The bad science: Miracle Autism Cures

What do they claim? They claim to “cure” Autism

Are they trying to sell you something? Of course they are…

Is any of this true?  Nope. Let’s start out by making it clear that there is no cure for autism. Anyone telling you they have a cure is lying. It’s also important to note that autism is an extremely varied condition.  Symptoms can range from mild difficulties with social interaction to repetitive or obsessive behaviors, all the way to severe communication issues. Curing any one of these symptoms is generally not possible, let alone curing the entire constellation of autistic behaviors.

Also, some of these autistic behaviors are things you might not want to cure anyway. Smart autistic people have made tremendous contributions to our society, and continue to do so everyday. Some readers may be familiar with the character of Dr. Sheldon Cooper on the sitcom The Big Bang Theory. While the show does not explicitly label Sheldon as autistic, he certainly displays many common autistic-like characteristics. Would you really want to “cure” Sheldon Cooper? No – his autistic-like characteristics are what makes him who he is. The same could be said for many autistic people.

No one knows what causes autism.  The only thing we know for sure is that there is a genetic component. Vaccines don’t cause autism, and there is no evidence that specific toxins or medications are causative factors either. This is important.

The miracle cures being offered range greatly in type and degree of ridiculousness. The common thread is that they all don’t work. There are so many, however, that the US FDA feels it necessary to release a public consumer update warning people about the more common and dangerous scams. They mention that they have “warned and/or taken legal action against a number of companies for making improper claims” related to autism cures. Some of the “cures” they specifically address include:

• – Chelation therapy.  Chelation therapy involves taking a drug that specifically binds to certain metals in order to get them out of your body. There is no evidence at all that metal toxicity is involved in autism, and the only indication for which chelation therapy is approved or has been shown to work is for heavy-metal poisoning.
• – Hyperbaric oxygen therapy. This involves placing the patient in an enclosed pressurized chamber with higher oxygen levels. Hyperbaric oxygen is used medically only in very specific circumstances such as diving accidents or smoke inhalation. I’m not sure how or why anyone thinks this would treat autism, but I do know that sealing an autistic child or person in an air-tight chamber is just plain mean.
• – Detoxifying clay baths.  Again, this seems based on the theory that autism is somehow caused by toxins in your body. There is no evidence for this. There is also no evidence that you can “pull” toxins out of your body through your skin, because that’s bullshit.

But wait, it gets worse!  Here are some other autism “cures” that the FDA did not specifically call out, but are nonetheless distressingly google-able:

• – Isopathy.  This is giving someone lower doses of the substance that caused the autism as a treatment. It makes no sense on two levels: 1. How do you know what caused the condition when no one knows what causes the condition? And 2. OH MY GOD WHY WOULD MORE OF THAT THING MAKE THE SITUATION BETTER?*
• – Homeopathy “Cures”.  There are plenty of people out there that will try to sell you homeopathic cures for autism. There are no cures for autism.
• – Bleach enemas. Also known as Miracle Mineral Solution. No I’m not joking.  This should probably be a crime.
• – Camels milk.  I’m totally serious!  Go ahead and google it – I’ll wait.  You can’t make these things up.

• 

  – CEASE Therapy.  Here’s how it is described on one website: “Step by step all causative factors (vaccines, regular medication, environmental toxic exposures, effects of illness, etc.) are detoxified with the homeopathically prepared, that is diluted and potentized substances that caused the autism. Currently we use the 30C, 200C, 1M and 10M potencies to clear out the energetic field of the patient from the imprint of toxic substances or diseases.” There are so many things wrong with this statement. Let’s cover them one by one:

  1. Vaccines, medications, toxic exposures, and illnesses don’t cause autism
  2. You can’t “detoxify” things with homeopathy
  3. Potentized is not a word
  4. Individually, the words “clearing out the energetic field of the patient” have meaning. Written together and in this order, they mean nothing. This is made-up psuedoscience jargon.
  5. The grammar is obviously atrocious, but it’s hard to pinpoint why, because none of this makes any sense
  6. “imprints of toxic substances” is not a thing. More pseudoscience jargon.
  7. I have two children, and if either one of them ever spoke the sentence above out load, I would ground them for a week and take away their internet privileges.

Is any of this Dangerous?  Some are. Bleach enemas are definitely dangerous – they can cause severe damage to the intestines and can result in death. Isopathy is also dangerous, especially when practiced by people who believe that heavy metals and other toxins cause autism. Chelation therapies can be dangerous if they work – it turns out that it’s not good to pull all the metals out of your body, surprisingly – luckily, most do not. I don’t think Camel’s milk is dangerous, but unless you’re part of a Bedouin tribe, it’s definitely gross.

What’s the bottom line?  Autism is a serious condition, and can be a devastating diagnosis for some families. It is sad that there are so many people who willing to take advantage of these patients and families. Anyone who tells you they know what causes autism or that they can cure autism is doing just that – taking advantage of you.

* It won’t.