US researchers want to study CHELATION treatment for autism

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Fringe Autism Treatment Could Get Federal Study

US researchers want to study alternative treatment for autism; chelation

called quackery

*By CARLA K. JOHNSON Associated Press Writer*

CHICAGO July 9, 2008 (AP)

Pressured by desperate parents, government researchers are pushing to test

an unproven treatment on autistic children, a move some scientists see as an

unethical experiment in voodoo medicine.

The treatment removes heavy metals from the body and is based on the fringe

theory that mercury in vaccines triggers autism — a theory never proved and

rejected by mainstream science. Mercury hasn't been in childhood vaccines

since 2001, except for certain flu shots.

But many parents of autistic children are believers, and the head of the

National Institute of Mental Health supports testing it on children provided

the tests are safe.

" So many moms have said, `It's saved my kids,' " institute director Dr.

Insel said.

For now, the proposed study, not widely known outside the community of

autism research and advocacy groups, has been put on hold because of safety

concerns, Insel told The Associated Press.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Autism/wireStory?id=5337943

Donna