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Published: Jan. 4, 2006 at 11:59 AM
By DAN OLMSTED
UPI Senior Editor
A number of readers have raised concerns that gold salts -- which may have
improved the mental functioning of the first child diagnosed with autism -- are
untested and unproven as a treatment and can be dangerous.
"I think you should be careful about showing too much enthusiasm about gold
salts," wrote Dr. Marvin J. Schissel. "My recollection is that they were used
for arthritis about half a century ago, but not since."
"Don't rush to the gold salts thing," wrote James Blanco, who forwarded several
cautionary studies, including a 1993 French report, "Neurological complications
caused by gold salts."
"Gold therapy is responsible for many neurological complications," the study
said. And in a September 2005 article in the journal Autoimmunity, researchers
from the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University College Cork,
Ireland, noted:
"Gold salts have long been used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.
However, the basis for their therapeutic immune-modulating properties has never
been satisfactorily explained. Furthermore, treatments are often marred by the
development of adverse immune reactions such as hypersensitivity and even
exacerbation of autoimmunity."
The issue of gold salts and autism arose after our report in August that the
first child diagnosed with the disorder appeared to improve markedly after being
treated with gold salts for an attack of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis at age
12. Donald T., as he is known in medical literature, still lives in the small
Mississippi town where he grew
up and first came to scientific attention in 1938.
The arthritis cleared up, and so did the "extreme nervousness" and excitability
that had afflicted him, his brother told us. Donald also became "more social."
He went on to college, where he was invited to join a fraternity; worked as a
bank teller; and now, at age 72 and in
retirement, pursues his love of
golf and travels the world.
One autism researcher -- who believes most autism cases were triggered by
mercury, and in particular a mercury preservative that was used in childhood
immunizations beginning in the early 1930s -- tested gold salts in his
laboratory following our report. He said last month that the substance can
"reverse the binding" of mercury to a chemical compound.
But that scientist,
University of Kentucky
Chemistry Professor Boyd Haley, cautioned that no one should try gold salts to
treat autism before proper studies are done.
"Please note that I am not recommending using gold salts to treat autistics, but
it would certainly be worth a project if carefully monitored by a physician in a
good clinic," Haley said.
An article in 2002 in the International Journal of Neuroscience, co-authored by
four researchers at the Meridian Institute, made a similar case for testing gold
salts as a "nervine" -- a treatment to relieve mental conditions -- and also
noted the risk of side effects.
"The therapeutic and adverse effects of gold in living organisms are varied and
paradoxical," the authors wrote. The primary side effects are dermatological and
gastrointestinal, "yet gold-containing drugs have numerous rarer side effects,
and can cause or exacerbate the same disorders for which they are effective in
therapy."
For example, they noted "gold-containing drugs have been used in place of
steroids in therapy for asthma ... but in other cases have been responsible for
respiratory disorders and even death."
As for effects on the brain and nervous system, "Three forms of gold-induced
neurological side effects have been recognized: (1) painful neuropathy,
sometimes accompanied by insomnia and anxiety, (2) peripheral motor neuropathy,
and (3) encephalopathy with symptoms including depression, delirium, and
exogenous psychoses."
The upshot? More scientific and clinical studies. "This research has the
potential for re-establishing gold as a significant therapeutic agent in a much
wider range of disorders than those for which it is currently used. And it could
help in sorting out valid from invalid claims of benefits from supplementation."
The authors said even the side effects might point to gold as a useful tool in
treating neurological conditions if properly administered: "Adverse effects of
drugs can be an indicator of related therapeutic effects at lower dosages."
Clearly, given the serious risks, figuring this out is a job best left to the
experts.
E-mail: dolmsted@upi.com
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