SAN FRANCISCO, April 27 (UPI) -- An estimated one in three families with autistic children opt for alternate treatments, usually as an accompaniment to structured counseling programs, U.S. doctors report.
Some parents put their children on special diets, most often eliminating gluten and casein in the belief these proteins, found respectively in flour and milk, may trigger an allergic reaction that causes or exacerbates autism.
Some take the opposite tack, loading the child up on vitamins like magnesium and B6 or on food supplements, based on the supposition a deficit in these compounds may contribute to autism and on anecdotal reports the regimes at times can ease symptoms of the neurodevelopmental disorder.
The reported results from such remedies have been mixed. Some children may improve, some worsen and still others show little or no effect.
In general, none of these strategies has strong scientific backing as a safe and effective way to address the core symptoms of autism: social isolation, repetitive behaviors and language deficits.
What is testing well with a growing number of parents and some doctors is chelation -- arguably the most defended, and defamed, of the alternative options.
For half a century, chelation has been a standard, government-sanctioned remedy for heavy-metal poisoning, typically employed following an industrial accident or environmental exposure.
In recent years, the technique has been gaining favor for an unapproved and highly controversial use: as a mercury-expelling treatment for autism.
Such use ensues from the contested assumption that mercury is the problem, hence, getting it out is a big part of the solution.
"The symptoms of early infant mercury poisoning and autism are virtually identical," said toxicologist Boyd Haley, professor of chemistry at the University of Kentucky in Lexington.
He backs the theory -- dismissed by most mainstream scientists -- that connects autism to the mercury-based preservative thimerosal, which until the turn of the millennium was widely used in childhood vaccines.
"Furthermore, research indicates that autistic children genetically have a harder time excreting mercury from their bodies." Boyd said. "This is why chelation has become such a powerful key for unlocking and undoing the disorders associated with autism."
The medical mainstream has been unwaveringly critical of the use of the technique in autistic children, deeming it ineffective at best and dangerous, even potentially deadly, at worst.
Derived from the Greek "chele," or claw, chelation therapy uses pincer-like molecules to grasp and purge copper, iron, arsenic and other heavy metals from the bloodstream, flushing them from the body, usually through urine or feces.
The detoxifying drugs used to remove the poisons are administered through pills, creams, skin patches, rectal suppositories or intravenous infusions. Many medications can serve the purpose, including the chemical compound DMSA, which carries the FDA seal of approval as a treatment for lead poisoning.
Doctors who prescribe it for autism are doing so "off-label," a common practice for most medications used in children. Once a drug gets the FDA nod as a specific treatment, it can be put to any other use at the physician's discretion, and patient's ability to pay.
Such use is not covered by insurance, which, in the case of chelation, may mean out-of-pocket expenses of thousands of dollars.
The annual cost to treat a child biomedically runs between $2,500 and $5,000, said Charlie Hoover of West Palm Beach, Fla., a founding parent of the non-profit advocacy group Generation Rescue.
He credits chelation with his young son Lenny's recovery. In one of the often-cited anecdotes of the treatment's success, the boy's classic symptoms of spinning, repetitive behaviors and tantrums are said to have melted away after the metal purging.
Convinced of its therapeutic powers, more than 150 parents of autistic children concurrently launched Generation Rescue and its ad campaign May 24, 2005, with the express purpose of spreading the word about "a safe and proven detoxification treatment known as chelation therapy."
"Our message for parents is very simple: Autism is reversible," J.B. Handley of Lafayette, Calif., one of Generation Rescue's founding parents whose son was diagnosed with autism, told reporters during a news conference called to announce both events. "I see every day with my own eyes how my son Jamie is recovering from what was previously perceived as an untreatable disorder."
Many parents and, for that matter some practitioners outside the mainstream treatment community, proclaim the same message. Hundreds of doctors list their names on Web sites endorsing chelation as a remedy for autism.
"For years we have heard the experts say that autism is a lifelong disability. This simply is not true anymore, thanks to effective biomedical treatments that can restore many, if not a majority, of autistic children to full recovery," Bernard Rimland, who died Nov. 21, 2006, told the 2005 news conference.
The famous psychologist's landmark book, "Infantile Autism: The Syndrome and Its Implication for a Neural Theory of Behavior," published in 1964, is credited with dismantling the notion of autism as a fallout of cold-hearted parenting that was widely held in the 1950s and 1960s.
Although it cannot work alone and should be supplemented with other treatments, chelation makes it possible to break a child out of his isolated world, its advocates say.
(Note: In this multi-part installment, based on dozens of reports, conferences and interviews, Ped Med is keeping an eye on autism, taking a backward glance at its history and surrounding controversies, facing facts revealed by research and looking forward to treatment enhancements and expansions. Wasowicz is the author of the new book, "Suffer the Child: How the Healthcare System Is Failing Our Future," published by Capital Books.)
Next: Chelation critics speak out.
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