In the words of Parris Kidd, PhD, �Fortunately, because of unprecedented collaboration between activist parents, progressive physicians, researchers, and allied health workers, autism has emerged as a model of successful integrative medicine.�5
Several coordinated approaches to autism are emerging from the bewildering amount of information that has accumulated in the past decade. These approaches focus on:
* Dietary modification to heal the gut and reduce exposure to external toxins
* Supplying nutritional supplements that boost the body�s antioxidant and other detoxification systems
* Eliminating known contamination with highly toxic substances such as mercury, while providing nutritional support during this biologically stressful process.
Although all treatments for autism should be administered in partnership with skilled physicians and other health care professionals, certain basic steps that are known to be effective and safe should be started as early as possible.
As with most autistic children, Jenny says she noticed that Evan's personality seemed to be locked inside him—and she was determined to get him out. She began scouring the Internet, where she read recovery stories and discovered treatment options.
One treatment Jenny decided to try was a change in eating habits. She immediately started eliminating gluten and casein, found in wheat and dairy products, from Evan's diet. "In two weeks to three weeks—and this isn't for everyone, to get a reaction like this—Evan doubled his language," she says. "[There was] eye contact, smiling, more affection."
To help Evan learn to play with toys as other children do, Jenny tried another approach—video modeling and play therapy. Because Evan didn't know how to play catch, Jenny showed him a video of her catching a ball. From that day on, Jenny says he was into the game. She used play therapy to help him learn in other ways. "A lot of kids on the [autism] spectrum, including Evan, would take [a toy] car and just line them up or turn them upside down and just [spin the wheels]," she says. "So play therapy literally is teaching him that the car can go on an adventure."
With the help of these treatments, Jenny says 5-year-old Evan is making great strides. "I consider him in recovery. There's still things we need to work on—seizures, stuff with abstract understanding, but for the most part he's a typical child in normal school," she says. While these therapies worked for Evan, Jenny emphasizes that it might not work for every child with autism. "I'm just a mom telling a story of other moms. We want to share it and say our kids do get better," she says. "[It's like] chemotherapy. It doesn't work for every cancer victim, but you know what? You're going to give it a try."
and here she answers questions about what she has tried:
it is interesting that she says that the anti-fungal medicines she has used have had an effect:
Quote:
Things I didn't get to on the show that Id like say…
First I am not a doctor nor have I ever played one on TV… This is just what I did for my son and every child is different.
Biomedical Steps I took with Evan…
#1: Food allergy blood test, which is called IGG food allergy test. Many kids come back negative on gluten, including Evan. That's okay. I still needed to remove gluten from his diet and other foods I found out he was allergic to.
#3 GF/CF diet and started supplements from Kirkman laboratories, especially Super Nu-Thera multi-vitamin.
#4 Starting anti-fungal meds to kill Candida/fungus. Meds like Diflucan, Nystatin. Evan started to come out of autism completely after I killed CANDIDA!!!
#5 Besides GF/CF I also started sugar-free and yeast-free diet. No fruit or sugar.
#6 No artificial coloring, like RED dye in anything!!! Caused crazy EVAN!!!!!!
#7 Evan is still on the GFCF and IF I take him off or feed him sugars his candida comes back and so do old autism characteristics.
then she answers questions.. and one of the questions:
Quote:
Q: Jenny, one thing you said was your son's body had too much candida. Do you think maybe yeast and something in the shots (like maybe the form of mercury in them) might interact with each other and cause autism? JM: That's an amazing question. Quite often we hear the community say, "It's a combination of genetics and the environment." I didn't really think about autism as being an infection (fungal such as yeast, bacterial, viral) that might make children more susceptible to toxins in vaccines or toxins in the environment until I watched Stan Kurtz's recent USAAA presentation on www.recoveryvideos.com. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND checking it. This is exactly where I stand.
The authors -- who reported on a case-study of the same autism claim conceded in Vaccine Court -- noted that "children who have (mitochondrial-related) dysfunctional cellular energy metabolism might be more prone to undergo autistic regression between 18 and 30 months of age if they also have infections or immunizations at the same time."
An interesting aspect of Mt disease in autism is that, with ASD, the mitochondrial disease seems to be milder than in "classic" cases of Mt disorder. In fact, classic Mt disease is almost always inherited, either passed down by the mother through mitochondrial DNA, or by both parents through nuclear DNA.
In autism-related Mt disease, however, the disorder is not typically found in other family members, and instead appears to be largely of the sporadic variety, which may now account for 75% of all mitochondrial disorders.
Meanwhile, an informal survey of seven families of children with cases currently pending in Vaccine Court revealed that all seven showed markers for mitochondrial dysfunction, dating back to their earliest medical tests. The facts in all seven claims mirror the case just conceded by the government: Normal development followed by vaccination, immediate illness, and rapid decline culminating in an autism diagnosis.
might help. One of the ingredients in this supplement is L-carnitine, which has been studied here:
Quote:
Rett Syndrome Autism Research Review International. 1999, V.19, No. 2, p.7
A new study supports earlier evidence that the amino acid L-carnitine is of some benefit for individuals with Rett syndrome. The progressive disorder, which almost exclusively affects girls, often mimics autism in its early stages.
C. Ellaway and colleagues recently conducted a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind crossover trial of L-carnitine on 35 girls with Rett syndrome. The researchers say that both parents and medical personnel noted improvements in the L-carnitine-treated subjects' well-being, and say, �In addition, medical review showed an improvement on the Hand Apraxia Scale for a higher proportion of girls on L-carnitine." (A prominent symptom of Rett syndrome is the loss of purposeful use of the hands.)
The researchers conclude, "While L-carnitine did not lead to major functional changes in ability, the type of changes reported could still have a substantial impact on the girls and their families."
This study's findings are similar to those of a 1996 case study (see ARRI 10/3), in which E. Plochl and colleagues reported significant improvements in activity, steep, and communication in a five-year-old Rett syndrome patient treated with L-carnitine.18
�Rett syndrome: randomized controlled trial of L-carnitine,� C. Ellaway, K. Williams, H. Leonard, G. Higgins, B. Wilcken, and J. Christodoulou, Journal of Child Neurology, Vol. 14, No. 3, March 1999, pp. 162-167.
I'm not a medical researcher, but I would think it might be worth a try given these connections of these disorders with autism.
Interesting information, ST. I especially liked that Jenny laid-out, quite specifically, what she found to be effective for her son.
It's a small world. My wife used to work with Jenny's ex-husband. I hope he's matured, as Jenny clearly has, and plays a role in his son's life. If not, it seems as if Jim (Carey) is at least providing some sort of male role-model ... which is always important.
I agree. I have a boy.. not so little now, and I agree - a positive father figure/male rold model, makes such a big difference in a child's life. actually, the more people around the child that love the child, of either sex, the better.
Children with autism can be helped by taking the amino acid DMG (dimethylglycine), a major new study has confirmed. The benefits of the supplement – especially for people with mental problems - have been known for years, but the evidence has either been anecdotal or the studies have been too small to interest other researchers.
The new study, organised by the Autism Research Institute, recruited 5,367 autistic children – and 42 per cent of them reported major improvements in their condition after taking the supplement.
According to teachers and parents, the children who responded positively to DMG had improved verbal communication, better social interaction, better eye contact, improved affection, a reduction in seizures and improved sleep patterns.
One of DMG’s long-time advocates, Dr. Roger V Kendall, says that it helps the neurological system and can also modulate the immune system. It acts as a methyl donor, and methylation activates neural pathways that affect behaviour.
He recommends one to four 125 mg DMG tablets per day for an autistic child, and it should be taken with 800 micrograms of folic acid. DMG can also be found naturally in liver, and in beans, seeds and grains.
Cholesterol supplementation reverses many symptoms of autism in SLOS disorder. This deficiency is also common in "regular" autism.
Dr. Richard Kelly, a research physician at John Hopkins University has found, along with his colleagues, that autistic symptoms prevalent in the genetic disorder SLOS quickly reversed after supplementation with dietary cholesterol. Some of the many improvements included sleeping through the night, overcoming aberrant behaviors, learning to walk, speaking for the first time and becoming more responsive and social family members. In addition, other benefits of cholesterol supplementation included a decreased rate of infections, reduced skin rashes, marked reduction in self-hurtful behaviors, improved muscle tone, decreased tactile defensiveness, more rapid growth and improved behavior overall. Parents reported their children having significant decreases in autistic behavior and even some adults, without speech, spoke for the first time - all within days of taking cholesterol supplements. These changes occurred before cholesterol values had increased in the blood, which indicates that the improvements may be a result of cholesterol forming its derivatives - such as steroid hormones or bile salts.
Autism - A Nutraceutical Approach
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