Source: Caroline Newswire
In a recent NBC 17 newscast, John C. Pittman, MD, founder of the Carolina Center for Integrative Medicine (CCIM), voiced his concerns about the mercury-containing preservative Thimerosal used in North Carolina vaccines. NBC 17 News Reporter, Brian DeRoy, covered the story, which focused on a parents group that wants to ban mercury from all vaccines currently used in North Carolina. The group, Moms Against Mercury, says that mercury is harmful to children and increases the rate of autism.

Although state health officials say that there is no documented connection between mercury and Autism, Dr. Pittman said that he has seen many patients-both adults and children-who have had their health harmed by heavy metal exposure. In DeRoy’s interview, Dr. Kevin Ryan, the Chief of the State Health Department’s Women’s and Children’s section, stated that replacing Thimerosal with a substitute in vaccines would be costly and unnecessary-resulting in over one million dollars to the State. Dr. Pittman is one of the area’s most outspoken advocates pushing for the removal of Thimerosal in children’s vaccines and has personally treated children who have suffered neurological injury due to Thimerosal exposure. Says Dr. Pittman, “If you consider the enormous costs involved in caring for an autistic child, especially if you look over that individual’s lifetime, this cost can far exceed a million dollars, which in many cases is paid for by the State.”

Dr. Pittman and the Carolina Center treat patients diagnosed with mercury toxicity through Chelation Therapy, the administering of chelating agents to remove heavy metals from the body. These agents, like EDTA, are injected into the bloodstream where they attach to heavy metals (such as lead, mercury, and cadmium), bind them, and then remove them from the body through the kidneys. Dr. Pittman also uses Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) as an adjunct in treating Autism and all forms of brain injury. When used in the treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorder, HBOT has been shown to increase verbalization, promote calmness and a feeling of well being, increase oxygen to areas of the brain that are ischemic, improve sleep patterns disturbed by oxygen deficiency, and promote new blood vessel growth into areas of poor blood flow in the brain.

Dr. Pittman is the only local physician fully certified in chelation therapy for the treatment of heavy metal toxicity and only one of six medical practitioners in the state of North Carolina who is a Diplomate through the American Board of Clinical Metal Toxicology. He has testified at the Environmental Defense public hearing to discuss the current health crisis caused by mercury toxicity and was one of several professionals who spoke at the State Capitol Building last year to support legislation to ensure safer vaccines and flu shots for North Carolina’s children and pregnant women.

“The symptoms experienced by children exposed to mercury are real and can be directly linked to the vaccines they were given as infants,” said Dr. Pittman. “It’s ironic that the vaccines given to these young people are meant to protect them, when in fact they are adversely affecting their neurological development. Hopefully, the more pressure that citizen groups like Moms Against Mercury can put on our State health officials, we may eventually see a change in the way vaccines are manufactured.”

About the Carolina Center for Integrative Medicine:Since 1994, the Carolina Center for Integrative Medicine has been the Triangle’s leading provider of integrative medical treatments and therapies. Practice founder, Dr. John Pittman, is the only local physician fully certified in chelation therapy for the treatment of heavy metal toxicity and only one of six medical practitioners in the state of North Carolina who is a Diplomate through the American Board of Clinical Metal Toxicology.

The Carolina Center utilizes a combination of the most progressive alternative and conventional therapies, along with dietary and lifestyle modifications, to treat a wide variety of chronic illnesses and immune system dysfunctions. Conditions treated include Atherosclerosis & Disorders of Circulation, Chronic Digestive Disturbances, Chronic Infections & Immune Dysfunction, Degenerative Neurological Disorders, Fibromyalgia, Lyme Disease, Natural Hormone Replacement Therapy, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity/Environmental Allergies, and Pediatric Program for Autism. The Carolina Center also provides Chemical Detoxification and support for patients injured through exposure to mold, pesticides, hydraulic fluid, mercury, and sick building syndrome. For more information, visit www.carolinacenter.com