Full article: http://magnesiumforlife.com/medical-application/magnesium-and-autism/#arrive

Excerpt:

Research published in the American Journal of Epidemiology in 2002 shows that when the diets of 2,566 children ages 11-19 were studied, less than 14 percent of boys and 12 percent of girls had adequate intakes of magnesium and low magnesium intake was associated with lower measures of several lung functions (including lung capacity and airway flow).[2]
 
     “Magnesium deficiency definitely accentuates the allergic situation,” says Terry M. Phillips, D.Sc., Ph.D., director of the immunogenetics and immunochemistry laboratory at George Washington University Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and author of Winning the War Within. Thus we can extrapolate that magnesium deficiency can provoke the well known leaky gut syndrome, which we will discuss below.
 
     The Department of Family Medicine, Pomeranian Medical Academy, states that dietetic factors can play a significant role in the origin of ADHD and that magnesium deficiency can result in disruptive behaviors.[3] When dealing with autism spectrum and other neurological disorders in children it is important to know the signs of low magnesium: restless, can’t keep still, body rocking, grinding teeth, hiccups, noise sensitive, poor attention span, poor concentration, irritable, aggressive, ready to explode, easily stressed.
 
     When it comes to our children we need to assume a large magnesium deficiency for several reasons. 1) The foods they are eating are stripped of magnesium because foods in general are declining in mineral content in an alarming way. 2) The foods many children eat are highly processed junk foods that do not provide real nutrition to the body. 3) Because most children on the spectrum are not absorbing the minerals they need even when present in the gut. Magnesium absorption is dependent on intestinal health, which is compromised in leaky gut syndromes that the majority of autistic children suffer from. 4) Because the oral supplements doctors rely on are not easily absorbed, because they are not in the right form and because magnesium in general is not administered easily orally.
 

Regards,

Linda

November 3, 2009 (Honolulu, Hawaii) – Overall nutritional status in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) shows that this patient population is at risk for low trace mineral status, including deficiencies in zinc and copper – minerals that may play a crucial role in the production of dopamine, norepinephrine, and melatonin, which regulates sleep.

Presented here at the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 56th Annual Meeting, a study conducted by investigators at the University of British Columbia and the Children’s and Women’s Health Centre in Vancouver, Canada, showed among 44 children aged 6 to 12 years with ADHD, rates of zinc and copper deficiency were 45% and 35%, respectively.

Dr. Margaret Weiss

“There are a lot of studies in ADHD children looking at sugar intake, etcetera, but no one has ever actually looked at the dietary intake and subsequent nutrients of children with ADHD, ” principal investigator Margaret Weiss, MD, PhD, told Medscape Psychiatry.

With first author Joy Kiddie, RD, the study included 44 drug-naive and drug-treated ADHD children aged 6 to 12 years. Of these children, 17 were medication-naive, 18 were taking stimulant medications, and 9 were taking atomoxetine.

The children’s dietary intake was assessed using a 3-day food record and 24-hour recall. The food record assessed macronutrient/micronutrient intake relative to the recommended dietary allowances and food group recommendations.

The 24-hour recall was used to assess the percentage of low-nutrient density foods, or so-called “junk food” intake.

The study revealed that serum zinc below laboratory norms was present in 77% of children aged 6 to 9 years and 67% of children aged 10 to 12 years, and 25% of the children were below the cutoffs for zinc deficiency. Serum copper below laboratory norms was present in 23% of children.

No Difference in Junk Food Consumption

The investigators found that the study sample consumed comparable levels of protein, carbohydrate, and fat compared with recommendations and population norms, and ADHD children were no different than population norms in intake of low-nutrient density foods. However, 40% of the children consumed less than the recommended levels of meat and meat alternatives and had low levels of related micronutrients that are essential cofactors for the body’s manufacture of dopamine, norepinephrine, and melatonin.

Measurement of blood levels of micronutrients replicated previous findings of zinc deficiency and demonstrated copper deficiency for the first time. In addition, a majority of children had serum ferritin levels lower than 50 μg/mL, a level considered necessary for entry into the central nervous system.

“There is a commonly held belief that children with ADHD eat more junk food than other children, but the study did not confirm this view,” said Dr. Weiss. “However, our data suggest children with ADHD are nutritionally different from the rest of the population in that they eat less meat, fish, and poultry and have low levels of related micronutrients that are essential cofactors for the body’s manufacture of dopamine norephinephrine, and melatonin.”

Need to Focus on Nutrition

In a separate study of zinc supplementation also presented here at the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 56th Annual Meeting, Eugene Arnold, MD, and colleagues from The Ohio State University, Columbus, found that supplementation with 15 or 30 mg of elemental zinc made no difference to symptoms compared with placebo in a group of children diagnosed with ADHD after 13 weeks of treatment.

This study, said Dr. Weiss, raises many questions because previous research has suggested that zinc supplementation does make a difference. “It may not just be a question of what children eat but also whether they can absorb or metabolize zinc, or whether they are excreting it. In other words, is there some kind of phenomenon of zinc wasting?” she said.

Dr. Weiss said that, based on this study, it is too early to make any clinical recommendations beyond ensuring that children with ADHD have an adequate diet that includes appropriate levels of fish, meat, and poultry. However, she acknowledged, this can be a challenge in children on stimulant medications because of the drugs’ appetite-suppressing effect.

She added that it is important that clinicians with expertise in the assessment of nutritional status provide parents with information about good nutrition. “Traditionally, the emphasis on ADHD has been on treating the core symptoms of the disorder, but it is also important to assess and manage basic issues of health such as sleep, nutrition, and growth. Good health makes a difference,” said Dr. Weiss.

Dr. Weiss has disclosed that she is on the advisory board of and/or has received research or grant support from Eli Lilly and Company, Janssen, Purdue University, Shire Pharmaceuticals Inc, and Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America, Inc.

American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 56th Annual Meeting: Abstract 17.3. Presented October 31, 2009.

Angel Huggzzz
Linda

Is Mercury Toxicity an Epidemic?
Author: Joseph Pizzorno, ND
Source: Vitamin Retailer Magazine, June 2009

Conventional medicine has dismissed mercury toxicity as a clinical concern except in cases of obvious poisoning. This is due to the poor correlation between the various measures of mercury body load and clinical symptoms. It is also the reason the dental community has in the past so consistently denied that amalgam fillings are a health risk. (Although called “silver” fillings, they are actually about 55 percent mercury.) However, the integrative medicine community has for decades believed that chronic low-level mercury exposure is the root cause of many chronic diseases ranging from autism to heart disease to “brain fog.”
This controversy became very personally relevant when I discovered, as part of an innovative corporate wellness program I helped to design, that my RBC (red blood cell) Hg level was 59.3 nmol/L over twice the “safe” level of < 24.9. This was quite surprising as I live a very healthy lifestyle, have no amalgam fillings, only consume small, wild-caught fish, eat 75 percent of my food organically grown, etc. I then had the same test done on my wife and found her level was almost as high as mine. This lead to the obvious questions: Was the test valid? Is the mercury damaging our health? Where is the mercury coming from? How do we get rid of it?

Mercury Exposure
There are three types of mercury in the body: elemental, ionic and organic, typically methyl mercury. All are toxic to humans, although each is more toxic in different tissues of the body. The primary sources of human exposure to mercury are: occupational, environmental, fish, high fructose corn syrup and amalgam fillings. As you might expect, dentists and dental assistants have a high level of exposure, although they have become much more careful in the past few years. Nonetheless, a large study of several hundred dentists and dental assistants in Washington state found that almost all of them had four or more symptoms consistent with mercury toxicity.
The major environmental source is the air near electricity producing plants that burn coal. For most people, the major sources are mercury amalgams and fish. A large number of studies have now shown a clear, direct correlation between the number of amalgam surfaces and amount of mercury in the blood, hair, urine and, unfortunately, the brain. However, the correlation between the number of amalgam surfaces and symptoms is not so clear. This is probably because of two major factors: the great variation in a person’s ability to excrete mercury from the body and the equally great variation in genetics that determines the amount of oxidative stress a person gets from mercury. Mercury from fish turns out to be more complicated. Without question, body Hg is proportional to the amount of fish consumed (hundreds of studies show this). However, neurological symptoms do not typically correlate well with fish consumption because of the brain-benefit effects of omega-3 fatty acids. I think that only high-mercury fish such as tuna or low-omega-3 fish such as those that are farmed are problematic.

Mercury Toxicity Symptoms
For long-term, chronic exposure at moderate to high levels the evidence is very clear that mercury is a serious neurotoxin. A 2008 report provides for the first time long-term data on the Japanese people living in Minimata who for years ate fish contaminated with industrial mercury waste. The researchers found more than 50 symptoms.
The challenge for most of us is to determine at what levels mercury becomes toxic and what are the most sensitive symptoms. Looking at several studies that examine symptoms produced by only modestly elevated levels of mercury, I compiled the following list of common symptoms: depression, memory loss, anxiety, unintentionally dropping things and headaches.

Laboratory Assessment of Mercury Load
Mercury is measured in hair, saliva, spinal fluid, serum, RBCs, urine and stools. Unfortunately, these tests do not correlate very well with each other and none are a reliable or sensitive measure of brain mercury where most of the symptoms are produced. This is one of the key reasons the issue of mercury toxicity is so controversial. At this time I think whole blood mercury is the best general measure. However, for best sensitivity a mercury challenge test is needed where the person is given an injection of a chelating agent like DMPS and then collects their urine for several hours.

Mercury Elimination
Normally, about one percent of the body burden of Hg is naturally excreted every day through the bile into the stools. Unfortunately, 95 percent of the cleared mercury is reabsorbed. Those who eat a high fiber diet reabsorb less since mercury binds to fiber. About the same amount of mercury is also excreted every day in the urine, bound to sulfur containing compounds. The way the brain gets rid of mercury is by binding it to the antioxidant glutathione. This is a very slow process, which explains why it is so hard to get mercury out of the brain.
When trying to decrease mercury load in the body, obviously the first task is to identify and eliminate the source—amalgams, contaminated fish, industrial, air, etc. Also to be considered are household goods such as fluorescent lights, old thermometers and ayurvedic medicines to which mercury is intentionally added. A very disturbing recent study found mercury in high fructose corn syrup. The most highly contaminated samples had 25 micrograms of mercury per can of soft drink, the equivalent of eating two ounces of fish, without the benefits of fish’s omega-3 fatty acids.
For those with high levels of mercury contamination, I recommend seeing a doctor skilled in chelation. The agents most often used are DMSA and DMPS. Discussion of their merits and risks is beyond the scope of this column.
Several nutritional supplements, such as zinc, selenium modified citrus pectin, glutathione, alpha lipoic acid and NAC have been studied to see if they increase the rate at which the body excretes mercury. As near as I can tell, the most effective at getting mercury out of the body, especially methyl mercury, is N-acetylcysteine (NAC). It has been shown to not only increase the kidney elimination of methylmercury (which is especially toxic to the brain) by a remarkable 500 percent, but it even increases the excretion of mercury from the brain and fetus. The typical dosage is 500mg twice a day and it appears very safe.
Those who would like to read more about the mercury epidemic will find a lot more information in my two-part editorial at www.imjournal.com. I also encourage you to visit more of this site for information on this article, get my “Ask Dr. Joe” newsletter and to benefit from the NHI tradesite.

References
Heyer NJ, Echeverria D, Bittner AC, et al. Chronic Low-Level Mercury Exposure, BDNF Polymorphism, and Associations with Self-Reported Symptoms and Mood. Toxicological Sciences 2004;81:354–363
Kingman A, Albertini T, Brown LJ. Mercury concentrations in urine and whole blood associated with amalgam exposure in a US military population. J Dent Res 1998;77(3): 461-471
Guzzi G, Grandi M, Cattaneo C, et al. Dental amalgam and mercury levels in autopsy tissues: food for thought. Am J Forensic Med Pathol. 2006;27(1):42-5
Takaoka S, Kawakami Y, Fujino T, Oh-ishi F, Motokura F, Kumagai Y, Miyaoka T. Somatosensory disturbance by methylmercury exposure. Environ Res. 2008;107(1):6-19
Holger Zimmera, Heidi Ludwiga, Michael Baderb, Josef Bailerc, Peter Eickholzd, Hans Jˆrg Staehled, Gerhard Triebiga. Determination of mercury in blood, urine and saliva for the biological monitoring of an exposure from amalgam fillings in a group with self-reported adverse health effects. Int. J. Hyg. Environ. Health 2002;205(3):205-211
Clarkson TW, Vyas JB, Ballatori N. Mechanisms of mercury disposition in the body. Am J Indust Med 2007;50:757–764
Dufault R, LeBlanc B, Schnoll R, Et al. Mercury from chlor-alkali plants: measured concentrations in food product sugar. Environmental Health 2009, 8:2
Ballatori N, Lieberman MW, Wang W. N-acetylcysteine as an antidote in methylmercury poisoning. Environ Health Perspect. 1998 May;106:267-71

Dr. Joe Pizzorno is the founding president of Bastyr University and editor-in-chief of Integrative Medicine, A Clinician’s Journal. He is the co-author of seven books including the internationally acclaimed Textbook of Natural Medicine and the Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine, which has sold over a million copies and been translated into six languages.

Presented here at the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 56th Annual Meeting, a study conducted by investigators at the University of British Columbia and the Children’s and Women’s Health Centre in Vancouver, Canada, showed among 44 children aged 6 to 12 years with ADHD, rates of zinc and copper deficiency were 45% and 35%, respectively.

“There are a lot of studies in ADHD children looking at sugar intake, etcetera, but no one has ever actually looked at the dietary intake and subsequent nutrients of children with ADHD, ” principal investigator Margaret Weiss, MD, PhD, told Medscape Psychiatry.

With first author Joy Kiddie, RD, the study included 44 drug-naive and drug-treated ADHD children aged 6 to 12 years. Of these children, 17 were medication-naive, 18 were taking stimulant medications, and 9 were taking atomoxetine.

The children’s dietary intake was assessed using a 3-day food record and 24-hour recall. The food record assessed macronutrient/micronutrient intake relative to the recommended dietary allowances and food group recommendations.

The 24-hour recall was used to assess the percentage of low–nutrient density foods, or so-called “junk food” intake.

The study revealed that serum zinc below laboratory norms was present in 77% of children aged 6 to 9 years and 67% of children aged 10 to 12 years, and 25% of the children were below the cutoffs for zinc deficiency. Serum copper below laboratory norms was present in 23% of children.

No Difference in Junk Food Consumption

The investigators found that the study sample consumed comparable levels of protein, carbohydrate, and fat compared with recommendations and population norms, and ADHD children were no different than population norms in intake of low–nutrient density foods. However, 40% of the children consumed less than the recommended levels of meat and meat alternatives and had low levels of related micronutrients that are essential cofactors for the body’s manufacture of dopamine, norepinephrine, and melatonin.

Measurement of blood levels of micronutrients replicated previous findings of zinc deficiency and demonstrated copper deficiency for the first time. In addition, a majority of children had serum ferritin levels lower than 50 μg/mL, a level considered necessary for entry into the central nervous system.

“There is a commonly held belief that children with ADHD eat more junk food than other children, but the study did not confirm this view,” said Dr. Weiss. “However, our data suggest children with ADHD are nutritionally different from the rest of the population in that they eat less meat, fish, and poultry and have low levels of related micronutrients that are essential cofactors for the body’s manufacture of dopamine norephinephrine, and melatonin.”

Need to Focus on Nutrition

In a separate study of zinc supplementation also presented here at the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 56th Annual Meeting, Eugene Arnold, MD, and colleagues from The Ohio State University, Columbus, found that supplementation with 15 or 30 mg of elemental zinc made no difference to symptoms compared with placebo in a group of children diagnosed with ADHD after 13 weeks of treatment.

This study, said Dr. Weiss, raises many questions because previous research has suggested that zinc supplementation does make a difference. “It may not just be a question of what children eat but also whether they can absorb or metabolize zinc, or whether they are excreting it. In other words, is there some kind of phenomenon of zinc wasting?” she said.

Dr. Weiss said that, based on this study, it is too early to make any clinical recommendations beyond ensuring that children with ADHD have an adequate diet that includes appropriate levels of fish, meat, and poultry. However, she acknowledged, this can be a challenge in children on stimulant medications because of the drugs’ appetite-suppressing effect.

She added that it is important that clinicians with expertise in the assessment of nutritional status provide parents with information about good nutrition. “Traditionally, the emphasis on ADHD has been on treating the core symptoms of the disorder, but it is also important to assess and manage basic issues of health such as sleep, nutrition, and growth. Good health makes a difference,” said Dr. Weiss.

Dr. Weiss has disclosed that she is on the advisory board of and/or has received research or grant support from Eli Lilly and Company, Janssen, Purdue University, Shire Pharmaceuticals Inc, and Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America, Inc.

American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 56th Annual Meeting: Abstract 17.3. Presented October 31, 2009.