Autistic children more susceptible to nerve damage from mercury

• Children with autism might process mercury differently than most children, leaving them susceptible to damage from preservatives in vaccines and other sources of the heavy metal, according to a controversial report released yesterday.
• The report, by the independent Environmental Working Group, highlights the research of S. Jill James, a professor of biochemistry and pediatrics at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
• James conducted blood tests on 20 children with autism and compared them with blood samples from 33 children who do not have autism.
• She found lower levels of a mercury-detoxifying chemical, glutathione, in the blood of autistic children.
• The enzyme also helps rid the body of other heavy metals that might damage cells and organs.
• James also found that supplementing the autistic children's diets with a combination of folinic acid, betaine and methyl vitamin B-12 brought glutathione levels back to levels seen in the children in the control group.
• The studies again raise concerns that some genetically susceptible children are more prone to neurological damage when exposed to mercury and other toxic substances in the environment.
• Vaccines, fish and dental amalgam fillings have been fingered as sources of mercury.
• The vaccine connection to the disorder has been the subject of intense debate.
• Parents and some scientists say the use of a mercury-based preservative called thimerosal in vaccines corresponded with an explosion in the number of autism cases.
• Thimerosal was taken out of vaccines in 2002, but the rate of autism remains at the same level as before it was removed.