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A new study sheds light on the mystery of autism and may point the way to a promising treatment.
Some autistic children have a weakened ability to protect themselves from toxic metals in their bodies, a biochemist at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences has concluded.
Such children have a severe deficiency of glutathione, the body's most important tool for detoxifying and excreting heavy metals such as mercury and lead, Dr. Jill James reports in a peer-reviewed study published this month in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
James' findings provide new ammunition for those who suspect that mercury-containing vaccines play a role in triggering autism.
The study, which involved 20 autistic children, also suggests a possible intervention for the disorder, which has no known cause or cure.
In an attempt to correct their metabolic imbalance, James gave eight of the participants supplements of folinic acid, a form of folic...