Kids Need Their Heavy Metal

A government agency has dropped plans for a study of a controversial treatment for autism that critics had called an unethical experiment on children. And just when science was getting interesting.

The National Institute of Mental Health said that the study using the treatment called chelation has been abandoned. The agency decided the money would be better used testing other potential therapies for autism and related disorders. That, and little safety concerns like a study last year linking a drug used in the treatment to lasting brain problems in rats. Oh, c'mon...they're autistic - what additional brain problems could they get?

Chelation removes heavy metals from the body and is used to treat lead poisoning. Its use as an autism treatment is based on the fringe theory that mercury in vaccines triggers autism — a theory never proved and rejected by mainstream science. Mercury hasn't been in childhood vaccines since 2001, except for certain flu shots, but is still the delicious center on many oral / rectal thermometers. Even with the outside likelihood of it's success, many parents of autistic children are believers in the treatment, leading NIMH to agree to test it. Because parents will do nearly anything to have their child be normal.

The researchers had proposed recruiting 120 autistic children ages 4 to 10 and giving half a chelation drug and the other half a dummy pill. The 12-week test would measure before-and-after blood mercury levels and autism symptoms. Personally, I think children need more heavy metal during their formative years. Anthrax, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, and Metallica were all good to me as a youngster.