.

Also ignored by the VA, DOD, & your Uncle Sam, etc., was the MANY, MANY  containers shipped of diet soda into Saudi Arabia, during Desert Shield (Gulf War 1), cooking at high temperatures in the sun, for up to 6 months, and degrading the ASPARTAME sweetener in the soda, to formaldehyde.

This too may have contributed to neuro toxicity illnesses among the American troops.  

Aspartame poisoning would also correlate to the French troops, the Dr. talks about in  the video, not having problems, because those encampments were separate from the American bases.  The French were not consuming large amounts of degraded aspartame diet sodas (aspartame breaks down at 102.7 degrees F, and the temperature in storage containers in Saudi Arabia exceed 160 degrees for months prior to refrigeration and use).

This information on aspartame was ignored, but conveniently, after the clear data that aspartame was indeed a neuro toxin, at any ingestion level, began getting spread on the internet, Monsanto began proceeding to sell off their expired patents, and brands, in Nutrasweet and Equal and concentrate on neotame (even more dangerous than aspartame) approval at FDA (now own by Merisant),

We recommend Dr. Mercola's SWEET DECEPTION book, to get further straight forward and totally FACTUAL understanding on these, and other harmful high intensity sweeteners, which are ALL highly chemical in creation, concentration, and toxicity, despite FDA approval.

No one should be consuming any high intensity sweetener for any reason at any level.

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Russ Bianchi
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Posted On May 14, 2007
Uncle Russ, this article is not showing up on the home page along with
the other article Dr. Mercola posted this morning.  I was able to access this by checking the new comments and clicking on the link.  Could you help to fix it?  This article is of vital importance as well as your comments-I know several people with autistic children and Gulf War
Syndrome vets.

Thank you!

Dawn

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Posted On May 14, 2007
So what do you think causes autism?  Aspartame poisoning or mercury poisoning?  Or what about both together, neurotoxins that break the system down and allow the mercury which is saturated in the tissues to affect at a higher level?  Where is that study?  I'm curious.

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Posted On May 14, 2007
If you read Dr. Mercola's Sweet Deception, he has many reference as to aspartame linkage with neuro disorders.

Equally compelling is Dr. Haley's hard evidence discussed in the video.

Autism is, and can be, triggered by either of these sources (unstable diet soft drinks as in the case I cited, as well as the vaccination contamination, Dr. Haley copiously researched and proved).

Autism has linkage in the vetted literature to drinking water with heavy metal (lead, arsenic and mercury) ppm (parts per million) measurable levels. 

The EPA vetted data is also compelling on water and other toxic exposure in this regard.

I suspect there are indeed multiple sources of metabolic or neuro triggers to Autism, including oxidative stress of genetic predisposition due to toxic exposure, from our highly processed, packaged and polluted environment.

Bioavailable high regiments, of unprocessed real food, particularly dark green leafy vegetables and nutrient rich other botanical or fruit calories, greatly assist everyone in fighting off such exposure. 

As to reversal of Autism, perhaps Dr. Haley would be kind enough to discuss his suggestions with all of us a Vital Votes further in a follow up piece?

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Posted On May 14, 2007
A follow-up visit from Dr. Haley would be great!

I have also read about mercury poisoning in my FM/CFIDS literature
from a genetic defect that alters the genes responsible for excreting
mercury.  So someone with this defect would be much more likely to
be poisoned with very low levels of mercury that would not affect someone with normal genes.

Perhaps the doctor could address that and are there any tests for this
genetic defect?

Thank you!

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Posted On May 15, 2007 
formaldehyde as a potent unexamined cofactor in cancer research --
sources include methanol, dark wines and liquors, aspartame, wood and
tobacco smoke: IARC Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks
to Humans implicate formaldehyde in #88 and alcohol drinks in #96:
some related abstracts: Murray 2007.05.14
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1417


aspartame (methanol, formaldehyde) toxicity research summary: Rich
Murray 2007.05.14
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1404

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Young Health 4 Life
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Posted On May 31, 2007
Here's the bottom line. In 2005 the Environmental Working Group tested newborns in this country and found that they were born with 287 known toxic chemicals. Over 70 of those toxins were known to cause cancer in humans, over 90 of them known to contribute to brain and nervous system disorders and over 70 of them proven to contribute to birth defects. One of the poisons that was discovered was a by- product of the insecticide DDT which has been banned in this country since 1972.
An experiment with four generations of mice found that although only the first generation was exposed to DDT, the fourth generation was shown to contain it. Garbage in, garbage out.

What we have created is a toxic recipe for disaster and we are increasing that potential disaster with each generation as we accumulate and pass these ever compiling hazardous combinataions along genetically. Although some research and studies have proven to us the potential disastrous results of using these chemicals/heavy metals/pesticides etc. NO ONE knows the real impact of combining so many poisons in any one human body.

Knowledge is power. The healthier the parents are preconception and the Mom-to-be stays during pregnancy, the better chance the infant has.

Avoid known poisons, find out which toxins your body has, use healthy methods to remove them, and give your body what it needs to heal itself.

Dr. Mercola has covered this innumerable times in many ways over the years!!

The book Nourishing Traditions is one of the best to add to your health library. Donna Gates Body Ecology site is also very informative in terms of candida/leaky gut as related to autism. Doris Rapp's books on toxins and children is also extremely informative.

In this day of immediate access to information, there is no longer any excuse for the deterioration of health in this country. We are awakening the sleeping giant of ennui and complacency!

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Posted On May 14, 2007
This post was deleted because it violated our Terms Of Use :
Comment does not pertain to the topic of the article or does not provide value or insight to the discussion. Submit stories or comments linking to affiliate programs, multi-level marketing schemes, or off-topic content or any other system that will result in your personal financial or commercial gain.

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Posted On May 14, 2007
I just went to the website www.iaomt.org and found a dentist close by and visited him today, as a matter of fact!  He was very cordial and professional.

He mentioned that he was in a regional meeting of a group of Dentists (he didn't say which group - if he did I don't remember), but that the highly prestigious speaker that was brought in was very adamant about the fact that amalgam fillings are fine!  They are NOT toxic, and then the same speaker a little later said that the reason that people with amalgam fillings don't have cavities next to the filling is due to the fact that the mercury fillings is toxic to the bacteria.
This Dentist was tempted to raise his hand and comment that, out of one side of his mouth he says one thing, and out of the other side, he says something completely different.  My dentist commented that if it is toxic to the bacteria, what does it do to the host?

Goes to show you how much our media and professional organizations are controlled.

By the way, in the quote you have here, the fact that each person reacts differently to the amalgam fillings is not highlighted there.  Also, it depends on the length of time the filling is in the mouth, and how many times it has been replaced, where the patient would be exposed to the mercury by drilling it out.

Another tidbit, look up the profession that has the highest suicide rate in the US.  I think you will be shocked to find out that it is dentists!  Not necessarily related to Mercury alone, but also to fluoride.  That's another subject entirely.

God bless you!

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Posted On May 30, 2007
I too am against Amalgum and vaccines.  I do not allow my children to be vaccinated.  However, what can a person do if they already have amalgum fillings?  I have heard that if you already have them, it is safer
to leave them alone rather than try to take them out. 

Does anyone have an opinion about this?

markross@winning.com

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Posted On May 31, 2007
Hi Mark - I has my mercury fillings removed in January, one of the best decisions I ever made.  You can have yours safely removed by a Holistic Dentist, aka Biological Dentist.  Here are some links to help you:
http://www.mercuryfreenow.com/

http://www.talkinternational.com/directories/dentists-usa.html

Also read Dr Mercola's articles on this subject:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2002/08/14/mercury-part-six.aspx

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2001/04/07/alzheimers-mercury.aspx

Hope this helps you.

: )  HH

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Posted On May 29, 2007
I comment on this article as a medical doctor who treats autistic children. I have sought training from both the DAN and Pfeiffer movements and my approach is an blend of the two.

Regarding causation: the consensus of both bodies is that "oxidative stress" is the precipiting factor in genetically predisposed children. Thiomerosal is one potential oxidant but there are many others.
The large "antigen load" of the clumped vaccine schedule is another. The incidence of autism is still climbing in Australia despite thiomerosal being removed as a preservative in almost all vaccines in 2001.
Illness is another. I have seen non vaccinated children regress to autistic following a severe illness [e.g.gastroenteritis, pneumonia].

Much research has occurred to identify the minor genetic defects ["SNPs"] in key enzymes in autistics, and oxidative markers have been shown to be consistantly elevated in ASD children compared with controls

Most of our children show marked improvement with our targeted nutritional protocols and some normalise.
Despite this my pediatriccuse colleaugues accuse me of "raising false hope"

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Posted On May 29, 2007
Dr. Richards, keep up the good work!                                        

Thank you for this wonderful information.

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Posted On May 31, 2007
The autism rate could be continuing to climb in Australia because they are currently obsessed with avoiding the sun.  That leads to vitamin D insufficiency.  I understand from the following articles that vitamin D helps chelate mercury out of the body.

http://www.vitamindcouncil.com/health/autism/index.html

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Posted On Jun 03, 2007
My grandson is healing nicely through the DAN! protocol. He's not off the spectrum yet, but he continues to move to the left. We are hopeful that recovery will happen, as we are seeing amazing progress. Don't let ANYONE tell you that you are "offering false hope!" People with autism CAN and DO get better. For some that means losing the diagnosis completely. For many it means a very significant degree of recovery. For others it means an improvement in the quality of life. For a few, there seems to be no noticable difference. For these individuals, I believe there is an answer somewhere else, be it the Amy Yasco protocol, the Andy Cutler protocol, Pheiffer or a number of Holistic approaches. 
 We need more good, caring, professional people like you! Thank You for believing in our ASD children and adults and for being a part of their healing.
I agree that oxidative stress plays a part in genetic predisposition for autism. Although I believe vaccines caused my grandson's regression, the flu shot being his toxic tipping point, I believe in many other probable sources. That being said, I also know a very few unvaccinated autistic individuals. Of these, all of their mothers had been vaccinated and /or have amalgams. Studies from infant cord blood, show mercury among the other 297 or so toxins present in virtually all newborns involved in samples analyzed by the Red Cross. So, I guess it is safe to say that unvaccinated childern still have exposure to this dangerous poison. Also, vaccines contain other toxins like aluminum, formeldahyde, phenoxyethenol as well as live and/or attenuated viruses. In the U.S., thimerosal has been removed  from childhood vaccinations, yet mercury laden flu shots are still being pushed on pregnant women and babies 6 months and up  :  (
 At any rate, Dr.Dr Richards...keep up the good work...those of us with kids on the spectrum, love you!

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Posted On May 14, 2007
This was taken from Depression Free-Naturally by John Larson:

  1. The first vaccination on record was in the late 1930's
  2. A handful of documented autistic children showed up in the early 1940's
  3. After WWII, as the infant vaccination programs increased, so did the documented number of children with autism. The cases have risen from 11 in 1943 to over 250K in the US today

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Posted On May 17, 2007
WOW.  The proof is in the pudding!

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Posted On May 14, 2007
Neurotoxins such as mercury and aspartame surely contribute to the rise in autism in this country 1 in 150. It is notable that among the Amish who do not vaccinate and who eat a traditional diet autism is virtually unheard of.

I also believe that there is a genetic factor involved in autism as well as other neurological disorders and that is a deficiency of G6PD enzyme which is critical to the reduction of glutathione. G6PD deficiency is the world's most common enzyme deficiency, affecting more than 400 million people worldwide. The deficiency could cause a bottleneck in the phenol-sulfate transferase and may account for a reason why SOME children will become autistic from mercury in vaccines.

I believe that this may also account for the improvements noted by parents who follow the Feingold diet to help their autistic children. The Feingold diet avoids salicylates, phenols and benzenes which are dependent upon PST for their metabolism.

Other parents have noted improvements in their children's behavior simply by bathing them in Epsom Salt baths. Magnesium sulfate could help to relieve bottlenecks in PST as well as helping with calcium absorption.

Studies have shown that many autistic children are deficient in Vitamins A and D and calcium which requires Vitamins A & D for proper absorption. Dr. Hans Nieper in Germany (another FDA favorite) prescribed Calcium EAP with dramatic results to his patients who suffered neurological disorders.



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Posted On May 17, 2007
Amen!  Down with vaccines!  Adam and Eve didn't vaccinate their kids; why should we?  We are the pinnacle of God's creation.  Does it make any sense to put toxins, aborted fetal tissue, and other garbage in our bodies (which are created to heal themselves, by the way) to make us well?  How have we, as a people, been SO deceived?

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