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There is no one therapy that does it all. And, to complicate it further, like most "mental" problems", it's not simple to diagnose. In the younger ages, it's easily confused with mental retardation, or brain damage. What are the known causes of autism? Perhaps the best known today is the usage of mercury ( thimeroserol) in infant and childhood vaccines. Only in the past few years was this practice discontinued. So, we've literally poisoned millions of children with good intent! Protecting them from dangerous childhood diseases has caused much worse problems. Another well known cause of autism is food sensitivity and allergy. Virtually every known mental problem may be caused by a normally harmless allergen - a simple food that has been " recognized" by that person's immune system as " dangerous". This seems to be caused by what is called "leaky gut syndrome". A major theory in this cause is that the malnourishment of the mother prior to birth and during initial feeding after birth opens the entrances from the gut too much in the attempt to obtain more needed vitamins and minerals and enzymes, etc. This larger "leaky gut opening" allows larger " particles" thru the gut walls into the portal vein. Instead of digested single amino acids, or simple combinations of a few amino acids, longer chains of amino acids are allowed thru. These larger than "normal" collections of amino acids may then be recognized by the immune system as possible viruses, bacteria, or even parasites. This particular collection of amino acids is now a distinct allergen to that person, even though it is actually harmless. There are possibly many other minor causes and/or combinations of causes. We know very little about the evolution of our immune system, and how allergy/sensitivity is developed. What can we do to "normalize" autistic children? What are the answers that we already know? The Mercury Toxicity Problem< /font> As a former orthomolecular psychologist, mineral toxicity is well known to me. I've seen several schizophrenic patients "cured" that suffered from copper toxicity in particular. The first step is diagnosis of this problem. Is mineral toxicity involved? There are several different ways to diagnose mineral toxicity. In my opinion the best way is a mineral hair analysis. Most MD's prefer a 24 hour urine collection. Actual blood tests and urine and saliva tests are not reliable. It seems that all toxic minerals are stopped from getting into the brain by the filtering and storage facility of the liver. A large amount of mercury getting to the brain would be very dangerous, so the liver stops it and stores it, and then gradually releases as small an amount back into the bloodstream so that it can be excreted. Hair is an excretion route, and an inch or so of hair tells a "history" of mineral excretion over a period of weeks. While hair analysis isn't very accurate insofar as amount in the body, it's very accurate as to what's been excreted over time. A hair analysis would be my first step towards solving the autism problem. Supposing that the hair analysis came back showing large amounts of mercury. What to do next? The answer is some form of chelation. Chelation means "to grab onto". There are several drugs that do this for minerals. In the blood stream, these drugs (EDTA and others) literally grab onto minerals, and allow them to exit the body thru the kidney/urine excretion system. This usually involves going to a chelation clinic, sitting for an hour or so with a needle in the arm. It's not that uncomfortable, although a small child might find it so. This procedure is done several times over a period of several weeks. . One problem with this is that because the chelation agent (drug) "claws onto" all minerals in the blood stream, it takes out essential minerals as well as the toxic ones. So, it becomes very necessary to supplement the minerals our bodies need for everyday use. In effect, taking all out, good and bad, and putting back the good. It's also not cheap, as it involves "doctor time". I successfully used a cheap and effective alternate in my practice. Vitamin C. Vitamin C combines with minerals in the bloodstream metabolically to form a mineral "Ascorbate" combination that is also water soluble and passes out thru the same kidney/urine exit. There are several advantages to using Vitamin C instead of drugs. It is a natural antibiotic that kills both viruses and bacteria in the bloodstream. So, people who use it will be healthier than most, AND they'll be getting rid of toxic minerals at the same time. The same thing happens as does with drugs. Since vitamin C combines with ALL minerals, we are taking out the essential ones along with the toxic ones. So, all the essential ones must be supplemented daily. Few people realize the truth about vitamin C today, in spite of the work done by Linus Pauling, a true genius. The "spin" by nutritionists and MD's and the RDA has us taking very insufficient amounts of vitamin C for daily use. Did you know that the veterinarian RDA for a 150 pound ape is 4000 mg (4 grams) per day? We humans and other primates such as that ape handle vitamin C exactly the same. The RDA is under 100 mg (0.1 gram). For schizophrenic adults I worked with in past years, I used 10 grams per day in split doses. For these patients, their schizoid symptoms seemed to disappear within two weeks or so, but surprisingly, a six month hair analysis showed even high levels of copper. Carl Pfeiffer, a mentor, and a good friend, explained that the body is now allowing more toxic material out of storage into the bloodstream so that it can be excreted safely. Most goes out via the kidney/ urine pathway, but also hair. To my surprise, this increase in hair levels was actually good. Allergy/Sensitivity Problem font> The "leaky gut syndrome" is becoming a huge health problem, albeit unknown to most people and even most physicians. It's a function of our culture moving more and more away from healthful foods containing good nutrition and moving more and more to sweet and pre-processed foods without good balanced nutrition. Because we have evolved requiring certain amounts and balances of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, fatty acids, and enzymes derived from what we eat, we, as a culture are not getting even close to sufficient nutrition for good health without taking vitamin mineral supplements. One theory of "leaky gut syndrome" is that each generation, being malnourished, has to find a way to get more necessary nutrients, and allowing more amino acids and other needed nutrients thru the walls of the intestines, this is accomplished. There are several possible answers to this particular problem: 1. Giving the person with the problem digestive enzymes. This helps the digestive system do a better job, breaking up proteins into amino acids easier to digest as small peptides and individual amino acids. This solves part of the problem at least, especially in those cases where digestive problems are present. Of course, protease is the most desired. 2. Avoiding those foods that are most likely the allergens that the immune system has "decided" are enemies. This is the basis of the milk free and gluten free diets that are popular, and have proved of value for some autistic cases. 3. Allergy search and solution. The only really effective "test and cure" system is the End- Point-Titration method. This not only finds both allergies and sensitivities, but also provides a neutralizing amount. Unfortunately, the costs are prohibitive, ranging in the tens of thousands of dollars. A free allergen test may be found at Free Allergy Test<.a> 4. EEG Biofeedback (aka Neurofeedback or Neurotherapy) has long been used with ADD/ADHD successfully. Dr von Hilsheimer in Orlando has successfully worked with several autistic children using this therapy. He has taken well over 200 sessions with several patients. The problem is that it is very expensive and uses a lot of "doctor time". 5. A new therapy called Neuroliminal Brain Wave Training was invented by me in 2004. It does exactly what EEG Biofeedback does, namely change brain wave strengths (and in the case of autism patients, increases brain blood flow (similar to HEG biofeedback). Besides being as successful as EEG BF, it actually has several other advantages for autism cases: a. Very affordable cost - a fraction of EEG BF, a viable alternative to the dangerous drugs used for the ADD-autism continuum. Mid and low income families simply cannot afford EEG BF, leaving the only real choice the dangerous drugs. b. Very simple to use at home. No messing around with wires and sticky paste or even bulky helmets. Even the "worst" autistic kids can be trained without problems. c. No motivation required to simply go to sleep. With ADD/ADHD and high functioning autistics, motivation is a critical factor in success. In a recent test of 9 autistic children from 3 to 11 years of age, over an eight week period, ALL nine improved, some dramatically, and some slowly. This is exactly what would be expected if using EEG and HEG BF. All parents put up a $100 deposit, and if no improvement was found, they could get that back. All preferred to keep it and continue training. Those are the options I see at present. Autism is increasing as our nutrition is decreasing, and more and more toxins are used for good reasons that have bad effects. If I had a child who was autistic, or even slow to develop, what would I do? 1. Start Neuroliminal Brain Wave Training immediately. 2. I'd do a hair analysis to see if mercury is at toxic levels, and if so, I'd start my child on 5-10 grams of vitamin C per day. 3. I'd try a Caveman Diet for a week or so to try to determine if common allergens such as milk or grains are a major culprit. 4. I'd investigate digestive enzymes for autism on the web, and start using them. The belt and suspender theory seems to me to be the best way - do all that you can as soon as you know about the problem and possible solutions. The sooner the autistic child is started on these programs the closer to "normal" they usually become. There is no magic pill. All these programs take time. Magic pills usually aren't anyway, and all drugs have serious side effects for some at least. What I have outlined does not in any way. Unfortunately, the physician's dictum "do no harm" is no longer the case. View all Phil Bate PHD's articles About the Author: |
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Solving the Autism Problem
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