Article: My life was quite uncomplicated...

My life was quite uncomplicated until I began taking care of autistic children around five years ago. I had known for years that there was little that we as physicians could do for autistic children. In 1996 the Autism Research Institute, under the direction of Dr. Bernard Rimland, organized a group of researchers and clinicians who developed a metabolic protocol for treating these children that worked beautifully. This fit into what I was already doing with the ADHD children in my practice, but there was a question that was unanswered at the time. Why were we seeing so many of these children in the 1990’s that we had not seen before? What was the trigger that had not shown up in previous years? If autism was truly genetic as many thought, could there be a "genetic epidemic"?

After working with the children and some research into possible causes, I began to see that vaccines could be the missing link. What happened in the 1990’s was the start of the Hepatitis B vaccine administration to infants at birth. This vaccine contained 12.5 micrograms of ethylmercury----25 times the EPA safe limit for mercury. It was being given to infants who produced no bile, which is needed for the elimination of the metal. Two other vaccines, Hib and the DtaP, also contained ethylmercury in higher amounts than the Hepatitis B vaccine. On the days that all three shots were given, the children had a possibility of getting 62.5 micrograms of ethylmercury –approximately 20 to 30 times the EPA safe level for the child depending on the weight at the time.

My treatment involved removing the heavy metals from the children and normalizing their chemistry. The results were incredible. The children began speaking for the first time in years. They stopped mutilating themselves and began to play with their siblings and other children for the first time. It certainly looked as if we had the answer for the autism epidemic. The vaccines posed a problem, but I did not want to discontinue using vaccines because I feel that they have helped us to eradicate such diseases as diphtheria and polio and lessen the incidence of several other major childhood illnesses.

The book, What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Children’s Vaccinations, is an attempt to educate parents and professionals about the vaccines and to present a safer and more effective way to give them. It is my hope that we can stop the devastating epidemic of autism that we are seeing without losing the benefits of the vaccinations.

Copyright 2001 by Stephanie Cave, M.D., F. A.A.F.P.