Autism Treatment – Heavy Metals, Hair Analysis and Treating Autism

We will continue on in our discussion of heavy metals and hair analysis. What exactly is a hair analysis? A hair analysis will allow you to get a rough idea about what metal exposures have happened so it is really a screening tool. A hair analysis can tell you what is circulating and in the body tissues in the past 10 – 12 weeks or so. The heavy metal exposure could have happened farther back. When we see metals showing up on a hair analysis we see that as an indicator that at some point metals were high in the body and as a result the body tried to excrete them through the hair. So we definitely see exposures to heavy metals with this test. What we don’t see is where the metal is stored or how much is in the body.

One line of thinking with regards to mercury and hair analysis testing involves a test that does not show any mercury exposure. What could be happening is that the child’s body is not releasing mercury and that is why there is no sign of it on the hair analysis. The other option is that there has not been any significant exposure to mercury and that is why it is not showing up on the hair analysis. So when you review the lab results, you have to look at both possibilities. It could be that there was not real significant exposure and that is why the hair analysis readings were low. It may not be that the body is holding onto anything.

When you review the hair analysis, one area can show us various patterns that can show a mineral transport problem which is correlated with heavy metal toxicity, that area is called essential minerals. If you want to find out more information on understanding the essential mineral section on the hair analysis and whether there is a high probability of heavy metal toxicity and mineral transport problems you can go to my membership site at www.autismactionplan.com where I have a whole section on this. That is a very in-depth process to do. So to reiterate, we should see the hair analysis as a screening tool to assess potential heavy metal toxicity as well as potential heavy metal exposure. So when I am doing an initial workup with a patient, I will usually do both a hair analysis and something called a porphyrin analysis. That helps me bring together a bigger picture to see if we are facing a significant issue with heavy metals. And, I will be discussing what a porphyrin analysis is in the next video.