Chelation Study

The National Institute of Mental Health abandoned the study on chelation due to safety concerns. Chelation therapy is a process used to remove heavy metals from the body. A drug used in the treatment was found previously to cause brain damage in rats, prompting researchers to discontinue its use in their study. The study’s proposal involved using 120 autistic children, ranging in age from 4 to 10. Half would be given a chelation drug and the other half a placebo. Then, before and after mercury levels would be measured as well as autism symptoms.

The group has decided to instead put their efforts toward studying other potential therapies for treating autism.

• Perception and Cognition
• Screening and Diagnosis
• Intervention
• Hormones
• Genetics and Proteomics
• Neuroscience

Currently, they are running the following projects:

Brain Scan Project

Researchers are currently looking for volunteers for a new study that will investigate brain structure and connections in those with high functioning autism. The process involves filling out questionnaires, completing tasks, and MRI, and a DNA test. The researchers are also requesting DNA samples from the parents and want to know more about their development as a child.

Toddler Projects

Parents of autistic children between the ages of 18 and 36 months also have a study available. Researchers are looking to develop a new questionnaire to help screen for Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC) in order to lower the age at which autism is actually diagnosed.

Another toddler project involves toddlers who have older siblings who have been diagnosed with autism. Researchers want to study how children develop throughout their early childhood and is focused on those between 12 and 24 months. The children will be observed at play and while participating in age-appropriate activities.

For more information on these particular studies, visit the Autism Research Centre. In addition, there is a new study on the connection between the measles vaccine and autism.

Released on September 3, 2008, a new study reports that no connection can be made between the measles vaccine and autism.  Dr. W. Ian Lipkin of Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons led the study and reported that the new study focused on children with autism and gastrointestinal (GI) complications.

It was believed that the virus in the Measles Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine lodged in the intestines, causing inflammation. This allowed waste products to escape into the body and into the nervous system. The research set out to find which came first, the autism, GI complications, or the vaccinations.

There were 25 children involved in the study that had autism and GI disorders, in addition to another 13 children with the GI disorder, but no diagnosis of autism. Traces of the measles virus were found in one child with autism and one without. Ultimately, out of the 25 children, only 5 had the MMR before GI concerns and autism symptoms.

Statistics show that parents are no longer choosing to vaccinate their children. Out of 131 measles cases from a January 2008-August 2008 time frame, the Center for Disease Control reported that half chose not to give their child the vaccine. Researchers still believe that although this study does shed light on the connections between the measles vaccine and GI disorders, there is still much work to be done when it comes to other vaccinations and their link with autism.

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