Re: The Age of Autism: Gold standards

[Guest guest]

Who will be carrying this ball? Bradstreet, McCandelles,

Pfieffer?? Anyone know where this will go from here. I'm sure

there has to be alternative docs out there who have been treating

rheumatoid athritis with this stuff for years. They've probably

never seen an autistic kid but I'm sure is a wealth of info for docs

that do. It would be interesting to know if any of their

neurological problems go away along with the athritis. Wonder if

there is any Altzimers in the bunch. Anyone belong to any athristis

?

Holly

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> http://tinyurl.com/dpz56

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> The Age of Autism: Gold standards By DAN OLMSTED

> UPI Senior Editor WASHINGTON, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- A published

scientific paper suggests gold salts -- the treatment that may have

prompted improvement in the first child ever diagnosed with autism --

can affect mental conditions.

> " Although there is very little modern research on these

applications for gold, historically one notable use of gold was as

a 'nervine,' a substance that could revitalize people suffering from

nervous conditions, a term we would today call neurological and

psychiatric disorders, such as epilepsy and depression, " according

to the paper, " Gold and its relationship to neurological/glandular

conditions. "

> The paper appeared in 2002 in the International Journal of

Neuroscience, co-authored by four researchers at the Meridian

Institute, a Virginia-based non-profit group. It is online at

meridianinstitute.com/ceu/ceu25gol.html.

> " Neither the causes of the disorders nor the mechanism of gold

is known, yet there are reports pointing to a possible involvement

of naturally-occurring gold in the nervous and glandular systems,

and evidence from historical sources of a possible efficacy of gold

in therapy for neurological disorders, " write authors G.

s, L. McMillin, A. Mein and Carl D. .

> The paper, which we've alluded to before, is getting renewed

attention among activists who believe that most cases of autism are

caused by a mercury preservative used in childhood immunizations.

While medical groups and federal health authorities discount any

link, these researchers and parents say a huge rise in autism

diagnoses beginning in the 1990s can be tied to the increasing

number of vaccines containing the preservative, called thimerosal,

which is about 50 percent ethyl mercury by weight.

> The earliest year for which we could find evidence of thimerosal

being used in vaccines was 1931. In August, Age of Autism reported

that the first child ever diagnosed with autism -- T., who

was born in 1933 in Mississippi -- was treated with gold salts for

an acute attack of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis at age 12. His

autism symptoms also showed significant improvement following the

two-to-three-month gold-salts treatment at a clinic in Memphis,

according to his brother, who we interviewed in the small

Mississippi town where both still live.

> That caught the attention of Boyd Haley, a chemistry professor

at the University of Kentucky and a leading proponent of the mercury-

autism theory. In our last column we reported the results of a test

he conducted to see whether gold salts would pull mercury off a

chemical compound.

> It did. Gold salts " can reverse the binding " of mercury to

molecules, Haley said, adding, " This does lend support to the

possible removal of mercury from biological proteins in individuals

treated with gold salts. "

> The article by the Meridian Institute authors does not discuss

whether gold might improve neurological conditions triggered by a

toxic exposure such as mercury, and it does not mention autism. But

it does provide a context for understanding why the compound might

improve mental functioning and alleviate neurological disorders.

> Intriguingly, the authors write that 19th-century scientists

realized gold could help them explore the nervous system.

> " The affinity of gold for the nervous system and the

implications of this for the treatment of nervous disorders was

remarked by (Dr. E.) Keeley (1897): 'The use of gold ... to

develop microscopical nerves may, perhaps, be said to indicate that

nerve fiber has a peculiar affinity for that metal. The application

of it in solutions brings out nerves which otherwise would be

invisible.

> " 'The development of lifeless microscopic nerves by a solution

of gold may be in part owing to some of the recondite forces which

cause the gold, taken into circulation, to reconstruct living

ones.' "

> Haley's hypothesis 108 years later sounds oddly similar: Gold,

he thinks, might pull mercury " off the enzyme it's inhibiting and

reactivate that enzyme. "

> If the idea that an element found in nature could affect mental

functioning sounds bizarre, remember that it has already happened.

The authors note that another element on the periodic table --

lithium -- has been used to treat bipolar disorder.

> All this leaves proponents of the mercury-autism theory eager to

see whether gold salts might be beneficial to any of the 250,000

Americans with autism, many of whom have not responded well to

treatment. But they are equally concerned that a " gold rush, " so to

speak, could raise false hopes or -- far worse -- endanger children.

> " Don't jump on this. Be careful. You can hurt kids, " Haley told

us before he began his test of gold salts. Even after it reversed

the binding of mercury to molecules, Haley cautioned:

> " The last thing the autism associations need is a bad experience

on treating an autistic child. Extreme caution should be used with

gold salts; just because the gold or thiolmalate (part of the gold

salts) binds mercury in a test tube doesn't mean the gold salts will

not be harmful to a young infant.

> " Remember, the successful treatment was on a 12-year-old child

if indeed the gold salts were the cause of his autism remission.

Let's be exceptionally careful here and include every possible

safety factor before we start any major clinical study. "

> One relatively simple test was suggested by a parent: Try gold

salts -- which are still available by prescription -- on someone who

has both rheumatoid arthritis, for which its effectiveness has been

established, and autism, for which it has not.

> The Meridian Institute authors made a similar suggestion. They

proposed " attending to the side effects of gold medications where

there is comorbidity of rheumatoid arthritis and a neurological,

psychiatric, or glandular disorder. ...

> " One could ask, do patients with epilepsy, depression, or

adrenal insufficiency who may be receiving gold salts for arthritis

show any improvement in neurological/glandular symptoms? Although

neurological adverse effects are rare, beneficial side effects might

be found. "

> As the calendar turns to 2006, the day may be coming when their

question is answered.

> --

> E-mail: dolmsted@u...

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