Let's get one thing straight

Chelation doesn't kill.

After reading yet one more person ask the (stupid) question: how many more children will die from chelation, I'm unable to keep quiet. My response is: I dunno. Why don't you tell me how many already have? Because I don't know of any. Name one.

There are a lot of untruths in the world, especially when it comes to autism and biomed. One of the most heinous tidbits that gets passed around is that chelation kills. People seem to like throwing that out there to illustrate the dangers of chelation. What they can't do is tell you who died.

That's because no child has died from chelation. ONE boy died a very tragic death when he was given the wrong drug. ONE. And let me say this again in case you missed it the first time: it wasn't from chelation.

The fact of the matter is, he was given the wrong medication and did die as a result. The boy's name was Abubakar Tariq Nadama. It was and still is tragic. My heart goes out to his family every time I say or write his name because it can't be easy to have it out there, his death circulating to fuel a debate that shouldn't even exist if scientists were even remotely willing to listen.

There are lots of stories online that make a lot of claims and assumptions but it wasn't chelation that killed him, it was the wrong drug. This was in 2005. Here is an article on the autopsy report the Pittsburgh Post Gazette http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06018/639721.stm  Yes, the CDC was involved. I specifically chose not to send a link from a pro-biomed source so you can see that it's not something just made up by the autism community.

You can google his name and you will find a slew of negative things being said. I'm telling you this because the information is readily available and much of it is completely unreliable - but out there. It's easy for people that don't actually know anything about it to sling the mud. It's easy for those that only hear the horror of Tariq's death to sit in judgment. They only needed a death to use as cannon fodder in their attempts to make every parent that has ever done, is doing or plans to do any kind of biomed look like a bunch of kooks. What do they care what really happened?

Yes. A boy died. It's the absolute truth. They like to leave out certain details in order to make themselves sound more compelling, though (the part they don't say is rather important to the debate - which is why they leave it out). Certain details that change the entire story from being "a boy died from chelation" to "a boy died because someone was careless and gave him the wrong drug." It's used to somehow prove that chelation is dangerous and terrible and unfounded. It's tragic and the whole ordeal has been claimed as some kind of pawn in the autism vs. the rest of medicine game.

His story keeps getting passed around and somehow, it keeps sounding like this is something that just happened recently and then there's confusion that this is a new boy, a new death. It's not.  It's one boy's story being told over and over trying to make people believe it happened yesterday and trying to make people believe that chelation is unwarranted - something that today is still unproven either way.

The drug that should have been given and the drug that was given looked identical.  When a similar situation happened with Dennis Quaid and his gorgeous twins (thankfully they are fine, now), there was outrage that something like this could even happen.  How could they make the packaging look so similar?  He was fortunate enough to have the funds and the celebrity to make people take notice. When it happens in autism, it's used as phoney evidence against parents and practitioners.  There is no other medical condition that I can think of that continues to be as viciously polarizing as autism.

Safety and efficacy of the choices anyone makes should always be researched.  There's plenty of debate within biomed about the different types of chelation therapies and their safety.  Chelation drugs are just that, drugs.  They carry risk but probably not any more dangerous than other common prescription and OTC drugs.  I can't guarantee that, I'm not a scientist, but chelation has been an alternative treatment for autism (as well as many other conditions) for a very long time and as far as I can tell, no one has died from it.  Precautions should be taken - it can cause damage when not done properly just like most other things in life.  Research should be done.  Understand the different types of chelation, how they work, the success rates and all the other bits of data that will help you make the right decision for you, even if that means you end up not chelating at all.

A family was crushed and will never fully recover. I don't blame the parents for any reaction they have, even if it's to rain down hellfire on any kind of alternative treatments. They have that right, they lost a child in their quest for help.  I don't know how I would react in their shoes.

He needs to be remembered for being a boy that needed help. A boy that could have had a future and parents that could have had their son for so much longer than they got. A boy that died because of a mistake. Not some poster-child to support an agenda he doesn't even fit.

A.Skate Foundation Event!

Pre-sale tickets available now!  New deck also available!  You can find out more info here!  And there will probably be less exclamation points!

Dr. Mercola: 60 Lab Studies Now Confirm Cancer Link...

60 Lab Studies Now Confirm Cancer Link to a Vaccine You Probably Had as a Child

Dr. Mercola and I don't always agree.  He neither knows this, nor would he likely care if he did.  It's not like I have any kind of actual significance to the world-at-large.  He's got a great post, though, on vaccines that I thought you might be interested in checking out if you haven't already.

Autism Journey Seminar

And after having to speak the name of that-other-organization-that-is-the-object-of-my-disdain, I'm going to follow it up with one I adore!

Saturday, March 5, 2011

9 a.m.-4 p.m.

TACA Foundation Office

3070 Bristol St, Suite 340

Costa Mesa, CA 926260

Register Online at https://www.tacanow.org/store/home.php?cat=274 or call

949.640.4401

Individual - Parent/Caregiver - $20

Couple - Parents/Caregivers - $35

Includes lunch

Goals of the Seminar

After receiving the diagnosis of autism for a beloved child (or

children), parents typically struggle as they search through various

resources to locate information needed to help their child the fastest.

The goal of the one-day Autism Journey orientation is to provide parents

and caretakers the ³jump start² they need at the beginning of their

journey from parents who have ³been there, done that.² In addition to

sage advice, parents who attend will receive: an overview of beginning

therapies and biomedical intervention, where to go for what information,

and recommended first steps. The seminar will be given by experienced

parents who volunteer their time in providing the education new parents

need. 

Who should Attend?

This one-day seminar is geared for parents and caretakers of children

affected by autism. Content will be provided in an overview

presentation with web and book resource information for additional

details. This seminar is geared to parents and caretakers new to the

autism journey (less than 15 months) who have not yet started a

behavioral/educational program or biomedical testing and interventions.

My response to Autism Speaks

Autism Speaks.  Just saying that name kind of turns my stomach a little.  They do some good things but mostly they just take money away from organizations that actually do something worthwhile.  Maybe I'm being a little harsh.  I accept that and take responsibility for it.  It just might be a bit unfair.

But then they say things like this and it just reaffirms my distaste for them.  Go ahead.  Read it now. I'll wait.  (I can't tell you how much it pains me just to send traffic to them to read the blog posting but those damned copyright laws are pesky.)  When you get back, if you haven't read all the comments, I'll have my comment pasted below.

So?  Were you pissed, too?  Here was my response:

No. It’s not time to change the conversation. I guess you think you have things all figured out. Your novel studies happen to be telling us what we already know, thank you very much. We’ve known early intervention is the key many years before you existed and just about every parent here can tell you we knew something was wrong by 6 months to a year or the day something changed, usually right after a vaccine or illness when it’s a sudden change. Behavioral therapy has also been the go to therapy since well before AS. So thanks for trying to take credit for all of that. I guess Lovaas doesn’t exist in your world. We also know a lot already about how to help our kids’ medical issues – what we need is mainstream acceptance and support to continue that area of study. So while you’re spending your money trying to figure out what we already know, the rest of us will keep discussion going that actually is useful – like what is happening to our children?

I’m also quite tired of hearing each individual person say how vaccines had nothing to do with their child’s autism. Sure, it may be true. I don’t claim to have the answer. And if it is true – that’s great. There are plenty of typical kids that aren’t affected by vaccines, either – it’s unrealistic to expect that ASD kids aren’t in that mix, too. But what about those of us that did? Do we not get a voice because you feel it had nothing to do with your child? Or what about your children’s children? Wouldn’t you want to know if they have a risk of vaccine damage?

The mentality of medicine as a science hasn’t changed much in the hundreds of year of its existence. It takes too long to get the medical community to wake up. If they don’t understand something, it must not exist. There was a time they gave women with PMS lobotomies, too. If you think that mentality has changed and we’ve somehow evolved beyond that, you’d be wrong. We make the same mistakes, only now we have shiny new technology with which to make those mistakes and be bullheaded stubborn in our desire to be right. The focus should be on the truth, not who’s right or wrong and we aren’t going to get there by letting Big Pharma do their own studies to show how their products are perfectly safe.

Drugs are put out all the time that aren’t safe – and they know it, both the companies and the FDA. Thank you, Vioxx, a shining example of how the more things change, the more they stay the same.

There are too many cases of “it didn’t happen to me so it must not be true” going around and it doesn’t do anyone any good. It doesn’t help get an answer. The same is true for those raising their hands saying, “I had my kid when I was 20 so it’s not age.” Stop dismissing things simply because it didn’t happen to you because there’s still time.

AS might be satisfied with the so-called studies that say vaccines are safe, but I’m not and neither are many other parents of children so obviously affected by them.

Occam’s Razor, people. It’s not that difficult of a concept.

I’m not one of those people that think vaccines are the smoking gun. With so many different kids with such unique issues, causation is not going to be the same for everyone. Treatments on my viral kid don’t work as well with a PANDAS kid or a gut kid or a metals kid or combination kids. I’m one of those people that believe there’s a fully-automatic machine gun shooting many different bullets and I don’t think trying to find them is as much of a waste of time as you apparently do. Yeah. Thanks for that, too. Thanks for caring about our kids so much that the getting a *real* answer just isn’t that important to you. My grandkids thank you, too.

I don’t deny that AS has made an impact. Some of it is even good, sort of. If you think you got insurance to cover ABA, well, I guess you sorta did but it’s funny how parents are still being denied by insurance in states that supposedly now have insurance coverage. But I guess you can still pat yourself on the back for that. But don’t you wonder why you have so many autism families that refuse to give you a dime? And doesn’t that matter to you?

If this sounds like I’m angry, it’s because I am. You start your blog by saying, “We still need answers to too many questions regarding causes and treatments…” and then dismiss any such conversation on just that. Wonderful work. Keep up the good job. It’s doing wonders for you, really.

Big Pharma is at it again

What is it about pharmaceutical companies that make them think it's okay to push drugs on society against their will?  Flouride and chromium are in our water supply.  Now they want to add statins to the mix.  Seriously, people.

Are you okay with being drugged?  Are you okay with the cities, companies and health officials deciding what medicine you need to be taking?

Statins have serious side-effects and they want to add it to drinking water - water our children drink.  Water  that we all drink.  If you don't already have a good filter in your house, you might want to consider one now.

It's been said our water supply already has statins.  I don't know if that's true or not but I can tell you that I've had enough of other people telling me what's "good for me."  Science fiction has met reality a little too many times in recent history.

Sometimes I wish I had 500 acres in Wyoming or Montana and lived off the grid.  Actually, I wish that more than sometimes, I wish it every day.  Lotto, when are you going to call my numbers?

Dr. Mercola interviews Dr. Wakefield

More evidence supporting Dr. Wakefield is surfacing.  Scientists at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, North Carolina have tested 82 kids so far.  70 are positive for vaccine strain measles in the gut. Here is an article by Sally Beck that is sure to get you thinking.

Dr. Mercola has a Youtube of his interview with Dr. Wakefield here.

I can't say that I won't be surprised if this new study gets completely ignored, or worse, trashed by the media.

What do you think will happen?  Do you think this is a losing battle no matter what we do or do you think that people are going to start seeing the connection despite the media?

Integrative Biomedical Treatment Options for Children and Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Integrative Biomedical Treatment Options Conference

9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Holiday Inn
Pittsburgh Airport
Saturday, March 19, 2011

Featuring:
-Gut Biology, Pathology, and Treatment Strategies in Patients With Autism Spectrum Disorders
Anju Usman, MD
-Autism and the Autonomic Nervous System
Anju Usman, MD
-Raising a Healthy Child in a Toxic World
Suruchi Chandra, MD

Register here.