The researchers observed higher levels of lead in children with autism throughout development, with the greatest disparity, observed during the period following birth. They also observed lower uptake of manganese in children with autism, both before and after birth. The pattern was more complex for zinc. Children with autism had lower zinc levels earlier in the womb, but these levels then increased after birth compared to children without autism.
"We think autism begins very early, most likely in the womb, and research suggests that our environment can increase a child's risk. But by the time children are diagnosed at age 3 or 4, it's hard to go back and know what the moms were exposed to," said Cindy Lawler, Ph.D., head of the NIEHS Genes, Environment, and Health Branch. "With baby teeth, we can actually do that."
Patterns of metal uptake were compared using teeth from 32 pairs of twins and 12 individual twins. The researchers compared patterns in twins where only one had autism, as well as in twins where both or neither had autism. Smaller differences in the patterns of metal uptake occurred when both twins had autism. Larger differences occurred in twins where only one sibling had autism. The findings build on prior research showing that exposure to toxic metals, such as lead, and deficiencies of essential nutrients, like manganese, may harm brain development while in the womb or during early childhood. Although manganese is an essential nutrient; it can also be toxic at high doses. Exposure to both lead and high levels of manganese have been associated with autism traits and severity.
Prior studies relating toxic metals and essential nutrients to autism have faced fundamental limitations, such as estimating exposure based on blood levels after autism diagnosis rather than before or not being able to control for differences that could be due to genetic factors.
"A lot of studies have compared current lead levels in kids that are already diagnosed," said Lawler. "Being able to measure something the children were exposed to long before a diagnosis is a major advantage."
The method of using baby teeth to measure past exposure to metals also holds promise for other disorders, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. "There is growing excitement about the potential of baby teeth as a rich record of a child's early life exposure to both helpful and harmful factors in the environment;' said David Bal shaw, Ph.D., head of the NIEHS Exposure, Response, and Technology Branch, which supported the development of the tooth method.
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Testimonies
TESTIMONY 1
We made huge gains in the first 6 months of taking TRS. My son has autism and is now verbal and becoming conversational. He doesn't elope anymore; the meltdowns are down 75% and minor compared to before. I heard "I love you, mommy" for the first time ever. He's making friends in school and is at grade level. SO many gains in 6 short months I can't even think of everything.
TESTIMONY 2
Hi everyone, we have just started our daughter, 7 years old with autism, on TRS. I was pretty skeptical about using TRS. We have tried so many other supplements and therapies. I always go into thinking about the ways in which the new regiments will let me down. Well, last night I got a very pleasant surprise. My daughter just started drawing on her own and telling us everything she was drawing. I've never seen her do this before. She must have drawn over 50 different things and looked up at us, saying what each one was. I don't think I have ever heard her speak so many words at the same time. Rhyan is very classically Autistic. She is partially verbal at best with the language skills of maybe a 2.5-year-old and very limited social language. Last night she wanted to talk to us and share her drawings. The prosody of her speech was even clearer and less monotone than it usually is. I don't think it was a coincidence that she started on 5 sprays of TRS the day before. We are now watching closely and hoping that TRS finally helps our daughter find her voice.
TESTIMONY 3
My son is 17 years old and suffers from regressive autism, plus ADHD, SPD, and severe anxiety. He's actually doing better than ever, though. He used to be moderate to severe autism; now, it's mild. One way I describe how bad his condition was before is that at age 12, he could not hold a regular conversation, even to order his own food at a restaurant. If he was talking, he was pacing- sometimes I'd stand in a circle while he did circles around me, just to keep him talking. He carried 10 or so rocks with him at all times and had compulsive hand patterns he did 1 00+times a day. He had extremely limited topics he could discuss and had violent meltdowns almost daily. He was functionally illiterate and so "lost in his head" that he lacked very basic life skills. He also had profound memory problems. We've done many things and generally made progress over the years, but it was to get him to a milder level of disability, not an actual recovery.
Our first major step was a diet change, eliminating trans fats at age 4. After that, we didn't get a leap forward until we used Protandim Nrf2 on him at age 12, which made a giant improvement for him. We added Nrfl, and his cognitive skills rocketed up. However, he was still in very poor shape. He could talk about many different things, and we set on the task of getting him to understand the world around him, which was a MAJOR project that took thousands of hours and is too long to detail here. With Protandim, he had a tendency to backslide if he stopped using it, but it looks very, very much like he had encephalitis and the Protandim fixed that. This explains why he made such gains in being calmer, more communicative, less obsessive/compulsive, and more aware of the world. After 2 years, though, he plateaued and stopped making gains on Protandim.
With TRS, it's different. His problems just go away with no backsliding. His ability to talk is amazing, and he is voracious about learning, though he uses educational YouTube videos for most of his learning. With Protandim, he was violent every 1-3 weeks. With TRS, it's every 1-2 months. He's making career goals because he sees his own improvement and feels he can move forward: before, he saw his own condition and had no hope for his own future. Showers are now nice, not painful. He has almost no compulsions and is actually a witty 17-year old who's quick to make a joke. He still suffers from anxiety and basically PTSD from all the trauma, still has some mild memory issues, and he still had ADHD, but he's now calm when at home, fully in communication with those around him, banters, and is recovering his education. He did have a lot of discomfort and occasional pain after using TRS, even 1 spray. Now he can take 6 sprays with no issues. My son certainly still has problems to overcome, but he's expected to make a full recovery in the next 5 years or so, which is amazing when his future only held a lifetime promise of disability before.
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