FW: Chelation debate continues in face of boy's progress

[Guest guest]

Doctors Debate Using Chelation To Treat Autism

Froom WBAL TV, Baltimore affiliate, NBC.

http://www.sarnet.org/docche.htm

It's a treatment that's been around for decades -- it's called

chelation, and it's commonly used to treat lead poisoning.

But now some parents claim that chelation is bringing about dramatic

Change in their autistic children. And not without controversy.

Now almost four josh shoemaker is not his old self, his parents are

happy To say.

Angie Shoemaker, Josh's mother: " It's just not even comparable he's

just not the same child. "

Josh was diagnosed with autism a year ago. This is home video from

june.

His parents say Josh barely spoke, rarely responded, and had slid into

His own world.

Shoemaker, Josh's father: " He used to spin himself in circles

constantly, we were losing him daily. "

" This is my camera "

But within five months, this was josh: talking, and responsive. The

Shoemakers credit a treatment called chelation outlined in this edition Of

mothering magazine.

Josh's parents spread a sulfur-based cream on his skin, a compound

they And doctors who prescribe it, say roots out toxins like mercury from

the Body, toxins they blame for josh's autism.

Dr. Phil DeMio: " The sulfur grabs onto the mercury like a magnet so

our body can excrete it where it would never have the ability to do that on

its own without something like this. "

" But there's far from consensus about what causes autism, and most

doctors see no place for chelation in dealing with it. Two years ago the

Centers for Disease Control commissioned a report that found no evidence of

a mercury-autism link. "

Mercury's effects on children, though, are a concern the FDA warns

Pregnant women to avoid certain fish and had a mercury ingredient removed

>From most vaccines.

But can chelation, a treatment big insurers cover for mercury

poisoning, Help against autism? One pediatrician cautions that josh's

progress, Though dramatic, isn't proof.

Dr. Bill Goldman, Pediatrician: " Why he improved, I don't know. Would

he improved on his own, I don't know. But as of now mercury is not a cause

of autism based on the studies we know now and chelation is not an

acceptable form of treatment for autism. "

Josh's parents -- and speech therapist -- say it's proof to them.

McCloskey, Speech Language Therapist: " Josh is the only child

I've ever worked with that I can say he's gonna go to kindergarten being a

perfectly normal kindergartner and he was not a perfectly normal two year

old and it's chelation that did it. "

Angie Shoemaker, Josh's mother: " It's like he went from his world,

into ours. "

[it is] a joyful relief for josh's parents convinced that they found

the solution for him.

Chelation is FDA approved, but only to treat lead poisoning.

Federal researchers are looking into whether it can help heart

patients by draining calcium from clogged arteries.

Not all chelating agents are the same. The FDA this week said that one

Drug commonly used to treat lead poisoning, called endrate, caused the

Deaths of two people last year. This is not the chelating compound that the

shoemakers have used to treat their son Josh.

- Thanks to Fournie.