Re: gfcf diet and mercury detox/Chelation more...

[Guest guest]

,

Thank you for sharing all of this with us....I thought I was scared and overwhelmed almost two years ago when I implemented the GFCF diet...ha! Once I did it, it was so easy!! I hope that's the way this will go too... just turned 5 so I know I really need to get on the ball with this...

Thanks again for sharing your information!

karen beauvais wrote:

Tuesday, July 6th, 2004Hello everyone! :-)I wrote a letter to Professor Boyd Haley asking about the effectiveness of various chelators, and have received detailed responses, which you will find below. One chelator or supplement I asked about was TTFD; I quoted to him the following recent exchange on a Yahoo autism list; the poster answering the questions has a PhD in chemistry.Question: Is tetrahydrofurfuryl mercaptan a part of TTFD?Answer: Yes. TTFD is short for thiamine tetrahydrofurfuryl disulfide. Mercaptans are single thiol groups. They do not capture and hold mercury any better than the kilograms worth of such your body already has. Disulfide bonds don't capture inorganic or organic mercury at all.Chelators capture mercury and successfully take it out of the body; these have 2 binding groups, or mercaptans,

in the molecule. With the TTFD disulfide, if the disulfide is reduced to a dimercaptan it becomes 2 molecules that float away from each other. In TTFD the disulfide bond is what holds the TF and the T together.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Dr. Haley, in your opinion,1) Will TTFD help remove heavy metals from the body--especially mercury?Dr. Haley's answer: I have no first hand knowledge concerning any clinical studies showing TTFD removing mercury or helping an autistic child detox. The chemistry Ph.D. comments presented in your email is correct in his comments that TTFD break down into two monothiol containing compounds that would not be classified as chelators of

mercury, at least not any more than cysteine would be. Monothiols only have one -SH group (thiol) and would not bind mercury nearly as tightly as DMPS or DMSA or glutathione complex. As a matter of fact, we have found that R-S-HgCl compounds are more toxic than Hg2+ so I would have questions concerning the effectiveness of TTFD unless there were good clinical data showing that it was effective. My guess is that monothiols would not be good at removing mercury from the central nervous since the mono-thiol containing amino acid cysteine, which readily crosses the blood brain barrier, is not effective in this regards.2) Is TTFD or the fat soluble form of vitamin B-1, known as allithiamine, potentially harmful to the liver of healthy people, and more specifically, vaccine-injured mercury-toxic children?Dr. Haley's answer: It is likely a matter of dose, it would likely be toxic is used in excess amounts and, again, genetics plays a major roll in this regards. Monothiol compounds like methylthiol (made by pathogenic anerobic bacteria as they process methionine) is classified as a bacterial toxicant like hydrogen sulfide (H2S, made by anerobic bacteria as they process cysteine).3) Would supplementing extra vitamin B-1/thiamine (water-soluble)--in addition to a good B complex--help to detoxify a child from mercury and other heavy metals?Dr. Haley's answer: I know of no proof that this would be effective and I cannot think of a biochemical reason to support this hypothesis other than the mercury toxic child might be limited in his/her ability to absorb these needed compounds from their diet.4) Is chlorella that is not contaminated with mercury a safe way to chelate?Dr. Haley's answer: Regarding chlorella, it is my opinion that it is practically worthless at removing mercury from the body. I have never seen any publication or study, other than claims by the sellers of this material, that it removes mercury from the body. Because it binds and removes mercury from the soil while growing some seem to think it would remove mercury from the body, not withstanding that the chlorella must withstand an extremely high pH in the stomach. One person demonstrating increased mercury excretion in his urine following ingestion of chlorella at one of my conferences caused me to check his chlorella for mercury, and it was loaded. To check out the theory a source of mercury free chlorella was found and tested but the data (obtained by Dr. Quig

at Doctor's Data) showed that this mercury free chlorella did not increase excretion of mercury. I think it is all a ruse that has never been proven because it cannot be proven as it does not work.5) Can cilantro be used effectively and safely to chelate mercury, with or without chlorella?Dr. Haley's answer: There is not proof that cilantro works any better than chlorella. It is just the opinion of those that sell this product, there has not been one scientific study to support the concept that cilantro removes mercury from the body. Opinions of those who want to sell this product, or give advice as if they know something and are health guru's, is all that I know that support the use of cilantro. The bottom line is showing that the products increase the mercury levels in the urine and feces post treatment by

measuring the mercury scientifically. This is easy to do and has not been done successfully for either chlorella or cilantro. Analysis by non-established procedures is not reliable for evaluating the successful use of these materials.6) What do you think are the safest and most effective means for parents to chelate their mercury-poisoned children--both with a doctor and without?Dr. Haley's answer: I would recommend going the most natural route possible. We know how healthy children excrete mercury, they do so by first forming the glutathione-mercury complex and using metabolic produced energy to actively excrete the mercury-glutathione complex out of the body through the bilary transport system of the liver into the feces. Therefore, developing a diet that leads to increased intracellular reduced glutathione

is important. This diet should also provide the needed minerals and vitamins and nutrients that allow the body to make energy (ATP or adenosine-triphosphate). Vitamin C is a good contributor to both of these needs. The child may also need supplementation of lipoic acid (used in the first step of the citric acid cycle and a strong binder of Hg2+, which inhibits its function and use). All mercury toxic individuals will likely be selenium deficient as Se2- binds Hg2+ very tightly forming HgSe (mercury selenide) which removes the selenium from bioavailability to the body. I firmly believe that the child should be first placed on a good supporting diet with supplementation before any chelation is attempted. After that I bow to the physicians that treat the children first hand with regards to the use of DMPS and DMSA as they have the experience that I do not have. Caution is needed but these physicians know this.6a) I've read some concerns about ALA (especially in combination with DMSA).Dr. Haley's answer: Alpha-lipoic acid is a needed element in the diet, it most likely should be given with food and not mixed with thiol-based chelators as it will form what is called a mixed disulfide (e.g. DMPS-SH + ALA-SH >> DMPS-S-ALA, not correct chemistry but it may get the idea across) that is ineffective and may be toxic.Dr. Haley's answer, continued: In my opinion, we do not know the best way to remove mercury or detox autistic children although we have made headway. I think the diet considerations found by DAN physicians with regards to casein and wheat glutin have been major advances. The need to supplement with vitamin methyl-B12 seems to be a critical find. What is really needed is for the government of fess up to the thimerosal

caused problems and to fund clinical studies that individual physicians cannot do to successfully find a way to treat these children. It may be a way to repair the damage that a transient bolus dose of thimerosal caused that is needed---and the removal of mercury may just be a minor step in this process.Boyd E. Haley Professor and ChairDept. of ChemistryUniversity of Kentuckykaren beauvais wrote:

A while back I posted some chelation basics in a post called chelation 101.

I will state them again and tell you what's new.

We started Chelation because we heard about a study which I will attach

(scan for viruses before you open)that said autistic children retain Mercury from vaccines rather than excrete it. This study was done with baby hair from first haircut from both normal and autistic kids. When we went to our DAN doctor we had a heavy metal test done and not much Mercury showed up. He was high in copper so we immediately upped zinc to combat that. I didn't think we had a metals problem. Our gains seemed to level out and I began to read regular posts from GFCF Mom's about how well chelation worked. I asked our DAN doctor to run a DMSA-challenge (a dose of chelation for testing) within a day Josh began stringing words into sentences. When our test came back much more Mercury came pouring out and again more came out a month later when tested. There is no test to measure Mercury in a kid, since it nests in organs and tissue. The only way to see what you are dealing with is to test urine and see what is coming

out. Along with the Mercury leaving so did the silence. Josh's language has been blossoming ever since. He plays like a regular kid now.

Up until today we have been taking FDA approved DMSA orally which has created quite a problem with yeast and chelates Mercury very slowly. They told us expect to be chelating for 10 months. A new form of DMPS which chelates Mercury quicker but previously has only been given IV is now available transdermally (goes on the skin). It has only been used recently so I will also attach Dr. Buttar's paper on that as well. This method is slowly becoming the method of choice as it doesn't cause the yeast problems because it goes in through the skin. DMSA is a yeast feeder because of its molecular structure. DMPS is a far better Mercury chelator but the IV version had so many side effects it was rarely used. DMSA had FDA approval so that is what most people used.

The DAN doctors are prescribing the DMPS-TD(transdermal) now with no problem. A few kids have gotten a small rash. You can get it combined with glutithione or separately if like us, you are already using glutithione in a cream.

We should be on the new method DMPS-TD in a week, they say it takes about 4 weeks to see results so I will let you know how it works. We are running a urine metal test in 6 weeks so I will be able to accurately tell you if it is as good as DMSA oral.

Here are some need to know items about chelation:

I firmly believe you should do this under the care of a good DAN(Defeat Autism Now)doctor. The only two I can safely recommend near us are Dr. Hicks(comes here a couple times a month) and Dr. Bradstreet our doctor in Florida. The reason I say this is because you need some baseline liver function tests done before and throughout. DMSA and DMPS can be hard on the liver. We give Milk Thistle (a liver booster) everyday to keep his liver in check. We also eat as organic as possible.

There are some natural chelators like Vitamin C and glutithione.

If you use DMSA or DMPS you will need to supplement with a good multi-mineral.

B-12 shots also speed the process

There is a great website called nomercury.org with some good links as well. There is a yahoo group Chelatingkids2 that is very good. I might add that none of the web info should replace a doctor's supervision. Autism is bad, but liver damage is fatal.

I will forward Boyd Haley's response to a Mom on some detailed questions. Boyd is considered a national expert on Mercury and a friend of the autism community. He was one of the authors of the baby hair study. Keep in mind chelation is only one of the things we are doing. I also feel that diet, TMG(Jill protocol), Secretin and B12 shots have all helped immensely-not to mention the tons of prayer!Blessings Autism is treatable!If you are medically minded and think chelation is voodoo read Dr.Don Colbert's book What you don't know may be killing you. He is an MD. He actually chelated a woman with ALS back to health.

katie wrote:

,I would be interested in reading this also. Pleasepost to the board if you don't mind or include me inyour response.Thanks,--- melissa millhollin wrote:> ,> > My son just turned 5 and has been GFCF for almost 2> years. We have seen a lot of improvement as well. > I am currently in the beginning stages of learning> about chelation....can you outline for me what you> are doing? I have a lot to learn before we do it...> > Thanks,> > > karen beauvais wrote:> Please feel free to call me. Beauvais> > We have been 100% GFCF 1 year and chelating 6 months> with huge gains.> We started at age 3 with a DAN

(Defeat Autism Now)> doctor after thousands spent with developmental> evals. Our DAN doctor is an MD and everything he> advised us to do has worked. Your son is at the> perfect age to try this route as parents with kids> under 5 see the best gains. I have since met 2 kids> on the diet that have completely recovered. One at> my OT the other at a GI doctor's consult.> I got alot of strange looks from therapists and> doctors when we started now they all want to know> exactly what we are doing.> Watching my once silent son learn new words is like> watching a flower bloom.> My husband and I decided if the Bio-medical approach> was safe and non-invasive we would keep trying until> we got to the core problem which we now know is> Mercury. For some kids it's other problems. > Please feel free to call me.> > reagonsmith

wrote:> my 32 month old son was just recently diagnosed> with Autism, as > well as Pragmatic expressive disorder, and of course> aggressive > behaviors. My husband and i are seriously> considering a gfcf diet, > and po if possible mercury detox. Has I am curious> to see if anyone > has had great success with either of these? We have> an appointment > with Dr. Janine Romaner on Monday. Has anyone used> her before? If > so is she highly recommended? > > Thanks > > > > > ---------------------------------> Do you Yahoo!?> Yahoo! Mail - 50x more storage than other providers!> >

[Guest guest]

,

Thank you for sharing all of this with us....I thought I was scared and overwhelmed almost two years ago when I implemented the GFCF diet...ha! Once I did it, it was so easy!! I hope that's the way this will go too... just turned 5 so I know I really need to get on the ball with this...

Thanks again for sharing your information!

karen beauvais wrote:

Tuesday, July 6th, 2004Hello everyone! :-)I wrote a letter to Professor Boyd Haley asking about the effectiveness of various chelators, and have received detailed responses, which you will find below. One chelator or supplement I asked about was TTFD; I quoted to him the following recent exchange on a Yahoo autism list; the poster answering the questions has a PhD in chemistry.Question: Is tetrahydrofurfuryl mercaptan a part of TTFD?Answer: Yes. TTFD is short for thiamine tetrahydrofurfuryl disulfide. Mercaptans are single thiol groups. They do not capture and hold mercury any better than the kilograms worth of such your body already has. Disulfide bonds don't capture inorganic or organic mercury at all.Chelators capture mercury and successfully take it out of the body; these have 2 binding groups, or mercaptans,

in the molecule. With the TTFD disulfide, if the disulfide is reduced to a dimercaptan it becomes 2 molecules that float away from each other. In TTFD the disulfide bond is what holds the TF and the T together.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Dr. Haley, in your opinion,1) Will TTFD help remove heavy metals from the body--especially mercury?Dr. Haley's answer: I have no first hand knowledge concerning any clinical studies showing TTFD removing mercury or helping an autistic child detox. The chemistry Ph.D. comments presented in your email is correct in his comments that TTFD break down into two monothiol containing compounds that would not be classified as chelators of

mercury, at least not any more than cysteine would be. Monothiols only have one -SH group (thiol) and would not bind mercury nearly as tightly as DMPS or DMSA or glutathione complex. As a matter of fact, we have found that R-S-HgCl compounds are more toxic than Hg2+ so I would have questions concerning the effectiveness of TTFD unless there were good clinical data showing that it was effective. My guess is that monothiols would not be good at removing mercury from the central nervous since the mono-thiol containing amino acid cysteine, which readily crosses the blood brain barrier, is not effective in this regards.2) Is TTFD or the fat soluble form of vitamin B-1, known as allithiamine, potentially harmful to the liver of healthy people, and more specifically, vaccine-injured mercury-toxic children?Dr. Haley's answer: It is likely a matter of dose, it would likely be toxic is used in excess amounts and, again, genetics plays a major roll in this regards. Monothiol compounds like methylthiol (made by pathogenic anerobic bacteria as they process methionine) is classified as a bacterial toxicant like hydrogen sulfide (H2S, made by anerobic bacteria as they process cysteine).3) Would supplementing extra vitamin B-1/thiamine (water-soluble)--in addition to a good B complex--help to detoxify a child from mercury and other heavy metals?Dr. Haley's answer: I know of no proof that this would be effective and I cannot think of a biochemical reason to support this hypothesis other than the mercury toxic child might be limited in his/her ability to absorb these needed compounds from their diet.4) Is chlorella that is not contaminated with mercury a safe way to chelate?Dr. Haley's answer: Regarding chlorella, it is my opinion that it is practically worthless at removing mercury from the body. I have never seen any publication or study, other than claims by the sellers of this material, that it removes mercury from the body. Because it binds and removes mercury from the soil while growing some seem to think it would remove mercury from the body, not withstanding that the chlorella must withstand an extremely high pH in the stomach. One person demonstrating increased mercury excretion in his urine following ingestion of chlorella at one of my conferences caused me to check his chlorella for mercury, and it was loaded. To check out the theory a source of mercury free chlorella was found and tested but the data (obtained by Dr. Quig

at Doctor's Data) showed that this mercury free chlorella did not increase excretion of mercury. I think it is all a ruse that has never been proven because it cannot be proven as it does not work.5) Can cilantro be used effectively and safely to chelate mercury, with or without chlorella?Dr. Haley's answer: There is not proof that cilantro works any better than chlorella. It is just the opinion of those that sell this product, there has not been one scientific study to support the concept that cilantro removes mercury from the body. Opinions of those who want to sell this product, or give advice as if they know something and are health guru's, is all that I know that support the use of cilantro. The bottom line is showing that the products increase the mercury levels in the urine and feces post treatment by

measuring the mercury scientifically. This is easy to do and has not been done successfully for either chlorella or cilantro. Analysis by non-established procedures is not reliable for evaluating the successful use of these materials.6) What do you think are the safest and most effective means for parents to chelate their mercury-poisoned children--both with a doctor and without?Dr. Haley's answer: I would recommend going the most natural route possible. We know how healthy children excrete mercury, they do so by first forming the glutathione-mercury complex and using metabolic produced energy to actively excrete the mercury-glutathione complex out of the body through the bilary transport system of the liver into the feces. Therefore, developing a diet that leads to increased intracellular reduced glutathione

is important. This diet should also provide the needed minerals and vitamins and nutrients that allow the body to make energy (ATP or adenosine-triphosphate). Vitamin C is a good contributor to both of these needs. The child may also need supplementation of lipoic acid (used in the first step of the citric acid cycle and a strong binder of Hg2+, which inhibits its function and use). All mercury toxic individuals will likely be selenium deficient as Se2- binds Hg2+ very tightly forming HgSe (mercury selenide) which removes the selenium from bioavailability to the body. I firmly believe that the child should be first placed on a good supporting diet with supplementation before any chelation is attempted. After that I bow to the physicians that treat the children first hand with regards to the use of DMPS and DMSA as they have the experience that I do not have. Caution is needed but these physicians know this.6a) I've read some concerns about ALA (especially in combination with DMSA).Dr. Haley's answer: Alpha-lipoic acid is a needed element in the diet, it most likely should be given with food and not mixed with thiol-based chelators as it will form what is called a mixed disulfide (e.g. DMPS-SH + ALA-SH >> DMPS-S-ALA, not correct chemistry but it may get the idea across) that is ineffective and may be toxic.Dr. Haley's answer, continued: In my opinion, we do not know the best way to remove mercury or detox autistic children although we have made headway. I think the diet considerations found by DAN physicians with regards to casein and wheat glutin have been major advances. The need to supplement with vitamin methyl-B12 seems to be a critical find. What is really needed is for the government of fess up to the thimerosal

caused problems and to fund clinical studies that individual physicians cannot do to successfully find a way to treat these children. It may be a way to repair the damage that a transient bolus dose of thimerosal caused that is needed---and the removal of mercury may just be a minor step in this process.Boyd E. Haley Professor and ChairDept. of ChemistryUniversity of Kentuckykaren beauvais wrote:

A while back I posted some chelation basics in a post called chelation 101.

I will state them again and tell you what's new.

We started Chelation because we heard about a study which I will attach

(scan for viruses before you open)that said autistic children retain Mercury from vaccines rather than excrete it. This study was done with baby hair from first haircut from both normal and autistic kids. When we went to our DAN doctor we had a heavy metal test done and not much Mercury showed up. He was high in copper so we immediately upped zinc to combat that. I didn't think we had a metals problem. Our gains seemed to level out and I began to read regular posts from GFCF Mom's about how well chelation worked. I asked our DAN doctor to run a DMSA-challenge (a dose of chelation for testing) within a day Josh began stringing words into sentences. When our test came back much more Mercury came pouring out and again more came out a month later when tested. There is no test to measure Mercury in a kid, since it nests in organs and tissue. The only way to see what you are dealing with is to test urine and see what is coming

out. Along with the Mercury leaving so did the silence. Josh's language has been blossoming ever since. He plays like a regular kid now.

Up until today we have been taking FDA approved DMSA orally which has created quite a problem with yeast and chelates Mercury very slowly. They told us expect to be chelating for 10 months. A new form of DMPS which chelates Mercury quicker but previously has only been given IV is now available transdermally (goes on the skin). It has only been used recently so I will also attach Dr. Buttar's paper on that as well. This method is slowly becoming the method of choice as it doesn't cause the yeast problems because it goes in through the skin. DMSA is a yeast feeder because of its molecular structure. DMPS is a far better Mercury chelator but the IV version had so many side effects it was rarely used. DMSA had FDA approval so that is what most people used.

The DAN doctors are prescribing the DMPS-TD(transdermal) now with no problem. A few kids have gotten a small rash. You can get it combined with glutithione or separately if like us, you are already using glutithione in a cream.

We should be on the new method DMPS-TD in a week, they say it takes about 4 weeks to see results so I will let you know how it works. We are running a urine metal test in 6 weeks so I will be able to accurately tell you if it is as good as DMSA oral.

Here are some need to know items about chelation:

I firmly believe you should do this under the care of a good DAN(Defeat Autism Now)doctor. The only two I can safely recommend near us are Dr. Hicks(comes here a couple times a month) and Dr. Bradstreet our doctor in Florida. The reason I say this is because you need some baseline liver function tests done before and throughout. DMSA and DMPS can be hard on the liver. We give Milk Thistle (a liver booster) everyday to keep his liver in check. We also eat as organic as possible.

There are some natural chelators like Vitamin C and glutithione.

If you use DMSA or DMPS you will need to supplement with a good multi-mineral.

B-12 shots also speed the process

There is a great website called nomercury.org with some good links as well. There is a yahoo group Chelatingkids2 that is very good. I might add that none of the web info should replace a doctor's supervision. Autism is bad, but liver damage is fatal.

I will forward Boyd Haley's response to a Mom on some detailed questions. Boyd is considered a national expert on Mercury and a friend of the autism community. He was one of the authors of the baby hair study. Keep in mind chelation is only one of the things we are doing. I also feel that diet, TMG(Jill protocol), Secretin and B12 shots have all helped immensely-not to mention the tons of prayer!Blessings Autism is treatable!If you are medically minded and think chelation is voodoo read Dr.Don Colbert's book What you don't know may be killing you. He is an MD. He actually chelated a woman with ALS back to health.

katie wrote:

,I would be interested in reading this also. Pleasepost to the board if you don't mind or include me inyour response.Thanks,--- melissa millhollin wrote:> ,> > My son just turned 5 and has been GFCF for almost 2> years. We have seen a lot of improvement as well. > I am currently in the beginning stages of learning> about chelation....can you outline for me what you> are doing? I have a lot to learn before we do it...> > Thanks,> > > karen beauvais wrote:> Please feel free to call me. Beauvais> > We have been 100% GFCF 1 year and chelating 6 months> with huge gains.> We started at age 3 with a DAN

(Defeat Autism Now)> doctor after thousands spent with developmental> evals. Our DAN doctor is an MD and everything he> advised us to do has worked. Your son is at the> perfect age to try this route as parents with kids> under 5 see the best gains. I have since met 2 kids> on the diet that have completely recovered. One at> my OT the other at a GI doctor's consult.> I got alot of strange looks from therapists and> doctors when we started now they all want to know> exactly what we are doing.> Watching my once silent son learn new words is like> watching a flower bloom.> My husband and I decided if the Bio-medical approach> was safe and non-invasive we would keep trying until> we got to the core problem which we now know is> Mercury. For some kids it's other problems. > Please feel free to call me.> > reagonsmith

wrote:> my 32 month old son was just recently diagnosed> with Autism, as > well as Pragmatic expressive disorder, and of course> aggressive > behaviors. My husband and i are seriously> considering a gfcf diet, > and po if possible mercury detox. Has I am curious> to see if anyone > has had great success with either of these? We have> an appointment > with Dr. Janine Romaner on Monday. Has anyone used> her before? If > so is she highly recommended? > > Thanks > > > > > ---------------------------------> Do you Yahoo!?> Yahoo! Mail - 50x more storage than other providers!> >

[Guest guest]

,

Thank you for sharing all of this with us....I thought I was scared and overwhelmed almost two years ago when I implemented the GFCF diet...ha! Once I did it, it was so easy!! I hope that's the way this will go too... just turned 5 so I know I really need to get on the ball with this...

Thanks again for sharing your information!

karen beauvais wrote:

Tuesday, July 6th, 2004Hello everyone! :-)I wrote a letter to Professor Boyd Haley asking about the effectiveness of various chelators, and have received detailed responses, which you will find below. One chelator or supplement I asked about was TTFD; I quoted to him the following recent exchange on a Yahoo autism list; the poster answering the questions has a PhD in chemistry.Question: Is tetrahydrofurfuryl mercaptan a part of TTFD?Answer: Yes. TTFD is short for thiamine tetrahydrofurfuryl disulfide. Mercaptans are single thiol groups. They do not capture and hold mercury any better than the kilograms worth of such your body already has. Disulfide bonds don't capture inorganic or organic mercury at all.Chelators capture mercury and successfully take it out of the body; these have 2 binding groups, or mercaptans,

in the molecule. With the TTFD disulfide, if the disulfide is reduced to a dimercaptan it becomes 2 molecules that float away from each other. In TTFD the disulfide bond is what holds the TF and the T together.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Dr. Haley, in your opinion,1) Will TTFD help remove heavy metals from the body--especially mercury?Dr. Haley's answer: I have no first hand knowledge concerning any clinical studies showing TTFD removing mercury or helping an autistic child detox. The chemistry Ph.D. comments presented in your email is correct in his comments that TTFD break down into two monothiol containing compounds that would not be classified as chelators of

mercury, at least not any more than cysteine would be. Monothiols only have one -SH group (thiol) and would not bind mercury nearly as tightly as DMPS or DMSA or glutathione complex. As a matter of fact, we have found that R-S-HgCl compounds are more toxic than Hg2+ so I would have questions concerning the effectiveness of TTFD unless there were good clinical data showing that it was effective. My guess is that monothiols would not be good at removing mercury from the central nervous since the mono-thiol containing amino acid cysteine, which readily crosses the blood brain barrier, is not effective in this regards.2) Is TTFD or the fat soluble form of vitamin B-1, known as allithiamine, potentially harmful to the liver of healthy people, and more specifically, vaccine-injured mercury-toxic children?Dr. Haley's answer: It is likely a matter of dose, it would likely be toxic is used in excess amounts and, again, genetics plays a major roll in this regards. Monothiol compounds like methylthiol (made by pathogenic anerobic bacteria as they process methionine) is classified as a bacterial toxicant like hydrogen sulfide (H2S, made by anerobic bacteria as they process cysteine).3) Would supplementing extra vitamin B-1/thiamine (water-soluble)--in addition to a good B complex--help to detoxify a child from mercury and other heavy metals?Dr. Haley's answer: I know of no proof that this would be effective and I cannot think of a biochemical reason to support this hypothesis other than the mercury toxic child might be limited in his/her ability to absorb these needed compounds from their diet.4) Is chlorella that is not contaminated with mercury a safe way to chelate?Dr. Haley's answer: Regarding chlorella, it is my opinion that it is practically worthless at removing mercury from the body. I have never seen any publication or study, other than claims by the sellers of this material, that it removes mercury from the body. Because it binds and removes mercury from the soil while growing some seem to think it would remove mercury from the body, not withstanding that the chlorella must withstand an extremely high pH in the stomach. One person demonstrating increased mercury excretion in his urine following ingestion of chlorella at one of my conferences caused me to check his chlorella for mercury, and it was loaded. To check out the theory a source of mercury free chlorella was found and tested but the data (obtained by Dr. Quig

at Doctor's Data) showed that this mercury free chlorella did not increase excretion of mercury. I think it is all a ruse that has never been proven because it cannot be proven as it does not work.5) Can cilantro be used effectively and safely to chelate mercury, with or without chlorella?Dr. Haley's answer: There is not proof that cilantro works any better than chlorella. It is just the opinion of those that sell this product, there has not been one scientific study to support the concept that cilantro removes mercury from the body. Opinions of those who want to sell this product, or give advice as if they know something and are health guru's, is all that I know that support the use of cilantro. The bottom line is showing that the products increase the mercury levels in the urine and feces post treatment by

measuring the mercury scientifically. This is easy to do and has not been done successfully for either chlorella or cilantro. Analysis by non-established procedures is not reliable for evaluating the successful use of these materials.6) What do you think are the safest and most effective means for parents to chelate their mercury-poisoned children--both with a doctor and without?Dr. Haley's answer: I would recommend going the most natural route possible. We know how healthy children excrete mercury, they do so by first forming the glutathione-mercury complex and using metabolic produced energy to actively excrete the mercury-glutathione complex out of the body through the bilary transport system of the liver into the feces. Therefore, developing a diet that leads to increased intracellular reduced glutathione

is important. This diet should also provide the needed minerals and vitamins and nutrients that allow the body to make energy (ATP or adenosine-triphosphate). Vitamin C is a good contributor to both of these needs. The child may also need supplementation of lipoic acid (used in the first step of the citric acid cycle and a strong binder of Hg2+, which inhibits its function and use). All mercury toxic individuals will likely be selenium deficient as Se2- binds Hg2+ very tightly forming HgSe (mercury selenide) which removes the selenium from bioavailability to the body. I firmly believe that the child should be first placed on a good supporting diet with supplementation before any chelation is attempted. After that I bow to the physicians that treat the children first hand with regards to the use of DMPS and DMSA as they have the experience that I do not have. Caution is needed but these physicians know this.6a) I've read some concerns about ALA (especially in combination with DMSA).Dr. Haley's answer: Alpha-lipoic acid is a needed element in the diet, it most likely should be given with food and not mixed with thiol-based chelators as it will form what is called a mixed disulfide (e.g. DMPS-SH + ALA-SH >> DMPS-S-ALA, not correct chemistry but it may get the idea across) that is ineffective and may be toxic.Dr. Haley's answer, continued: In my opinion, we do not know the best way to remove mercury or detox autistic children although we have made headway. I think the diet considerations found by DAN physicians with regards to casein and wheat glutin have been major advances. The need to supplement with vitamin methyl-B12 seems to be a critical find. What is really needed is for the government of fess up to the thimerosal

caused problems and to fund clinical studies that individual physicians cannot do to successfully find a way to treat these children. It may be a way to repair the damage that a transient bolus dose of thimerosal caused that is needed---and the removal of mercury may just be a minor step in this process.Boyd E. Haley Professor and ChairDept. of ChemistryUniversity of Kentuckykaren beauvais wrote:

A while back I posted some chelation basics in a post called chelation 101.

I will state them again and tell you what's new.

We started Chelation because we heard about a study which I will attach

(scan for viruses before you open)that said autistic children retain Mercury from vaccines rather than excrete it. This study was done with baby hair from first haircut from both normal and autistic kids. When we went to our DAN doctor we had a heavy metal test done and not much Mercury showed up. He was high in copper so we immediately upped zinc to combat that. I didn't think we had a metals problem. Our gains seemed to level out and I began to read regular posts from GFCF Mom's about how well chelation worked. I asked our DAN doctor to run a DMSA-challenge (a dose of chelation for testing) within a day Josh began stringing words into sentences. When our test came back much more Mercury came pouring out and again more came out a month later when tested. There is no test to measure Mercury in a kid, since it nests in organs and tissue. The only way to see what you are dealing with is to test urine and see what is coming

out. Along with the Mercury leaving so did the silence. Josh's language has been blossoming ever since. He plays like a regular kid now.

Up until today we have been taking FDA approved DMSA orally which has created quite a problem with yeast and chelates Mercury very slowly. They told us expect to be chelating for 10 months. A new form of DMPS which chelates Mercury quicker but previously has only been given IV is now available transdermally (goes on the skin). It has only been used recently so I will also attach Dr. Buttar's paper on that as well. This method is slowly becoming the method of choice as it doesn't cause the yeast problems because it goes in through the skin. DMSA is a yeast feeder because of its molecular structure. DMPS is a far better Mercury chelator but the IV version had so many side effects it was rarely used. DMSA had FDA approval so that is what most people used.

The DAN doctors are prescribing the DMPS-TD(transdermal) now with no problem. A few kids have gotten a small rash. You can get it combined with glutithione or separately if like us, you are already using glutithione in a cream.

We should be on the new method DMPS-TD in a week, they say it takes about 4 weeks to see results so I will let you know how it works. We are running a urine metal test in 6 weeks so I will be able to accurately tell you if it is as good as DMSA oral.

Here are some need to know items about chelation:

I firmly believe you should do this under the care of a good DAN(Defeat Autism Now)doctor. The only two I can safely recommend near us are Dr. Hicks(comes here a couple times a month) and Dr. Bradstreet our doctor in Florida. The reason I say this is because you need some baseline liver function tests done before and throughout. DMSA and DMPS can be hard on the liver. We give Milk Thistle (a liver booster) everyday to keep his liver in check. We also eat as organic as possible.

There are some natural chelators like Vitamin C and glutithione.

If you use DMSA or DMPS you will need to supplement with a good multi-mineral.

B-12 shots also speed the process

There is a great website called nomercury.org with some good links as well. There is a yahoo group Chelatingkids2 that is very good. I might add that none of the web info should replace a doctor's supervision. Autism is bad, but liver damage is fatal.

I will forward Boyd Haley's response to a Mom on some detailed questions. Boyd is considered a national expert on Mercury and a friend of the autism community. He was one of the authors of the baby hair study. Keep in mind chelation is only one of the things we are doing. I also feel that diet, TMG(Jill protocol), Secretin and B12 shots have all helped immensely-not to mention the tons of prayer!Blessings Autism is treatable!If you are medically minded and think chelation is voodoo read Dr.Don Colbert's book What you don't know may be killing you. He is an MD. He actually chelated a woman with ALS back to health.

katie wrote:

,I would be interested in reading this also. Pleasepost to the board if you don't mind or include me inyour response.Thanks,--- melissa millhollin wrote:> ,> > My son just turned 5 and has been GFCF for almost 2> years. We have seen a lot of improvement as well. > I am currently in the beginning stages of learning> about chelation....can you outline for me what you> are doing? I have a lot to learn before we do it...> > Thanks,> > > karen beauvais wrote:> Please feel free to call me. Beauvais> > We have been 100% GFCF 1 year and chelating 6 months> with huge gains.> We started at age 3 with a DAN

(Defeat Autism Now)> doctor after thousands spent with developmental> evals. Our DAN doctor is an MD and everything he> advised us to do has worked. Your son is at the> perfect age to try this route as parents with kids> under 5 see the best gains. I have since met 2 kids> on the diet that have completely recovered. One at> my OT the other at a GI doctor's consult.> I got alot of strange looks from therapists and> doctors when we started now they all want to know> exactly what we are doing.> Watching my once silent son learn new words is like> watching a flower bloom.> My husband and I decided if the Bio-medical approach> was safe and non-invasive we would keep trying until> we got to the core problem which we now know is> Mercury. For some kids it's other problems. > Please feel free to call me.> > reagonsmith

wrote:> my 32 month old son was just recently diagnosed> with Autism, as > well as Pragmatic expressive disorder, and of course> aggressive > behaviors. My husband and i are seriously> considering a gfcf diet, > and po if possible mercury detox. Has I am curious> to see if anyone > has had great success with either of these? We have> an appointment > with Dr. Janine Romaner on Monday. Has anyone used> her before? If > so is she highly recommended? > > Thanks > > > > > ---------------------------------> Do you Yahoo!?> Yahoo! Mail - 50x more storage than other providers!> >

[Guest guest]

....and I make a mean GF/CF chicken nugget as well!!! We just got back from vacation in Iowa and the first place I went when I got there was a health food store!!!

.... likes Pachabel and loves to look at this Van Gogh Book I have!! I'm just learning the chemistry acronyms but I did try to talk to my husband last night about DMPS and TD-DMPS...as well as Vitamin B-12...etc!!! He looked at me like I was nutz, I haven't quite gotten him on board yet about the whole chelation process...but I will!!!

M.karen beauvais wrote:

No problem maybe we could get our kids together one day for some rice cakes and pear juice! I joke with my husband look what we've become in one year. We're shopping at the health food store, listening to Mozart and talking in chemistry acronyms!

:)melissa millhollin wrote:

,

Thank you for sharing all of this with us....I thought I was scared and overwhelmed almost two years ago when I implemented the GFCF diet...ha! Once I did it, it was so easy!! I hope that's the way this will go too... just turned 5 so I know I really need to get on the ball with this...

Thanks again for sharing your information!

karen beauvais wrote:

Tuesday, July 6th, 2004Hello everyone! :-)I wrote a letter to Professor Boyd Haley asking about the effectiveness of various chelators, and have received detailed responses, which you will find below. One chelator or supplement I asked about was TTFD; I quoted to him the following recent exchange on a Yahoo autism list; the poster answering the questions has a PhD in chemistry.Question: Is tetrahydrofurfuryl mercaptan a part of TTFD?Answer: Yes. TTFD is short for thiamine tetrahydrofurfuryl disulfide. Mercaptans are single thiol groups. They do not capture and hold mercury any better than the kilograms worth of such your body already has. Disulfide bonds don't capture inorganic or organic mercury at all.Chelators capture mercury and successfully take it out of the body; these have 2 binding groups, or mercaptans,

in the molecule. With the TTFD disulfide, if the disulfide is reduced to a dimercaptan it becomes 2 molecules that float away from each other. In TTFD the disulfide bond is what holds the TF and the T together.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Dr. Haley, in your opinion,1) Will TTFD help remove heavy metals from the body--especially mercury?Dr. Haley's answer: I have no first hand knowledge concerning any clinical studies showing TTFD removing mercury or helping an autistic child detox. The chemistry Ph.D. comments presented in your email is correct in his comments that TTFD break down into two monothiol containing compounds that would not be classified as chelators of

mercury, at least not any more than cysteine would be. Monothiols only have one -SH group (thiol) and would not bind mercury nearly as tightly as DMPS or DMSA or glutathione complex. As a matter of fact, we have found that R-S-HgCl compounds are more toxic than Hg2+ so I would have questions concerning the effectiveness of TTFD unless there were good clinical data showing that it was effective. My guess is that monothiols would not be good at removing mercury from the central nervous since the mono-thiol containing amino acid cysteine, which readily crosses the blood brain barrier, is not effective in this regards.2) Is TTFD or the fat soluble form of vitamin B-1, known as allithiamine, potentially harmful to the liver of healthy people, and more specifically, vaccine-injured mercury-toxic children?Dr. Haley's answer: It is likely a matter of dose, it would likely be toxic is used in excess amounts and, again, genetics plays a major roll in this regards. Monothiol compounds like methylthiol (made by pathogenic anerobic bacteria as they process methionine) is classified as a bacterial toxicant like hydrogen sulfide (H2S, made by anerobic bacteria as they process cysteine).3) Would supplementing extra vitamin B-1/thiamine (water-soluble)--in addition to a good B complex--help to detoxify a child from mercury and other heavy metals?Dr. Haley's answer: I know of no proof that this would be effective and I cannot think of a biochemical reason to support this hypothesis other than the mercury toxic child might be limited in his/her ability to absorb these needed compounds from their diet.4) Is chlorella that is not contaminated with mercury a safe way to chelate?Dr. Haley's answer: Regarding chlorella, it is my opinion that it is practically worthless at removing mercury from the body. I have never seen any publication or study, other than claims by the sellers of this material, that it removes mercury from the body. Because it binds and removes mercury from the soil while growing some seem to think it would remove mercury from the body, not withstanding that the chlorella must withstand an extremely high pH in the stomach. One person demonstrating increased mercury excretion in his urine following ingestion of chlorella at one of my conferences caused me to check his chlorella for mercury, and it was loaded. To check out the theory a source of mercury free chlorella was found and tested but the data (obtained by Dr. Quig

at Doctor's Data) showed that this mercury free chlorella did not increase excretion of mercury. I think it is all a ruse that has never been proven because it cannot be proven as it does not work.5) Can cilantro be used effectively and safely to chelate mercury, with or without chlorella?Dr. Haley's answer: There is not proof that cilantro works any better than chlorella. It is just the opinion of those that sell this product, there has not been one scientific study to support the concept that cilantro removes mercury from the body. Opinions of those who want to sell this product, or give advice as if they know something and are health guru's, is all that I know that support the use of cilantro. The bottom line is showing that the products increase the mercury levels in the urine and feces post treatment by

measuring the mercury scientifically. This is easy to do and has not been done successfully for either chlorella or cilantro. Analysis by non-established procedures is not reliable for evaluating the successful use of these materials.6) What do you think are the safest and most effective means for parents to chelate their mercury-poisoned children--both with a doctor and without?Dr. Haley's answer: I would recommend going the most natural route possible. We know how healthy children excrete mercury, they do so by first forming the glutathione-mercury complex and using metabolic produced energy to actively excrete the mercury-glutathione complex out of the body through the bilary transport system of the liver into the feces. Therefore, developing a diet that leads to increased intracellular reduced glutathione

is important. This diet should also provide the needed minerals and vitamins and nutrients that allow the body to make energy (ATP or adenosine-triphosphate). Vitamin C is a good contributor to both of these needs. The child may also need supplementation of lipoic acid (used in the first step of the citric acid cycle and a strong binder of Hg2+, which inhibits its function and use). All mercury toxic individuals will likely be selenium deficient as Se2- binds Hg2+ very tightly forming HgSe (mercury selenide) which removes the selenium from bioavailability to the body. I firmly believe that the child should be first placed on a good supporting diet with supplementation before any chelation is attempted. After that I bow to the physicians that treat the children first hand with regards to the use of DMPS and DMSA as they have the experience that I do not have. Caution is needed but these physicians know this.6a) I've read some concerns about ALA (especially in combination with DMSA).Dr. Haley's answer: Alpha-lipoic acid is a needed element in the diet, it most likely should be given with food and not mixed with thiol-based chelators as it will form what is called a mixed disulfide (e.g. DMPS-SH + ALA-SH >> DMPS-S-ALA, not correct chemistry but it may get the idea across) that is ineffective and may be toxic.Dr. Haley's answer, continued: In my opinion, we do not know the best way to remove mercury or detox autistic children although we have made headway. I think the diet considerations found by DAN physicians with regards to casein and wheat glutin have been major advances. The need to supplement with vitamin methyl-B12 seems to be a critical find. What is really needed is for the government of fess up to the thimerosal

caused problems and to fund clinical studies that individual physicians cannot do to successfully find a way to treat these children. It may be a way to repair the damage that a transient bolus dose of thimerosal caused that is needed---and the removal of mercury may just be a minor step in this process.Boyd E. Haley Professor and ChairDept. of ChemistryUniversity of Kentuckykaren beauvais wrote:

A while back I posted some chelation basics in a post called chelation 101.

I will state them again and tell you what's new.

We started Chelation because we heard about a study which I will attach

(scan for viruses before you open)that said autistic children retain Mercury from vaccines rather than excrete it. This study was done with baby hair from first haircut from both normal and autistic kids. When we went to our DAN doctor we had a heavy metal test done and not much Mercury showed up. He was high in copper so we immediately upped zinc to combat that. I didn't think we had a metals problem. Our gains seemed to level out and I began to read regular posts from GFCF Mom's about how well chelation worked. I asked our DAN doctor to run a DMSA-challenge (a dose of chelation for testing) within a day Josh began stringing words into sentences. When our test came back much more Mercury came pouring out and again more came out a month later when tested. There is no test to measure Mercury in a kid, since it nests in organs and tissue. The only way to see what you are dealing with is to test urine and see what is coming

out. Along with the Mercury leaving so did the silence. Josh's language has been blossoming ever since. He plays like a regular kid now.

Up until today we have been taking FDA approved DMSA orally which has created quite a problem with yeast and chelates Mercury very slowly. They told us expect to be chelating for 10 months. A new form of DMPS which chelates Mercury quicker but previously has only been given IV is now available transdermally (goes on the skin). It has only been used recently so I will also attach Dr. Buttar's paper on that as well. This method is slowly becoming the method of choice as it doesn't cause the yeast problems because it goes in through the skin. DMSA is a yeast feeder because of its molecular structure. DMPS is a far better Mercury chelator but the IV version had so many side effects it was rarely used. DMSA had FDA approval so that is what most people used.

The DAN doctors are prescribing the DMPS-TD(transdermal) now with no problem. A few kids have gotten a small rash. You can get it combined with glutithione or separately if like us, you are already using glutithione in a cream.

We should be on the new method DMPS-TD in a week, they say it takes about 4 weeks to see results so I will let you know how it works. We are running a urine metal test in 6 weeks so I will be able to accurately tell you if it is as good as DMSA oral.

Here are some need to know items about chelation:

I firmly believe you should do this under the care of a good DAN(Defeat Autism Now)doctor. The only two I can safely recommend near us are Dr. Hicks(comes here a couple times a month) and Dr. Bradstreet our doctor in Florida. The reason I say this is because you need some baseline liver function tests done before and throughout. DMSA and DMPS can be hard on the liver. We give Milk Thistle (a liver booster) everyday to keep his liver in check. We also eat as organic as possible.

There are some natural chelators like Vitamin C and glutithione.

If you use DMSA or DMPS you will need to supplement with a good multi-mineral.

B-12 shots also speed the process

There is a great website called nomercury.org with some good links as well. There is a yahoo group Chelatingkids2 that is very good. I might add that none of the web info should replace a doctor's supervision. Autism is bad, but liver damage is fatal.

I will forward Boyd Haley's response to a Mom on some detailed questions. Boyd is considered a national expert on Mercury and a friend of the autism community. He was one of the authors of the baby hair study. Keep in mind chelation is only one of the things we are doing. I also feel that diet, TMG(Jill protocol), Secretin and B12 shots have all helped immensely-not to mention the tons of prayer!Blessings Autism is treatable!If you are medically minded and think chelation is voodoo read Dr.Don Colbert's book What you don't know may be killing you. He is an MD. He actually chelated a woman with ALS back to health.

katie wrote:

,I would be interested in reading this also. Pleasepost to the board if you don't mind or include me inyour response.Thanks,--- melissa millhollin wrote:> ,> > My son just turned 5 and has been GFCF for almost 2> years. We have seen a lot of improvement as well. > I am currently in the beginning stages of learning> about chelation....can you outline for me what you> are doing? I have a lot to learn before we do it...> > Thanks,> > > karen beauvais wrote:> Please feel free to call me. Beauvais> > We have been 100% GFCF 1 year and chelating 6 months> with huge gains.> We started at age 3 with a DAN

(Defeat Autism Now)> doctor after thousands spent with developmental> evals. Our DAN doctor is an MD and everything he> advised us to do has worked. Your son is at the> perfect age to try this route as parents with kids> under 5 see the best gains. I have since met 2 kids> on the diet that have completely recovered. One at> my OT the other at a GI doctor's consult.> I got alot of strange looks from therapists and> doctors when we started now they all want to know> exactly what we are doing.> Watching my once silent son learn new words is like> watching a flower bloom.> My husband and I decided if the Bio-medical approach> was safe and non-invasive we would keep trying until> we got to the core problem which we now know is> Mercury. For some kids it's other problems. > Please feel free to call me.> > reagonsmith

wrote:> my 32 month old son was just recently diagnosed> with Autism, as > well as Pragmatic expressive disorder, and of course> aggressive > behaviors. My husband and i are seriously> considering a gfcf diet, > and po if possible mercury detox. Has I am curious> to see if anyone > has had great success with either of these? We have> an appointment > with Dr. Janine Romaner on Monday. Has anyone used> her before? If > so is she highly recommended? > > Thanks > > > > > ---------------------------------> Do you Yahoo!?> Yahoo! Mail - 50x more storage than other providers!> >