Controversial Chelation Therapy

The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in children with autism seems to be pretty predominant in an attempt to address their behavior issues. One of the CAM treatments used in this population is the controversial chelation therapy, a process where the removal of heavy metals from the body such as mercury and lead is used. This approach obeys to the theory that some types of autism are caused by heavy metal poisoning. The process can be conducted in different forms such as intravenously, orally (capsules), topically (sprays), rectally (suppositories) and even clay baths. According to McKay (2013) before chelation therapy is considered a differential diagnosis must be established to avoid false interpretations and unnecessary treatments. Everybody is vulnerable to metals but low levels of exposure are not harmful. The risks of chelation therapy are pretty serious including severe mineral deficiencies, kidney failure and even death. …show more content…
In an attempt to improve communication with parents and provide a more informative approach The American Academy of Pediatrics has called for pediatricians to initiate conversations with them about CAM education, in order to minimize their adverse interactions with conventional treatments.
There is a need for additional framework to investigate environmental causation of autism along with the effectiveness of different CAMs in this clientele. The prevalence of using CAM in children with autism in the United States ranges from 32% to 92% when comparing with the general pediatric population with ranges between 10% -30% (Christon, Mackintosh, & Myers,