Re: Confused? Chelation Experience -long

[Guest guest]

I felt I should add my thoughts on all the great discussions that

have been going on. I just love the medical and biological

discussions.

My son turned 4 last week. We have not done chelation. I have been

studying information and research for over a year, and hesitant to do

it wrong. During that time my son's hair test's essential elements

normalized and the 2 toxic element that he had initially test high

for have now normalized -bismuth and titanium. We have tried to

remove any exposure to toxins but of course living in the big city,

that is not totally possible. We too have seen very good

improvement -- and without chelation (but who knows if it could have

been more or less with chelation). Stormy has a great doctor and that

can be so helpful. I just want those to know that this is serious

business. I think you should definitely boost your immune system

before doing chelation. You should have tests done throughout

chelation to monitor the body's systems (you can get these done

yourself if you have to). It scares me when I meet someone who is

just buying ALA, giving it whenever, and never checking to see what

is going on - what is coming out and how the body is handling it.

Owens has some important information on the sulfur transport

system (mostly based on Waring's work) that should be considered.

I also think that that frequent smaller doses during the " on " times

are important for a lot of kids. It keeps the metals moving out and

is less stressful. I guess you could say that I agree more with Andy

Cutler's protocol of frequent dosings. I like Stormy's note about

the transdermal ALA since the oral ALA can really screw up the gut -

like a yeast flare.

After we are done with the secretin study, we will look again at the

metals and see where we stand. The tests that Dr.Amy mentions that

would indicate heavy metal toxicity no longer applies to my son

(although a few of them did, not long after he was diagnosed-they

have changed since). I don't know if his body started to move some

of the toxins out on his own or what. There are no easy answers. I

do know that his body is vulnerable to toxins and he will need to be

monitored for the rest of his life. Gaylen, you have mentioned

before that your son has still shown metals moving out years after

you began chelation with him - right? If this is correct, do you

think this is from other exposures?

Below I have pulled out a section from the enzymes and autism yahoo

group files section. This is one of the easiest explanations I have

read in my journey of chelation study:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/enzymesandautism/files/

" Heavy metals can be toxic in the body and do a lot of damage in a

lot of areas. They can damage nerves and functional pathways

directly or indirectly. They can also cause a wealth of damaging

free-radicals to continue to be produced in the body. Unless the

metals are removed, these problems continue to persist over time.

The process of removing these metals is called chelation.

All ionic particles have an electrical charge, either positive (+)

or negative (-). Many metals have 2 positive charges: mercury, lead,

copper, cadmium. Aluminum has 3 positive charges. Each positive can

bind to one negative. Particles will jump to whatever substance has

the stronger charge. A metal will leave a weak positive charge in

favor of a strong positive charge. This is the basis of metal

removal. You want to add a substance that will attract the metal

with a stronger bond that the one your body is using to hold the

metal.

The word chelate means " claw. " The idea is to grip the element as

you would with your closed hand, or with a claw. With the metal

molecule held by two bonds, it is gripped and there is a good chance

it will stay with the chelator and be escorted out of the body.

Thus, true chelating agents are chemicals with 2 or more binding

groups per molecule so they hold on to the metal atom tightly. If a

metal is bound just by a single bond, this would be similar to

holding it in a cupped hand – not closed around it. Something else

can just bump it off or grab it from there. Think of it as having a

small magnet cupped in your hand and a medium sized metal passes by.

The metal will be held by the magnet in your hand. But if a larger

and stronger magnet passes by the metal, the metal will leave the

magnet in your hand and jump over to the stronger one. Now if you

have the same magnet in your hand, or two small magnets on each

finger, and you close your hand around it, it will be much harder

for a stronger magnet to pull it out. There is an electro-chemical

bond plus a structural barrier to releasing the captured metal.

If a metal contains at least 2 positive charges, it can

be " chelated " or bound to the chelator by two bonds. If it is only

connected by one bond, it will still have another positive charge

with which to bind to something else. If your friend has grabbed

both of your hands to hold onto you, it is much harder to pull you

away from him. However, if he is holding only one of your hands and

your other one is free, another person could come along and grab

your free hand as well. If the second person was much stronger and

wanted to pull you away, he would have a much easier time of it than

if both your hands were held by the first person.

This is why some products are not advised for actual chelating

because, although they draw out mercury and bind to it, the bonding

is not extremely tight. There is a good chance the mercury with

bounce off at some other place in the body while it is being

excreted, and cause damage to the new area when it re-attaches in

the body. Chlorella, cysteine, penicillamine, glutathione, " sulfur

foods, " etc. are not true chelating agents because they only hold

onto the mercury with one bond. They can attract metal ions and draw

them out of hiding places, but they may lose the metal before it

successfully gets transported out of the body.Lipoic acid (as

dihydrolipoate which your body converts it into), DMSA and DMPS each

have TWO thiols or sulfur groups per molecule so they hold onto the

mercury atoms tighter than your body does and have a chance to

really escort the mercury out instead of just stirring it up. Thus

these are CHELATING AGENTS - chemicals with 2 or more binding groups

per molecule so they hold on to the metal atom tightly.

>>>>>>>

there is a lot of information at the autism-mercury board and in the

Files section there. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Autism-

Mercury/files

>>>>>>>

It is also important to remember that the body and gut is a dynamic

place. There is constant interaction between

foods/enzymes/metals/gut lining/blood stream and other things. So

what you may see as a " reaction " one day may not hold true next

week. During chelation, a chemical gradient is set up and metals

are " stirred up " or put into motion in the body. Chelators go

through and latch on to certain metals or other positively charged

elements, but there are also other loose, unattached metals floating

around. The idea is to keep a steady supply of chelators in motion

as well to grab the metals. How often a chelator is given can be

very important as well as how much. And also how may days " on " and

then " off " you need to give a chelator. The level of chelators needs

to stay at a certain level for a certain amount of time to be

effective. As soon as you stop the chelator and the level drops

significantly, the equilibrium flow is broken and any loose metals

will re-attach wherever they can. This is the re-distribution effect

where metals from one part of the body can end up somewhere else.

When they re-attach, metals can cause damage wherever they end up

(they might not, but they might). It is very common for someone

chelating to have a particularly " bad " reaction or symptoms on the

first day or two " off " the chelator because any loose metals are re-

attaching. If you just randomly give a dose of chelator to a metal

toxic person, it will just keep bringing the metals into solution in

the body, not sufficiently grabbing them and removing them from the

body, and then they re-attach and damage once again. This leads to

the strong warning often heard that if you don't chelate correctly

you could do far more damage than help.

2. Sulfur in the Body

Sulfur is critical to normal bodily function. Sulfur is best known

for its presence in four amino acids: methionine (an essential amino

acid), cystine and cysteine (non-essential amino acids which can be

made from methionine in the body), and taurine (a conditionally-

essential amino acid which can normally be made from cysteine).

Sulfur is also present in two B-vitamins: thiamine and biotin. In

addition, there are many other sulfur-containing compounds of

primary importance in nutrition and metabolism.

In the diet, sulfur amino acids are readily available in animal

protein foods such as meat, fish, poultry, egg yolks, and milk.

Grains and legumes have lower amounts of the sulfur amino acids.

Onions, garlic, cabbage, brussell sprouts, and broccoli also contain

important bioactive sulfur compounds.

>>>>>>>http://www.amni.com/reprints/sulfur.html

Elemental sulfur has a negative charge of 2 (S--). Sulfur is usually

present in organic compounds as sulfhydryl groups, also

called " thiols " . This is written as SH- and means one sulfur atom is

connected to one hydrogen atom (H+), and the entire group has a

single net negative charge. So the sulfur-hydrogen group can bind to

something with a single positive charge. Mercury and many other

metals have 2 positive charges (aluminum has 3). The affinity of

mercury for sulfur is one of the strongest bonding attractions

known. Enzymes such as papain, bromelain, amylase, and lipase, have

sulfhydryl groups. So mercury could also effectively interact with

quite a broad range of digestive enzymes.

>>>>>>>

" Mercury loves sulfur. In the presence of sulfur, mercury will

unbind from virtually any other substance in order to bind with

sulfur. For this reason, sulfur is a member of a class of substances

called 'mercaptans,' which, I believe, is Latin for `mercury

capture.' "

http://www.envirodental.co.uk/articles.asp "

Just a mom,Theresa Madore, SA