I'm going to say something radical, something that may shock you. Brace yourself. Are you ready? Here goes:
It's not a good idea to make children drink bleach.
If you're not familiar with the autism community, you may wonder why my statement would ever be considered controversial. Unfortunately, in the autism community, where there are disagreements about everything, even this seemingly straightforward statement causes arguments.
The controversy, such as it is, began during the Autism One conference, held in Chicago from May 23-27. The conference is a one-stop shop for parents looking for alternative treatments for autism, and it featured some of the most prominent supporters of the idea that vaccines cause autism, including discredited scientist Andrew Wakefield and celebrity autism mom Jenny McCarthy.
But the Autism One presentation that may have gotten the most attention this year was this one, about a treatment called MMS. In it, Kerri Rivera, the founder of a "Biomed-based Autism Clinic in Latin America," explained "how MMS (chlorine dioxide) has become the "missing piece" to the autism puzzle" and how she has used it to recover 38 children in 20 months.
MMS, it turns out, stands for Miracle Mineral Solution. Go to the MMS website, and you'll find that, "The answer to AIDS, hepatitis A, B and C, malaria, herpes, TB, most cancer and many more of mankind's worst diseases has been found." These kinds of expansive, evidence-free claims are a sure sign of quackery, and identifying MMS as snake oil is no harder than realizing that $23 million is not waiting for you in a Nigerian bank account.
Unlike some kinds of pseudoscience, though, MMS has the potential to be quite harmful. Check out the slides for Rivera's presentation, and you'll find that MMS is a combination of sodium chlorite and citric acid which, when mixed together, releases chlorine dioxide. MMS, in other words, is bleach. Rivera recommends giving it orally up to eight times a day. There's also a protocol for enemas, applied two to three times per week, and baths, which can be taken every other day.
Rivera's own slides admit that MMS can cause fevers, but she calls this a "good thing" and recommends giving an enema every day during the course of a fever. She also talks about what to do if the child suffers a Herxheimer reaction, which can cause fever, chills, hypotension, headache, hyperventilation, elevated heart rate, and muscle pain.
If you don't find all of that appalling enough, you can read this testimonial from the parent of a non-verbal autistic boy who is using MMS. The MMS is causing vomiting and diarrhea, but the parent is frustrated because the non-verbal boy can't give any feedback about how he's feeling. Well, how do you think he's feeling?
Let's state the obvious: There is no reason to give bleach to any child, for any reason. There is not a shred of scientific evidence that MMS is an effective treatment for autism. Some purveyors of quackery have spotted a lucrative market and are trying to take advantage of it. But their protocol is far closer to child abuse than it is to effective medical treatment.
Sadly, Autism One and those who attend it have had a very hard time recognizing these simple facts. In a post at Age of Autism, Julie Obradovic tries to defend MMS without actually defending it. Instead, she mentions that Autism One presenters included M.D.s, Ph.D.s, and a Nobel Laureate. But the presence of smart people at a conference that promotes quackery doesn't change the fact that it's promoting quackery.
Second, Obradovic argues that Autism One "is loaded with good people, good parents, and great doctors who are willing to suffer personal attacks in order to make progress in the medical treatment of our very sick kids." Whether or not this characterization is accurate doesn't really matter. Again, the motivations of the people at Autism One are irrelevant to the subject of MMS. MMS is the worst kind of quackery, and Autism One gave it a forum.
What's happened is that MMS has gotten caught up in the same arguments that always divide the autism community. Many bloggers have for years attacked Autism One specifically and alternative treatments generally (and in my view rightly so -- there are many dubious treatments besides MMS promoted at the conference). Many people who use those treatments have attacked right back. And so it is, reflexively, with MMS.
But I want to put those arguments aside for the moment. Forget all the divisions in the autism community and just think about MMS. If you heard about this treatment and didn't know what it was for, what would your reaction be?
To be fair, a few commenters on the Age of Autism post have done this thought experiment and have called out MMS for what it is. But there ought to be more than a few.
The issue here is not about what causes autism, how to treat autism, or whether autism can be cured. The issue is not about autism at all. The issue is simply whether you believe it's OK to force bleach down children's throats or up their colons.
There are many things to argue about in the autism community. MMS isn't one of them.
If you're against MMS, you can sign this petition at Change.org, which asks the FDA, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Department of Health and Human Services to issue cease and desist orders on the selling of MMS.
For more by Todd Drezner, click here.
For more on autism, click here.
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Andy Wakefield was discredited by a journalist with an opinion and an agenda which caused the women of Great Britain to ask for Dr. Wakefield’s head.
The Cellular Matrix Study has 18 children and 18 mothers no longer autistic, organic sulfur is a crystal food but requires the buddy plan to bring the kids back. Organic sulfur is a crystal food which bonds with mercury, aluminum and lead to name a few elements which as sulfates must leave the body.
I do not know Kerri Rivera, but do know Jim Humble and chlorine dioxide has failed to harm anyone. Kerri Rivera has 38, that is 56 more than conventional medicine, all vaccine damaged, not an opinion.
Todd interview the evil Dr. Wakefield, interview the mothers who have been caretaker of a darling child prior to vaccination for 42 years.
Todd I will assume you child loves lampposts, that is more than the autistic children we encounter. Too loud, too bright even if speech is not present, no eye contact.
Mercury, aluminum and lead all sulfate and must leave the body even the body of child who knows nothing. When they come back they know.
A petition to outlaw the use of MMS? Why not a petition to the Supreme Court to reverse the no penalty decision giving pHarma permission to harm, kill and maim for a buck.
Organic Sulfur addresses stupidity, the beginning of the autistic spectrum, and the whole spectrum, without doing any harm.
That way they can guarantee safety by personal monitoring.
I'll say.
http://leftbrainrightbrain.co.uk/2012/06/21/from-defense-of-mms-to-attacks/
I have ten years of experience in R&D and delivery of chlorine dioxide into the air and surface for disinfection. Yes, it’s a miracle chemical compound but only for specific uses. There are over 120 years of peer publications that overwhelmingly support the power of Clo2 disinfection with very noticeable under-whelmingly kindredness for internal application. A great website to gather published information for any discussion re: chlorine dioxide is http://www.odorscience.net/Technology.html.
Chlorine Dioxide and Sodium Chlorite are very powerful oxidizers. That’s why they work. There is no educated chemical engineer or chemist that would ever endorse using an oxidizer of this magnitude internally. Yes, it does burn on the way down.
ExpertClO2 states he/she has "ten years of experience in R&D and delivery of chlorine dioxide into the air and surface for disinfection." This makes him/her a jack of all trades how?
Anything with any remote bearing on medicine or autism?
Amazing how this becomes a debate when some have little idea what they are talking about. If we were to actually sit down together and have someone explain & demonstrate, it should wipe away all doubt. Yet, we fail to do this, and remain in the dark.
Try to figure out how to research on PubMed to locate any citations for medical uses of MMs.
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Pictures of “parasites/worms” emerging after MMS purging are nothing more than strips of fibrinous material and bits of intestinal mucosal lining that has been stripped away from the bowel (sometimes called intestinal casts or bowel casts). I can understand how some ignorant people could imagine they or their kids have passed “worms”.
Damage to the intestinal mucosa will certainly result in bacteria and/or bacterial products breaching the normally intact mucosal barrier (translocation).
This release of bacterial products (like LPS mentioned above) will cause fever and could have even worse consequences, since they can induce septic shock in the host.
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Got that, MMS fans? You are destroying your childrens' intestines by forcing them to drink this glorified bleach. The "worms" are pieces of the lining of your kids' guts.
Really? I need to "supplement" my intake of bleach? As in, I'm supposed to get Chlorine Dioxide in my diet naturally, but I'm not getting enough?
Even those who promote supplements highly don't seem to understand what it means. Like when an industrial chelator was renamed a supplement. My guess is, yes, I don't get any of that synthetic compound in my diet. But, why would I?
I know chlorine dioxide works b/c not only is it common knowledge if you search online, but, I've seen it first hand many, many times, for many many people. I am no stranger to it.
Antibiotics are pumped into cows, chickens and pigs so they can survive a life in cramped, filthy feedlots teeming with feces, bacteria and deadly microorganisms. That needs to change.
Another way to reduce the use of antibiotics in food production would be the use of MMS in the water supply of livestock. This is a cost effective rare opportunity to do something about a serious problem since government has yet to take significant action. Providing a healthier living environment for the livestock and using MMS are two cost effective ways to ensure we are not pumping drugs into our livestock and adding to the serious drug-resistant bacteria epidemic.
Research shows that meat and poultry raised without antibiotics doesn’t need to be costly -- only a few more pennies per pound. As more livestock producers change their ways, the more prices will come down for meat raised without drugs.
Of course this is a serious problem for pharma. They depend on revenue from antibiotics and this is the real threat to our health including children with autism. This is why I am not against parents that use this harmless supplement.
Oh, yah, that's freaking brilliant. It's already known agriculturally, Sharon. And you can't give it to livestock, not that anybody has been so dumb as to propose this in the first place.
http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELPRDC5072951
I've worked as a chemist for the past 20 years, stop misrepresenting chemistry but repeating some rubbish you have picked up on pro-MMS websites.
Also note that many MMS site actually state that MMS is 28% sodium chlorite!!
http://www.healthsalon.org/284/mms-chlorine-dioxide-chemistry/
Chlorine Dioxide Chemistry – Lenntech , MMS
http://www.lenntech.com/faqclo2.htm
Is Chlorine Dioxide the same as Chlorine?
While chlorine dioxide (ClO2) has chlorine in its name, chlorine dioxide's chemistry is radically different than that of chlorine. One atom can make all the difference in the world. The difference between chlorine and ClO2 stems from their dissimilar chemical structure--and this is what accounts for their distinct chemical behaviors.
Similarly, hydrogen is an explosive gas. But when combined with oxygen, it becomes dihydrogen oxide--commonly known as water.
The facts are that MMS and its component is an industrial bleach product, which has been banned in the European Union, banned in Canada and...the FDA has warnings about using it as a *treatment/cure* for any human disease or disorder.
The fact is that the subject of this blog is some parents of autistic children are using this industrial bleaching agent to dose their children orally and for enemas inserted into their rectums with the false belief that it is a valid *treatment/cure* for autism
The fact is that you, by nit-picking arguments, are attempting to derail this blog.
The fact is, that neither you or any other poster has produced a PubMed Citation that states it is appropriate for use as oral dosing, in enemas or for bathing.
The fact is, you are ignorant of the consequences of MMS *treatments/cures* to any child's delicate oral, gut or bowel tissues.
The fact is that every sane person here has condemned these practices as child abuse...and you haven't.
Please explain why the chlorine is needed in the first place. "Convenient nutritional supplement" is out.
I am sad for all the people who because of blogs like Mr. Drezner or ignorant doctors let children suffer.
Mr. Drezner: you are lucky to have a high functioning autistic kid because, believe us, dealing with low functioning autism is hard enough to having to take time of my day to let you know how frustating it is to deal with uninformed writers and their blind followers. You are lucky not to have to do this.
And again, go check 10th grade chemistry to spot the atomic composition difference between bleach and chlorine dioxide. Let you start there.
You say you are "recovering" children from autism. Would that be the 40 in 400 quoted here, there and everywhere by those of you encouraging this particular form of child abuse? If so, that's fewer children than would eb expected to lose their diagnosis without this horrific intervention as Orac points out and as a commentator at that blog states succinctly:
"So about ten percent of kids being fed MMS “recover” from autism, but about 19% of kids not on MMS do the same?
So MMS actually reduces the kids chances of “recovery” by half?"
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2012/06/18/mms-apologists-strike-back/#comment-188002
There is no difference between bleach and chlorine dioxide because it is a bleach. "Bleach" isn't one molecule it is a term used to describe a number of chemicals with similar properties. Perhaps 10th grade chemistry was a bit advanced for you.
On to your comment about MMS helping "recover" kids from autism. Please explain to me how forced bleach consumption, baths, and enemas are helping kids with autism. Also if you tell me I have no idea about how it is to be around autistic , please don't because I have been diagnosed with it though through EBM therapy, or naturally, I am now high functioning.
Back to the subject of MMS *treatment/cures* and the abuse of children, behind closed doors, by some parents.
I take it that you are still providing support for this form of child abuse...so why don't you comment on the Age of Autism blog...they are in need of some sympathetic posters about now.
Even they have standards of a fashion.
Sodium chlorite, NaClO2 is bleach. Bleach, bleach, bleach. bleach. BLEACH.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_chlorite
How about how a manufacturer of the stuff for industrial use describes it:
http://www.sy-sodium-chlorite.com/products_detail.aspx?id=397
“Application:
It is mainly used to produce Chlorine dioxide disinfectant, or to bleach pure cotton, flax, fiber, oils and pulps, surface treatment of metal and bactericide of water”
Want more?
http://dyeingworld1.blogspot.co.uk/2009/12/bleaching-with-sodium-chlorite.html
Wow if this isn't bleach these people need to be told.
Good advice, MMS first and foremost. And then chemical castration. And then whimsical home HBOT. And then chelation. And on and on it goes.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/87504407/Chelation-of-Gadolinium-Oxford-2009