Controversial autism therapy used in Ireland

AUTISTIC children in Ireland have been treated with a controversial therapy that may be linked with the death of an autistic boy in the United States.

US officials are still not sure what killed five-year-old Abubakar Tariq Nadama who went into cardiac arrest and died on Tuesday after receiving his third chelation therapy treatment at a clinic in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The treatment has been endorsed by the US Food and Drug Administration for the removal of heavy metals from the system but not for the treatment of autism, a neurological and developmental disorder.

Nevertheless, reports of improvements in children following the treatment have led to an increase in the number of families seeking it.

Irish Autism Alliance (IAA) vice chairman Marc de Salvo said the condition of his seven-year-old autistic daughter, Jessica, improved after undergoing chelation therapy a few years ago.

He stressed, however, that the IAA could not endorse the treatment, which can be administered in different forms, due to insufficient medical research.

Mr de Salvo said he personally would not be discouraged from using the therapy again. He explained that his daughter was treated with an oral supplement that was purchased over the internet from a US-based laboratory. Five-year-old Abubakar received his treatment by injection.

“I did see a large amount of heavy metals removed from her (Jessica’s) system. Would I do it again? Yes,” Mr de Salvo said yesterday.

He said he knew of a number of children with autism in Ireland who received chelation therapy and had made good progress.

“I am not a doctor. I am not a scientist. It was a treatment that we heard about and carefully assessed because we thought it would be good for our daughter. We did it. We have no regrets. But, certainly, as an organisation we could not recommend something without further research.”

Mr de Salvo is one of a number of parents of autistic children who do not accept that the condition is a psychiatric disorder, and he believes more research is needed to find other ways of treating it.

Following a “very fruitful” meeting with the Tánaiste and Minister for Health Mary Harney two months ago, the organisation is in the process of putting together a proposal for research. Mr De Salvo confirmed that chelation therapy had been listed as one of four medical treatments that needed to be investigated further.

“We have anecdotal evidence that the treatment has positive outcomes but we need the medical research to back this up,” he said.

He said the organisation’s research committee was expected to complete its proposal for research and present it to the Department of Health soon.

“Until the Government starts putting massive energy into trying to get a better understanding of autism and also supporting the parents, there is always the possibility that parents who are desperate to try and help their children will take steps that may or may not be the best,” he said.

While some children diagnosed with the condition were able to lead relatively normal lives, others were not, he said.

“Until we can get a better understanding of why some of the children make progress and some of them don’t, parents are going to continue to use unproven treatments.”