This research paper investigates what heavy metals are and how they affect society. Heavy metals are known for causing diseases and giving illnesses to people including autism. This research paper goes into a deep dive into how heavy metals cause many of today's diseases and mainly how heavy metals can be a bad thing in today's world. We explain how heavy metals are bad and what diseases come out of them and how they can affect autism or cause autism for people. The study also demonstrates the different treatments and complementary/alternative medicines for diseases caused by heavy metals like autism.
Research paper written by Kartikeyan Rajaram, Round Rock High School, Round Rock, TX
#heavymetals #autism #giftedgabber #research#Kartikeyan Rajaram
Abstract
This research paper investigates what heavy metals are and how they affect society. Heavy metals are known for causing diseases and giving illness to people including autism. This research paper goes into a deep dive of how heavy metals cause many of today's diseases and mainly how heavy metals can be a bad thing in today's world. We explain how heavy metals are bad and what diseases come out of them and how they can affect autism or cause autism for people. The study also demonstrates the different treatment and complementary/alternative medicines to diseases caused by heavy metals like autism.
Introduction?
The multiple heavy metals in our bodies and in societies are useful but precarious. These heavy metals can cause numerous health concerns, both mentally and physically. One of the most significant hardships provoked by heavy metals is Autism. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) also comprehended as Autism is a severe developmental disorder that impairs the capability to communicate and interact. Autism affects the person's nervous system, the degree and severity of autism can contrast widely. Autism isn't just caused by genes and heredity but also caused by heavy metals in one's home, work, or even household items. The cures and alternative medicines do exist but are not as known and are barely used. The many people that have suffered from autism caused by heavy metals must know there are many alternative ways to help them heal and stop them from suffering.
What are heavy metals?
Heavy metals are defined as metals with a high density, atomic weights, or atomic numbers. Most heavy metals are found in the alkali, alkaline, or transition sections of the periodic table. Many of these heavy metals are found in our bodies and are natural to the environment, While these metals may be natural they can be very dangerous. Most anthropogenic activities such as mining and smelting operations, industrial production and use, and domestic agriculture use of heavy metals or heavy metal compounds can impact the environment and society. Some common examples of heavy metals are Lead (Pb), Zinc (Zg), Nickel (Nk), Mercury (Hg), Magnessiumsium (Mg), Manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), and Copper (Cu).
Figure 1. Periodic table showing the different sections of elements.
Figure 2 The global production and consumption of selected toxic metals during 1850–1990 (Nriagu, 1996).
Importance of heavy metals
Heavy metals carry a huge significance for the human body; many of the heavy metals in our body help the body in some form or shape. It has been reported that metals such as cobalt, copper, chromium, iron, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, selenium, and zinc are essential nutrients that are required for various human functions, and a Inadequate supply of these metals results in a variety of diseases or syndromes. Heavy metals are important because they activate many of the several key enzymes in our body and play important roles in disease control, filtering, and brain development.
One example of a significant heavy metal would be copper. Copper is an essential nutrient that is incorporated into a number of metalloenzymes involved in hemoglobin formation/creation, carbohydrates, and metabolism. Copper is also responsible for the biosynthesis of collagen, hair keratin, and elastin .
Another example of a significant heavy metal would be iron. Iron is a major component in the formation of hemoglobin. Without enough iron in the body there won't be enough red blood cells to transport oxygen which can cause fatigue. Without iron in the body many viruses and human deficiencies can be caused. For example with less iron in the body Iron deficiency anemia can be formed, this anemia is caused by the lack of iron.
Metals:PositivesSide effects ZincThe body has many metals and zinc is a very important one. Zinc is responsible for many helpful things in the body like healing of wounds, supporting the immune system, producing and storing insulin, and helps your thyroid and insulin work properly.Less zinc in the body can also cause many negatives in the body. Some signs of less or more zinc in the body would be nausea,vomiting, low levels of appetite, weekend immune system. Also less zinc can cause zinc deficiency which can be fatal.Potassium The body requires about 3,500mg-4,700mg of potassium per day because potassium is a metal that is needed every day to survive. Some positives of potassium are. Potassium regulates the heartbeat, ensures proper function of the muscles and nerves, and is vital for synthesizing protein and metabolizing carbohydrateToo little potassium can devastate the body and affect every day movements or brain activity. Some negatives of less potassium are abnormal heart rhythms, muscle weakness, cramping, twitching, change in blood pressure, breathing capabilities, and even paralyzation can be caused by potassium deficiency. CalciumCalcium is a mineral most often associated with healthy bones and teeth, although it also plays an important role in blood clotting, helping muscles to contract, and regulating normal heart rhythms and nerve functions.Too little calcium can affect your bones and teeth. Some of the negatives are Hypocalcemia, also known as calcium deficiency disease, occurs when the blood has low levels of calcium. A long-term calcium deficiency can lead to dental changes, cataracts, alterations in the brain, and osteoporosis, which causes the bones to become brittle. A calcium deficiency may cause no early symptoms
Figure 3. Shows positives and negatives of some natural heavy metals.
How does autism affect the brain?
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) also comprehended as Autism is a severe developmental disorder that impairs the capability to communicate and interact. Many brain studies have shown that children with autism have a surplus of synapses or connections between brain cells. The excess is due to a slowdown in the normal pruning process that occurs during brain development (Wang et al. 2014). Many studies have shown, people with autism have shown different ways of thinking and people with autism are thinking logically and constantly think logically, while non-autism beings think about a concept before all of the details.
Figure 4. Temporal pole abnormalities in a child with autism. (MRI scan, 2016)
How do heavy metals cause autism?
Many of the heavy metals in nature can be toxic, for example mercury. Mercury is a metal that can cause many problems and damage many parts of the body like the brain, heart, kidneys, lungs, and immune system. If heavy metals are ingested or breathed in by someone they can affect the whole human body's function. These metals can also cause autism, when mining many of the fumes from heavy metals can be sucked into the lungs, chemicals being breathed, or even household items that are broken like a mercury thermometer. After these fumes and heavy metals are in the body they cause serious damage to many organs and cells in the body. This also includes sex organs, when giving birth to a child these metals can change the parental DNA in many ways causing birth defects to the new born child. A groundbreaking study in 2009, done by researchers at the University of Texas, revealed startling evidence of the role of heavy metals and other environmental toxins in autism. The objective of the study was to determine if proximity to sources of the heavy metals, such as mercury pollution in 1998 were related to autism prevalence in 2002. The findings showed that for every 1000 pounds of industrial release, there was an increase of 2.6% in autism rates. Likewise a 3.7% increase was associated with power plant emissions. Conversely for every 10 miles away from industrial or power plant sources, there was a decrease in autism rates (Modabbernia,Velthorst, Reichenberg. 2017). One of the most common places to intake these fumes are our own homes. Numerous suspected endocrine disruptors selectively targeted ASG's including paraquat, atrazine and other pesticides not yet studied in autism and many compounds used in food, cosmetics or household products, including tretinoin, soy phytoestrogens, aspartame, titanium dioxide and sodium fluoride (Carter, Blizzard. 2016).
Heavy metal transport in the body
Metallothioneins are part of a group of intracellular cysteine-rich, metal-binding proteins that have been found in bacteria, plants, invertebrates and vertebrates. For mammals, metallothioneins bind zinc, but excess copper or cadmium will replace zinc. MTs have the capacity to bind both physiological and xenobiotic heavy metals through the thiol group of its cysteine residues.
How do heavy metals damage the body?
Heavy metals damage the body in many ways, miniscule amounts of heavy metals are needed for everyday function but too much exposure of heavy metals can cause irreversible effects on the human brain and can affect human function.Heavy metals take up receptor spots where other minerals should be binding. When these receptor sites are occupied, important minerals like zinc, copper, and iron can’t dock there which can lead to mineral deficiencies. For example Lead metal causes toxicity in living cells by following ionic mechanisms and that of oxidative stress. Many researchers have shown that oxidative stress in living cells is caused by the imbalance between the production of free radicals and the generation of antioxidants to detoxify the reactive intermediates or to repair the resulting damage. glutathione, present in the cell, protects it from free radicals such as H2O2. Under the influence of lead, however, the level of the ROS increases and the level of antioxidants decreases. Since glutathione exists both in reduced (GSH) and oxidized (GSSG) state, the reduced form of glutathione gives its reducing equivalents (H+ + e−) from its thiol groups of cysteine to ROS in order to make them stable. In the presence of the enzyme glutathione peroxidase, reduced glutathione readily binds with another molecule of glutathione after donating the electron and forms glutathione disulfide (GSSG). The reduced form (GSH) of glutathione accounts for 90% of the total glutathione content and the oxidized form (GSSG) accounts for 10% under normal conditions. Yet under the condition of oxidative stress, the concentration of GSSG exceeds the concentration of GSH. Another biomarker for oxidative stress is lipid peroxidation, since the free radical collects electrons from lipid molecules present inside the cell membrane, which eventually causes lipid peroxidation (Wadhwa et al., 2012). At very high concentrations, ROS may cause structural damage to cells, proteins, nucleic acid, membranes and lipids, resulting in a stressed situation at cellular level (Mathew et al.,2011). Many of these metals are affecting the cells and the structure of cells. Another example of a metal that can affect the body by inflicting damage to the cells would have to be Lead.
Figure 5 The attack of heavy metals on a cell and the balance between ROS production and the subsequent defense presented by antioxidants. (2014)
Many of these metals are affecting the cells and the structure of cells. Another example of a metal that can affect the body by inflicting damage to the cells would have to be Lead. Lead is known for being a heavy metal that can cause autism and many studies have shown that lead is the main heavy metal that causes autism. Human activities such as mining, manufacturing and fossil fuel burning have resulted in the accumulation of lead and its compounds in the environment, including air, water and soil. Lead is used for the production of batteries, cosmetics, metal products such as ammunition, solder and pipes, etc. Lead is highly toxic and hence its use in various products, such as paints, gasoline, etc., has been considerably reduced nowadays. The main sources of lead exposure are lead based paints, gasoline, cosmetics, toys, household dust, contaminated soil, and industrial emissions. Lead poisoning was considered to be a classic disease and the signs that were seen in children and adults were mainly pertaining to the central nervous system and the gastrointestinal tract. Lead poisoning can also occur from drinking water. The pipes that carry the water may be made of lead and its compounds which can contaminate the water. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), lead is considered a carcinogen. Lead has major effects on different parts of the body. Lead distribution in the body initially depends on the blood flow into various tissues and almost 95% of lead is deposited in the form of insoluble phosphate in skeletal bones (Papanikolaou 2005). Toxicity of lead, also called lead poisoning, can be either acute or chronic. Acute exposure can cause loss of appetite, headache, hypertension, abdominal pain, renal dysfunction, fatigue, sleeplessness, arthritis, hallucinations and vertigo. Acute exposure mainly occurs in the place of work and in some manufacturing industries which make use of lead. Chronic exposure to lead can result in mental retardation, birth defects, psychosis, autism, allergies, dyslexia, weight loss, hyperactivity, paralysis, muscular weakness, brain damage, kidney damage and may even cause death (Martin et al, 2009).
Figure 6 shows the increase in blood lead concentration affecting a person's IQ (Taylor et al., 2012)
Although lead poisoning is preventable it still remains a dangerous disease which can affect most of the organs. The plasma membrane moves into the interstitial spaces of the brain when the blood brain barrier is exposed to elevated levels of lead concentration, resulting in a condition called edema). It disrupts the intracellular second messenger systems and alters the functioning of the central nervous system, whose protection is highly important. Environmental and domestic sources of lead ions are the main cause of the disease but with proper precautionary measures it is possible to reduce the risk associated with lead toxicity.
Figure 7 Effects of increased lead level in blood (Brochin et al, 2008).
Are there any cures/medicines for problems caused by heavy metals?
Yes, there are cures for autism caused by heavy metals. Determine if your child is being exposed through food, water, supplements, medications, or injections and then eliminate the culprit. There are supplements like zeolites, chlorella, cilantro, different clays, and charcoal that can decrease the total body burden of heavy metals. These supplements are helpful, but not the best place to start. IV chelation therapy is an option only if you know your child has a toxic level of heavy metals. IV chelation therapy should only be done under the supervision and guidance of an experienced health care provider.
The process of Chelation therapy involves weekly IV treatments of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA). Each treatment lasts about 30 minutes.
In general, the medication seeks out and sticks to metals and minerals in the bloodstream, creating a compound that the body removes when urinating.
Figure 8. Shows the difference in heavy metals in the body with vs without IV chelation therapy.
Conclusion
After an in-depth review of past research papers about the topic of how heavy metals can impact/cause autism, a conclusion can be reached. Through the research performed, Heavy metals can indeed cause autism and it can be treated with alternative medicines like IV chelation therapy. To answer the question proposed in the introduction, These medicines that can be used to treat autism are used to remove heavy metals. As found through an analysis of the use of Chelation therapy and other alternative medicines, it can be seen to help patients and other people suffering from heavy metal caused diseases and minimizing the effects of the disease on a person. Also, as found through many websites on pubmed, Chelation therapy is a last resort alternative medicine, IV chelation therapy dangerous to kids so if there are too many heavy metals in one's body then chelation therapy is needed. To compare the many different alternative medicines IV chelation is the most risky but also has the highest chance of removing all heavy metals in the body, while other alternative medicines like supplements, medication, and injections can help, they don't guarantee to get rid of all heavy metals on the body. Many of the heavy metals in our bodies are very miniscule amounts, which is why we don't have any side effects. Too much heavy metal exposure can cause problems that need alternative medicines. We have many examples of what too much exposure to heavy metals can cause and how to control your exposure to heavy metals. To summarize, although Heavy metals are needed in everyday society for human function and also to live. Too much exposure to heavy metals can affect the human body in terrible ways, and one way would be autism.
Work Cited
References
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