Some More Notecards

Trigger Warning: Discussions of ineffective and dangerous autism "treatments"

So, here's notecards from two sources where the person is explaining why their treatments work. I have included "Science Check" sections for some statements as a note to myself that I should check the scientific accuracy of certain statements (or source the disproof, since some of them I know to be false.)

From the Geier's patent application filed in 2006:

Geier, Mark R., Geier, David A. (2006). US Patent Application 20060058241. US Patent and Trademark Office.

• The first patent application by the Geiers for using a lutenizing hormone to treat autism, filed in 2005 and published in 2006, listed itself as a treatment for "disorders having a component of mercury toxicity" and is a method of lowering mercury by giving both a chelating agent and the hormone, generally in the form of Lupron.
• This application listed autism, autism spectrum disorders, attention deficit disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, mental retardation, Asperger's syndrome, childhood psychoses, stammering, stuttering, tics, repetitive movements, eating disorders, sleep disorders, enuresis, developmental language disorders, developmental speech disorders, developmental delay, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, heart disease, obesity, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, nephritic syndrome, renal failure, asthma, systemic lupus, autoimmune thyroiditis, rheumatoid arthritis, arthritis, vasculities, myelitis, glomerulonephritis, optic neuritis, infantile cerebral palsy, epilepsy, migraine, toxic encephalopathy, cerebral degenerations, anterior horn cell disease, spinocerebellar disease, extrapyramidal disease and myopathy as possible disorders to be treated with this method, though the preference is to treat a male child with both autistic spectrum and precocious puberty diagnoses or a male child with both autistic spectrum and mercury toxicity diagnoses.
  
  • Science Check: Relation of mercury to ALL THE THINGS.
    
• The treatment can also include an antiandrogenic hormone, or, in the case of female patients, estrogen and/or an antiandrogenic hormone
  
• Also claimed in this first application is a method of determining if a child is susceptible to autism using testosterone levels.
  
• The Geiers claim that the mercury contained within the thimoserol in vaccines may be binding to testosterone in autistic subjects, citing both a study in which mercury chloride, an inorganic mercury salt, bound to testosterone in hot benzene and their own paper which claims autism rates are significantly higher in children who received vaccines containing thimoserol than in those who received thimoserol-free vaccines.
  
  • Science Check:
    
    • Thimoserol/autism link (well, lack of link...)
      
    • Mercury/autism link in general (also lack)
      
    • Differences in reactions in human body vs other conditions
      

From Kerri Rivera's presentation about MMS at the 2012 Autism One Conference:

Rivera, Kerri (2012, May). 38 Children Recovered in 20 Months with MMS [PowerPoint Slides]. Paper Presented at Autism One/Generation Rescue Conference, The Westin Hotel, Lombard, IL. Retrieved from http://www.autismone.org/sites/default/files/rivera.pdf.

• MMS is a mixture of citric acid and sodium chlorite which releases chlorine dioxide, an oxidizer used for municipal water purification.
  
• Kerri uses Schopenhauer's quote about the stages of truth as evidence for MMS.
  
• Chlorine dioxide is a powerful oxidizer which can accept five electrons from other substances, and it has been used against fungus and bacteria as well as disinfecting municipal water.
  
• Rivera claims that human tissue will not be harmed by chlorine dioxide because it has a lower voltage (.95) than oxygen (1.28), but that pathogens have no resistance due to the oxidation potential.
  
  • Science checks on:
    
    • oxidation potential actually being measured in volts
      
    • chlorine dioxide and oxygen having the claimed potentials
      
• the fact that oxygen can't hurt tissue (since I know concentrated oxygen actually can)
  
• The fact that it is used to disinfect hospital floors, and slaughterhouses is used as evidence of efficiacy against pathogens.
  
• Rivera claims that "It neutralizes by removing the electron shells of heavy metal compounds (i.e. ethyl/methyl mercury) destroying the molecules. They are therefore returned to their natural states, so the body is then able to remove them."
  
  • Science Checks on:
    
    • ClO2 reactions with ethyl/methyl mercury
      
    • toxicity of products of these reactions
      
• MMS does not claim to be a stand-alone treatment in autism recovery (cure,) but rather part of a treatment program.
  
• Rivera claims that autism is made from pathogens including food allergies, inflammation, heavy metals, candida, parasites, bacteria, and viruses, and that MMS kills the pathogens and neutralizes the heavy metals. She also claims that MMS reduces inflammation.
  
  • Science Checks:
    
    • Autism linked/not linked to these things.
      
    • Most of these things not being pathogens anyways.
      
• A restricted diet is required for the use of MMS- antioxidants, juice, citrus fruit, and pycnogenol are to be avoided, for example, and it is recommended that 72 hours be taken off before blood tests.
  
• Kerri notes that a fever sometimes happens and that if it does, this is a good thing and shows that the MMS is working.
  
• Rivera is from the AutismO2 clinic, a clinic for hyperbaric treatments for autism (which will also be discussed.)