Mother wants to chemically castrate her autistic son

[JesusA (imported)]

The idea that chemical castration might help a boy who is autistic is quack science at its finest. Clear back in 2003, Dr. Simon Baron-Cohen, Director of the Autism Research Center at Cambridge University found that there was a correlation (NOT necessarily a causation) between high fetal testosterone levels and later diagnosis with Asperger's. It's just as likely that something else is causing both as there is that one is causing the other, or some combination of causes. There is still some controversy over the findings, and no one has ever shown any direct causal relationship between high fetal testosterone and autism---in either direction.

Dr. Mark Geier, MD in Maryland, one of the prominent anti-vaxxers, took the idea and ran with it....far beyond any hint of what Baron-Cohen had found. Geier and his son David (who claimed the title of "Doctor," though he only had a B.A. in biology) began using high doses of Lupron to chemically castrate autistic boys. They used doses ten times higher than were necessary for castration of an adult and charged patients about $5000 per month, after charging them $12,000 for strange lab tests that were debunked by others as meaningless. Geier's medical license was revoked in 2011 for his quack treatments, though there are apparently still some who believe.

[Paolo]

Well she had pretty convincing phtotos of herself and her son on her facebook profile. Didnt look fake to me... I just think she didnt think this through.

And if the boy looks to be a minor, I'd report her to the authorities. Just saying.

[ZeuterMe (imported)]

There was a news story cited here about this topic about five years ago:

http://forums.eunuch.org/showthread.php ... istic-boys

[...]

How about trying to teach your son that playing with it, or talking dirty in public, is not a good idea? Even my 7 year old "Grand"son understands that one does not play with it on the pitcher's mound. You wait until you get home in your room to do that. Then again, not every parent understands the composition, functioning, and purpose of the male genitals.

[...]

The more I think about it, the more this sounds like a troll or fantasy player. For all we know, this "mother" is probably a 50 year old man in a trailer park in Nebraska.

Chemical castration in autistic patients isn't primarily for libido reduction. It's based on the theory that mercury toxicity causes autism, testosterone complexes irreversibly with mercury, and the testosterone-complexed organomercury is much more toxic and harder to purge from the body. (I count four unsubstantiated assumptions here, but…) The theory is that reducing testosterone levels will reduce toxic effects, and castration will actually improve cognitive function in autistic patients. That's why "doctors" were pushing the "lupron protocol" a few years ago, though the major proponents have all since lost their licenses (if they ever actually had one) over it.

Alas, the disinformation persists.

(Also, maybe I should have followed your link first…)