Autism Treatment – Heavy Metals, Porphyrin Testing and Treating Autism

In this video, we will now talk about porphyrin analysis. There was research done a number of years ago that analyzes things called porphyrins. And porphyrins are a specific chemical reaction that takes place within the cell and in the end it produces something called heme. Heme is something that is utilized by our red blood cells to create hemoglobin which then transports oxygen. Heme also is a part of our liver and is involved in the process of detoxification. Removal of beta amyloids is another process that heme is involved in. And beta amyloids, interestingly enough, are accumulated as a result of mercury exposure, especially in certain neurological disorders. So you can see just how important heme is in our body and porphyrin is a critical metabolic process that is undertaken in our cells.

Porphryin metabolism can be altered through the exposure of heavy metals, as was determined through further research. Porphyrin issues can also be caused by genetic disorders, many of them can even be life threatening. Chemical exposure can also interfere with porphyrin metabolism. But there is certainly a strong relationship with heavy metals. We know that metals can interfere with porphyrin metabolism, so things like lead, aluminum, arsenic and of course mercury can all be detrimental. That is why we run a porphyrin analysis and you can have them done at various labs, the one that I generally use is through Great Plains Laboratory. And we are looking for any of the porphyrin markers to be elevated. And then elevation would mean cellular toxicity more than likely as a result of heavy metal exposure. And so for example the CP marker is elevated which stands for copoporphyrin, we cannot tell how much metal is in the body but it is an indicator of toxicity in the cells due to the heavy metal exposure.

So as I have said in earlier videos, I typically do a hair analysis and a porphyrin analysis when I do up front heavy metals testing as screening assessments. Looking at both analyses can give a clearer picture. The hair analysis can indicate whether there are certain specific metals that are elevated or whether there is a problem with mineral transport. It can also show us patterns on the essential elements section which can indicate toxicity from heavy metals. And then looking at the porphyrin analysis I check for elevated markers which then provide more evidence of underlying metal toxicity.

So then you are left with deciding whether or not to implement a program of heavy metal treatment or not. Just because testing may come back normal is not a true indicator of whether there was heavy metal exposure or not. And really the decision to implement a heavy metal detoxification program is a clinical one that should be discussed with your physician. So really does it make any clinical sense to begin a heavy metal detox program? I believe that for many children it does and that many times we do see improvements as a result of implementing a heavy metal detox treatment plan. We see better attention, less sensory issues, better focus, better immune function, less infections, etc. So the hair analysis and the porphyrin tests are good screening tools that I use. And next we will go into the various blood tests that can be done as a way to assess for heavy metal exposure.