Dad may have already posted this one awhile back. Regardless, I’m still interested in learning if my son has mercury in his body after all those immunizations, years of flu shots as an infant/baby/child, contact lens drops during pregnancy, etc….
http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases/Feb99/chelate.hrs.html
Commonly used therapy for lead poisoning might alter the immune system, Cornell animal study indicates
FOR RELEASE: Feb. 23, 1999
Contact: Roger Segelken
Office: (607) 255-9736
E-Mail: [email protected]
ITHACA, N.Y. — A commonly used drug for reducing toxicological effects of lead poisoning might alter immune function, a Cornell University study of pregnant rats and their offspring has found.
The drug is Meso-2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA), also known as succimer. DMSA is currently the only approved oral medication in the United States for children with high levels of lead.
Reporting in the current issue of the journal Toxicology (Vol. 132, No. 1, pages 67-79), the researchers say it is not known if the so-called chelation therapy has the same side effects in humans as was observed in rats. “Our study and previous studies prove that DMSA can do what it’s supposed to. It chemically binds with lead in the recipient and gets that poison out of the body,” says Rodney R. Dietert, the Cornell professor of immunotoxicology who led the study.
“We knew that lead harms the immune systems of rats, humans and other animals, but no one had ever looked at DMSA’s effects on the fetal immune system. This study provides the first evidence suggesting that DMSA chelation therapy could have problematic side effects for the developing immune system.”
One cause for the immune system impairment, Dietert said, could be DMSA’s effect on the availability of essential minerals in the pregnant rats and fetuses. A candidate mineral could be zinc, which is crucial for both development and maintenance of the immune system.
“This raises the question of whether supplementation (with zinc or other minerals) during DMSA treatment might protect against DMSA-induced immune alteration,” the Cornell researchers wrote in their Toxicology report. “The identification of effective strategies to minimize DMSA-induced immunomodulation requires further study.”
The Cornell study, conducted through the university’s Institute for Comparative and Environmental Toxicology and College of Veterinary Medicine, examined the effects of DMSA on pregnant rats, nursing rats and their offspring through 3 months of age. Fischer 344 rats were chosen because their immune systems are well characterized and they have served as the preferred models to identify cancer-causing chemicals.
DMSA was found effective in reducing the amount of lead reaching the rat embryos (through the placenta) and in young, nursing rats (through mother’s milk). The chelation therapy for rats also reversed several harmful effects of lead exposure, such as altered body weight and spleen weight in rat pups and increased levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and interlukin-4
(IL-4). Elevated levels of TNF and IL-4 are generally regarded as signs of a malfunctioning immune system.
But the offspring whose mothers had received chelation treatment during pregnancy displayed other persistent impairments to their immune systems — including suppressed delayed-type hypersensitivity and increased interlukin-2 levels — that, as adults, could leave them susceptible to infections or tumors.
Further study, the report said, might help explain some of the immunotoxicological effects of lead. In some cases, lead exposure enhances certain immune responses, such as those associated with allergies and asthma.
“We still have a lot to learn,” Dietert says. “Certainly we are not suggesting that a life-saving treatment like DMSA be abandoned. But a more complete understanding of all the factors involved should make this DMSA more beneficial for recipients of this treatment.”
Funding support was provided by the National Institute of Environmental Health Science (NIEHS) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Joining Dietert in the Toxicology report were Suping Chen, a Cornell graduate student; Karen A. Golmemboski, a postdoctoral associate at the time of the study; and Forrest S. Sanders, a laboratory technician.
Related World Wide Web sites: The following sites provide additional information on this news release. Some might not be part of the Cornell University community, and Cornell has no control over their content or availability.
Lead poisoning info: http://emedicine.com/EMERG/topic293.htm
Related story: http://www.news.cornell.edu/Chronicles/7.9.98/lead.html
Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine: http://www.vet.cornell.edu/
Inst. for Comparative and Environmental Toxicology: http://www.cfe.cornell.edu/icet/
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| February release index | | Cornell News Service Home Page |
Re: DMSA side effects
Thanks for the additional information Dad. I have been researching chelation for some time now and trying to learn as much as possible. I also finally found a doctor who will work with me on the testing. The pediatrician is not familiar with metals testing and gave me the “Here we go again with the crazy ideas” look. I will look into the list you recommended.
By the way, thalidimide is also being used very sparingly (and experimentally with males) in the IBD community for severe Crohn’s Disease.
Re: DMSA side effects
Hi, I am new to this forum. I was reading it for a while, but registered just today. I live in Toronto, Canada and I have a 11 year old son with LD. He was never diagnosed as autistic, but he does have some Asperger or PDD-like traits. He is very shy and has poor social skills. His spelling, decoding and reading fluency are perfect, but he is weak at oral, math, reading comprehension and listening comprehension. He does not get what other kids are talking about and is not interested in communicating with them, he also cannot participate in team sports. Now that I read all this information Dad wrote about, I suspect that his problems started after MMR vaccination and probably he was susceptible to mercury more than most other kids. I would like to know if it’s not too late, if chelation can benefit him at his age and how I can get his family doctor do it. I once asked him for heavy metal testing and he gave blood test for lead, but said that mercury is removed from the body quickly and test won’t show anything. He is a good doctor, but probably he is just not familiar with this info. If I show him info, he will listen.
Any idea how to start this? Thanks.
Re: DMSA side effects
Gemini,
Your son also has characteristics of Audiory Processing Disorder. I think I’d be having that checked before considering anything esle. For audiologists who can test your son, look at the professional listings here (you may have to go to the US, not sure):
www.ncapd.org
Janis
Re: DMSA side effects
Thanks Janis,
I hoped my son had CAPD- it would explain many of his problems. I tested him for it when he was in grade 4. He was tested by an audiologist with 20 years of experience. He does not have it, the test result was negative. Still, can it be that the test was inaccurate for some reason? Should I do it again?
Re: DMSA side effects
If you suspet the build up of mercury and other metals is aggravating your son’s other issues, he can easily be tested to determine if this is the case. Lead can be checked with a simple blood draw, but other metals need to be provoked in order to get a reading. You administer 3 days of chelation and then collect a 24 hour urine sample and see what comes out.
If your child regressed after the MMR that will be a different issue than mercury. Many of these kids showed GI distress, often needed the Diet (Wakefield’s Disease). Others will present anti-myelin immuno response not unlike MS (Singh’s Disease) but these kids are generally LFA, and it is unlikely that a child with this problem would be labeled Asperger’s.
Truthfully, there are several reasons your boy could be the way he is and have the AS Label (CAPD is one, SPD is another). Sometimes the distinctions between them are blurry and there is little established consensus as to what these kids need. Much of what is reported to work is anecdotal and only works for as-yet ill-defined subdivisions of the Spectrum.
I encourage you to have him properly tested for metals, and to try the Diet, if for no other reasons than to rules them out. Metal testing is covered by insurance (less copays, etc.) and the Diet, while more than a little difficult, requires lifestyle changes and not a huge cash outlay. Auditory Training has also helped some on Spectrum, but again there is yet to be any rhyme or reason determined for why it works when it does. Finally you have pharmacological tools, but I am reluctant to do more than mention them because very often they become lifetime treatments, can have less-than-rare adverse effects, and the metabolic functioning of a great many people on Spectrum is screwy and the medications do not always work in predicted manners.
For a great deal more about all things Aspie, please see the Most Excellent Site: OASIS www.udel.edu/bkirby/asperger/
Good luck to you and please let us know what you find out (the good, the bad and the ugly)…
Re: DMSA side effects
Gemini,
Do you have a report from that doctor naming the tests he was given? Some might stop with the screening test, for example, when there really is a problem. Tell me the tests if you can. The other thing is to see if this audilogist is listed in the professional listings on the NCAPD site (not a guarantee of anything, but an indicator of his interest in APD work) www.ncapd.org. The quality of APD testing can vary drastically and it is pretty important to go to an audilogist who specializes in it…and better yet if the audiologist is also an SLP.
Janis
Re: DMSA side effects
Thank you Janis,
I checked out this site and found only one specialist in Canada and she is not even in our city. I have my son’s CAPD test result at home, I will post it in the evening and you can check and tell me if this was enough.
Thank you Dad for your input. My son is not low functioning and was never diagnosed as autistic or even Aspergers so he does not have AS label, he is now attending private school for kids with LD. He also never had any problems with his diet, was always a great eater and does not have any food intolerance. The psychologist who tested his IQ this year said that he won’t benefit from having AS label more than just having LD label. I just don’t understand why his IQ is so much lower than that of other members of our family, so I thought that mercury in vaccinations could cause this. My husband was very much the same when he was a kid (very shy and a loner), but he never had problems with math or reading comprehension.
Re: DMSA side effects
Janis,
Here is my son’s central auditory test results:
The Willeford Central Auditory Test Battery
Score R/L/Norms (%):
Word Discrim.: 92 92 88-100
Competing Sentences: 100 80 R 90-100 L 70-100
Filtered Speech: 80 84 56-92
Binaural Resynthesis: 75 80 55-100
Speech in Noise: 92 90 74-98
General impression - Normal auditory processing bilaterally.
There are three empty columns in the table: Alternat. Speech, Pitch Patterns, Compressed Speech - I guess these tests were not administred.
When my son had a full psychoeducational assessment after this CAPD test, the psychologist recommended to repeat this test, because she had an impression that he had CAPD, but she recommended the same audiologist, so he must be a good one.
What is your opinion - was the test comprehensive enough? If I decide to repear the test, what should I ask for?
Re: DMSA side effects
Sorry for the delay in replying! Busy week!
I am sorry but I am not familiar with that particular test, so I can’t compare it to the tests I have seen on other reports.
You might want to email Dr. Jay Lucker and tell him these results and ask if this is an adequate test battery or not. He is an APD specialist and is president of the NCAPD (www.ncapd.org).
Janis
Re: DMSA side effects
Thank you Janis for advice, I emailed him and I hope he will reply. Last week I emailed the only Canadian audiologist listed on ncapd.org website, but she never replied.
Re: DMSA side effects
Hello everybody who is interested,
I went with my son to a DAN doctor in January. He prescribed lots of tests and supplements. Now I know what’s going on with my son. He has vitamin B12 deficiency due to a methylation disorder. He has MTHFR gene polymorphism that contributed to his metabolic problems and accumulation of mercury and copper. His diagnosis: Asperger’s syndrome and methylation disorder. This is surely genetic (from my husband - he was also tested and is also B12 deficient).
He is not on any diet - he does not need it (the doctor tested for gluten and casein intolerance and found none). I inject him B12 every 3rd day and we started chelation with TD-DMPS several weeks ago. He takes supplements: Super Nu Thera, Taurine, Cod Liver Oil, and probiotics.
I just wish I found this info earlier when my son was younger. His cognition improved considerably (B12 supplementation) - he is doing much better in math. Hopefully he will continue to improve… his social problems are much more difficult to fix, though.
Nancy3
With those symptoms I would also be wondering about NLD (non-verbal learning disability). Websites to check out for this are http://www.nldontheweb.org and http://www.nldline.com
Nancy
Re: DMSA side effects
Hi Gemini! Am I correct in assuming your DAN! is following Buttar’s protocol with the TD-DMPS? Any particular reason why he chose TD-DMPS and not oral DMSA or DMPS? The reason I ask is that the transdermal formulation of DMPS has yet to be proven effective, either in absorbtion or in chelation, and I would think that until it is shown to work most drs. would much prefer to use a protocol which has been demonstrated effective. Is there an issue with your son sallowing pills that made you or your dr. choose transdermal application?
I am not saying TD-DMPS doesn’t work, just that it is still unknown.
Have you seen any signs of improvements since you started? Did your Dr. order a urinalysis to see what is coming out whuile you use the treatment? Did he make sure to test for both elemental and organic mercury?
Please keep us posted on how things go!
Good luck to you!
Re: DMSA side effects
Nancy3, I thought about NLD too, but his verbal IQ is lower than nonverbal, so it does not fit NLD profile. He also has some narrow unusual interests that point to Aspergers, but he is not a typical Aspie. I am glad he got this diagnosis though, because he is eligible for big help and support in school and this would not happen with NLD label.
Dad, his DAN does not follow Buttar’s protocol, he gives smaller dosages of TD DMPS (20 drops) and only for 3 days and then 11 days off (like oral DMSA) - he says this works very well and it’s not harsh for the kid’s system. He says that Buttar’s every other day is too much and it can have side effects. He also gives him oral chelator that is called Ora-Keel. He does intravenous DMPS as well to this kind of kids and he recommended it for our son (once a month only), but I was reluctant to do that. Maybe I should? He is a big 11 y.o. very healthy guy.
I noticed big improvement in thinking, he talks much more than before and comprehension improved as well, but socially there is still a big problem, he is still very shy with other people and kids.
For mercury the doctor did the hair test. He said this is the best method. He is very experienced and was recommended to me by people who have kids with similar problems. He thinks that ADD and ADHD are also on autistic spectrum, and should be treated the same way as other AS disorders.
Yes, we did urinalisys with provocation, but the results went straight to the doctor, so we don’t know the result yet. We have an appointment with him in the beginning of May, so we will find out.
Thanks for wishing me good luck! I will keep you posted.
I hadn’t seen this one yet, and I thank you for posting it. I will of course be forwarding it on to the lists I subscribe to. I should think that it would behave in a similar fashion in humans (after all, that is why rats are carefully chosen and bred for this type of research, because their metabolic function is similar enough to compare effects to our own).
It is important to note that this occured while the rats were pregnant; a great many trusted and well-established drugs and proceedures have far greater consequence when they are administered on expecting mothers - the most extreme example being thalidimide which is actually making a resurgence in use for a specific group of cancers and only in men and women who are incapable of conception.
A more primary adverse effect associated with DMSA is that it is non-selective in its chelation of metals, stripping good ones like zinc, selenium magnesium and even calcium along with the bad like lead and mercury. This is the reason it is so important to work closely with a competant medical professional when using it (any who would suggest you can cjhelate without a dr’s assistance is a damned fool).
A lessor know and poorly understood side effect with autistic children is that DMSA seems to disrupt gut fauna, and can lead to yeast overgrowth in children who have problems with candida. This may be because some of the metals stripped from the body by DMSA are filtered through billary action by the liver, and therefore pass through the gut and out the back door. Since mercury is a potent biocide, it may kill the good fauna on its way out, leaving the heartier yeast intact to fill the void. This remains speculation at this point in time; there doesn’t seem to be much interest amongst the big money researchers in studying detoxification of autistic children.
To check for mercury in your boy you will need to do a 3 day challenge. Assuming your child can tolerate sulfur drugs, you administer 200 mgs. of DMSA 3 times a day for 3 days, and then collect 24 hours of urine for testing. Have them test all heavy metals and also organic mercury. Simple blood tests are only good for lead or very recent exposure, and hair testing is inappropriate for most autistic kids. Your pediatrician can set up the necessary tests through any competant lad and it is a fully covered proceedure by HMO’s and other health plans.
For far more information than I can give here, please see the yahoo group autism-mercury.