Two Meta-Analysis Reviews Confirm (Yet Again) the Link between Mercury and Autism Spectrum Disorder

Mercury is a potent neurotoxin. Even the smallest amounts can cause cumulative adverse effects. Two of the most widespread forms of mercury exposure come from the organic compounds methylmercury (found in fish) and ethylmercury, which makes up 50% of the vaccine preservative thimerosal. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) affirms that young children and fetuses are particularly sensitive to harmful mercury-related effects such as “brain damage, mental retardation, incoordination, blindness, seizures and inability to speak.” This calls into question public health authorities’ aggressive peddling of annual flu shots—many of which contain thimerosal. The influenza vaccine guidelines target all children who are at least six months of age, with two closely spaced doses recommended for very young children in their “first season of vaccination.” They also target pregnant women and women who “might” be pregnant. Organic mercury can cross the blood-brain barrier, and numerous studies have fingered it as a major offender in increasing the risk of neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), tic disorders, delayed language and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Shamefully, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) refuses to admit that mercury is an ASD risk factor. Instead, it has been left up to other researchers to continue to focus attention on the compelling relationship between mercury and ASD.

Study: Ketogenic Diet Offers Hope in Treating Autism Spectrum Disorders

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) can include what are commonly defined as impeded social interactive developments and learning disorders. ASD could be as mild as hyperactivity and attention deficit or as extreme as total developmental shutdowns at early ages, little to no language abilities, and possibly chronic epileptic seizures. The ketogenic diet is simply one that restricts carbohydrates, especially refined carbohydrates, allows moderate or adequate protein intake, and enhances healthy organic dietary fat consumption. Categorizing the different factions of ASD psychologically unrealistically ignores the physiological aspects of ASD disorders. Instead, intense bowel and intestinal tract inflammations are listed as “co-morbid symptoms” and unrelated to ASD diagnostics. Not enough attention is placed on finding the underlying metabolic disorders involved in most cases of autism, which also produce the “co-morbid” symptoms. It’s already known that the ketogenic diet has positively impacted some with intractable epilepsy. Yet anti-seizure and anti-psychotic pharmaceuticals that at best merely control seizures without curing epilepsy are more commonly prescribed than monitored dietary changes. Not only do they have side effects, they create more metabolic disorders. Over the past two decades or so, more medical research has focused on the ketogenic diet’s potential for reducing the metabolic dysfunction that some consider as the root cause of many neurological diseases that plague us today.