Thankfully, an ill-advised autism study involving the use of chelation has been called off by the National Institute of Mental Health. Chelation is a technique used in the treatment for lead or mercury poisoning and was proposed as a treatment for autism because of the mistaken belief that vaccines containing mercury could trigger autism. This theory of a cause for autism has been dismissed by mainstream science, yet some still believe it to be true.

Even if it were true, mercury poisoning and its treatment tends to occur relatively together in time — the treatment follows the poisoning once diagnosed, which occurs after the symptoms become severe. Believing such a treatment would magically work years after the cause was reaching (mercury hasn’t been used in vaccines since 2001). Also, children with autism have no measurable increased levels of heavy metals:

“I think they’re making the right decision not to go forward with the study,” said Barbara Strupp, a professor of psychology and nutritional sciences at Cornell University.

“Our data raise concerns about administering (the chelation compound) to children who do not have elevated levels of heavy metals,” Strupp said.

Dr. Paul Offit, chief of infectious diseases at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, agreed with the decision to cancel.

“Suppose that a child suffers a severe side effect from chelation,” said Offit, author of “Autism’s False Prophets,” a new book on autism research. “Without any evidence it’s helpful, I think it’s unethical.”

The chelation drug proposed for the study, DMSA, can cause side effects including rashes and low white blood cell count.

“This was a wise and careful decision,” said Ellen Silbergeld of Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health, who had been invited to comment on the study during an earlier review, in an e-mail.

Chelation itself also has its problems, with concerns arising about its use after a study conducted last year showed problems in rats who had treatment. It’s probably best not to administer such a treatment to children when the evidence for doing so remains speculative at best.

Read the full article: US researchers call off controversial autism study

Dr. John Grohol is the CEO and founder of Psych Central. He is an author, researcher and expert in mental health online, and has been writing about online behavior, mental health and psychology issues -- as well as the intersection of technology and human behavior -- since 1992. Dr. Grohol sits on the editorial board of the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking and is a founding board member and treasurer of the Society for Participatory Medicine.

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    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 18 Sep 2008
    Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.