off kilter
08-26-2005, 12:12 PM
Aug.26, 2005 12:10 am US/Eastern
PORTERSVILLE, Pa. (AP) An autistic boy died after receiving an unproven treatment that some people believe may cure the neurological and developmental disorder, officials said.
Abubakar Tariq Nadama, 5, had received his third treatment of chelation therapy at a doctor's office Tuesday before going into cardiac arrest, said Deputy Coroner Larry Barr.
The staff at Dr. Roy E. Kerry's office performed CPR on the boy, but he was later pronounced dead in a hospital, Barr said. More tests would be needed to determine the cause of death, he said.
State police also were investigating.
A message left for the doctor at the Advanced Integrative Medicine Center in Portersville was not immediately returned Thursday morning.
Some people believe that autism can be linked to a mercury-containing preservative once commonly used in childhood vaccines, and these people sometimes advocate chelation therapy, which causes heavy metals to leave the body through urine.
The Food and Drug Administration has approved chelation only for acute heavy-metal poisoning that is confirmed by blood tests. Critics call the treatment risky and say there isn't enough evidence to link autism to mercury or lead toxicity.
The boy's mother, Marwa Nadama, said she didn't blame the therapy, but was waiting for test results.
Howard Carpenter, the executive director of the Advisory Board on Autism-Related Disorders, said it was just a matter of time before there would be a death linked to the therapy.
"Parents of children with autism are desperate. Some are willing to try anything," Carpenter said
PORTERSVILLE, Pa. (AP) An autistic boy died after receiving an unproven treatment that some people believe may cure the neurological and developmental disorder, officials said.
Abubakar Tariq Nadama, 5, had received his third treatment of chelation therapy at a doctor's office Tuesday before going into cardiac arrest, said Deputy Coroner Larry Barr.
The staff at Dr. Roy E. Kerry's office performed CPR on the boy, but he was later pronounced dead in a hospital, Barr said. More tests would be needed to determine the cause of death, he said.
State police also were investigating.
A message left for the doctor at the Advanced Integrative Medicine Center in Portersville was not immediately returned Thursday morning.
Some people believe that autism can be linked to a mercury-containing preservative once commonly used in childhood vaccines, and these people sometimes advocate chelation therapy, which causes heavy metals to leave the body through urine.
The Food and Drug Administration has approved chelation only for acute heavy-metal poisoning that is confirmed by blood tests. Critics call the treatment risky and say there isn't enough evidence to link autism to mercury or lead toxicity.
The boy's mother, Marwa Nadama, said she didn't blame the therapy, but was waiting for test results.
Howard Carpenter, the executive director of the Advisory Board on Autism-Related Disorders, said it was just a matter of time before there would be a death linked to the therapy.
"Parents of children with autism are desperate. Some are willing to try anything," Carpenter said
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Kolby
08-26-2005, 12:32 PM
My sister called me this morning about this. What is this kind of therapy? Why do they do it at the doctors office? I was thinking this was taking away foods, not doing a doctor procedure.
Michelle
Michelle
lights
08-26-2005, 01:02 PM
I heard about this this morning too. Not all autism is caused by mercury. My grandson was born with it. We give him liquid colloidial gold to control it and it works pretty well. His doctor is very on board with this treatment. I wouldn't give my grandson anything that had not already had testing done on it! :eek: There have been too many drugs and drug treatments that have proven harmful and fatal recently for me to allow him to be a "guinia pig".
veelveta
08-27-2005, 12:40 AM
There have been no chelation-related deaths reported in the media until the one that happened this week. The boy was being treated for lead poisoning. IV-EDTA is approved by the FDA for lead poisoning. The boy reacted well to his first two treatments, so neither the doctor or the parents could have known he would die. The doctor who administered the chelation was not a DAN! doctor.
Chelation merely adds sulfhydrol groups to the blood. Chemicals we normally have in some supply, if we're healthy. The sulfur based compounds bind to mercury which is then flushed out of the body.
However, Intravenous chelation is a more risky way to chelate and requires so much more caution than the more commonly used oral or trans-dermal methods.
Chelation merely adds sulfhydrol groups to the blood. Chemicals we normally have in some supply, if we're healthy. The sulfur based compounds bind to mercury which is then flushed out of the body.
However, Intravenous chelation is a more risky way to chelate and requires so much more caution than the more commonly used oral or trans-dermal methods.