Let’s expand a little bit on the topic of hyperbaric oxygen therapy. There’s a number of things to consider with respects to hyperbaric oxygen therapy. We know that it’s been a very effective therapy for many individuals on the autism spectrum. As I mentioned before, in a previous recording, it can very much help with decreasing inflammation in the body, neurological inflammation, and helping to improve oxygen flow to the brain which helps to improve overall metabolism. So any time you’re improving oxygen flow to the brain, you’re going to have a beneficial impact in many of those areas that may not be getting enough oxygen. And so we’ve seen it be helpful in areas of speech, in eye contact, in socialization, improved behavior, improved sleep, a lot of benefits to hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

A couple different ways of doing hyperbaric oxygen therapy; one is to actually go to a clinic. In the clinic usually they’re going have what are called hard shell chambers which have varying levels of atmospheric depth that they can go to, anywhere between one atmosphere all the way to one point five to one point seven five, two point atmospheres and above. For most individuals on the autism spectrum, we’re treating at about one point three to one point five atmospheres.

Now there are also what are called inflatable chambers and these chambers generally go to one point three atmospheres, some actually go to one point five, but most go to one point three, and these are actually chambers that can be rented or purchased and brought into the home, and kids get benefit that way as well.

Now the oxygen concentration can be different. Usually when you’re in a hard shell chamber in a clinic, they’re actually delivering pure grade oxygen at about a hundred percent. With the inflatable chambers that are done in the home, generally what’s being used is called an oxygen concentrator which filters out room air oxygen and helps to filter out the nitrogen in the air and concentrates oxygen that’s delivered through a tube into the chamber. Now those are not delivering a hundred percent oxygen; you may be getting anywhere between fifty to sixty, seventy, maybe seventy five percent oxygen through an oxygen concentrator which can certainly be beneficial and many kids can get good success from that.

But I just wanted you to be aware that there is some differences in the way hyperbaric is done. So we have the clinic based chambers which are generally the hard shelled  chambers; they can go to higher pressures with higher oxygen concentration and then we have the inflatable chambers which deliver lower oxygen concentration and lower pressures. There’s benefits with  both, so just be aware of that.

We’re talking here in this series of videos about different types of probiotics. There’s another one called saccharomyces boulardii. Now, saccharomyces boulardii is actually a yeast. So it’s considered to be an anti-yeast yeast. It actually will attack candida. But, interestingly, is that it will also go after clostridia bacteria which we know is a bacterial issue that’s commonly found in kids on the Autism Spectrum who are quite susceptible to the toxins it produces. So, saccharomyces boulardii is something that can be used not only as a treatment probiotic for yeast, but it can also be a treatment probiotic for clostridia bacteria. Now, one thing about saccharomyces boulardii is because it is a yeast, you don’t want to take it at the same time as anti-fungal medications; whether that’s Nystatin, or Diflucan, or even along with natural remedies, things like grapefruit seed extract or oregano oil. It’s a good thing to separate it out usually by a couple hours would be best. So, if your child is actually on one of those remedies, at least in my experience, it’s good maybe just to take this particular probiotic near bed time.

One other type of probiotic that is quite well known within the Autism community, is something called Threelac. Now Threelac is a combination of three different types of bacteria and this is actually considered, in my opinion, a treatment specific probiotic for yeast. So you could think of Threelac as something that you would use if your child has an underlying yeast problem in the digestive tract. Along with saccharomyces boulardii that can be a powerful combination. Now these things aren’t usually taken long term, for ever and a day, these are things that are usually taken where you might take a break. Saccharomyces boulardii, in my experience, I’ll use anywhere between three to six weeks and then maybe take a couple weeks off if need be. It’s not something that colonizes the digestive tract. Basically what that means is that it goes away once you stop taking it. Threelac is something that would be used for a month to maybe three months. If you’re using it for 90 days straight, you definitely want to make sure you take a week break before starting it again. So, those two remedies can be very useful for underlying yeast and even bacterial issues.

Let’s extend this topic about probiotics. So in the original video I talked about multi-floral probiotic supplements such as Probiotic Support Formula, or Therbiotic Complete. I also touched on the use of Culturelle which is using something called acidophilus GG to go after clostridia bacteria. There is another probiotic that is commonly used with kids on the spectrum called VSL #3.

Now VSL #3 was originally used, or is still used, for people with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. It is a combination of 8 different lactic acid bacteria, a very high potency probiotic. In addition to the inflammatory bowel disease conditions, this thing is also useful as a treatment support for oxalate problems. We know that oxalates are organic compounds that are founds in many foods. Kids on the spectrum can have an increased absorption of oxalates which can bind to minerals, complex with heavy metals, create crystals in the body whether it is the joints, the muscle tissue, even in the nervous system. People who are susceptible to oxalate absorption can also be predisposed to kidney stones. So VSL #3 is a useful remedy to help bind up or at least degrade some of the oxalates in the digestive tract and prevent them from being absorbed. So think of VSL #3 as something that is useful for an oxalate issue or if there is an underlying problem of inflammatory bowel disease.

In video number 3 of this video series I am going to talk about a few other types of probiotics that can be used in special circumstances. One in addition to treating yeast and a couple of other ones that are supportive for bacterial problems.

Let me talk to you real briefly about different types of probiotics being used for different types of conditions. Generally probiotics are life promoting organisms that help to feed the digestive tract that provide overall substrate to help vitamin and mineral utilization, they help to stimulate the immune function in the digestive tract, they help to keep some of the pathogenic bacteria and yeast in check. So we use multi-floral probiotic supplements for that specific purpose. Multi-floral probiotic supplements would be things that include various forms of acidophilus or bifidobacter bacteria so those would be considered sort of the underlying, multi-vitamin for the digestive tract would be a multi-floral probiotic.
Probiotic support formula is an example, Therbiotic Complete is an example, Multi-Flor Spectrum is an example of three different types of multi-floral probiotics. Probiotic support formula is from New Beginnings, Therbiotic Complete is from Klaire labs, and Multi-Flor Spectrum is from Kirkman so keep that in mind.

Then we get more into treatment specific probiotics. One particular one is called Culturelle. Culturelle is a specific type of acidophilus called acidophilus GG, and it has a specific affinity for a bacteria called clostridia. There is a wide variety of different types of clostridia bacteria and acidophilus GG essentially likes to go after these different types of clostridia. It is one of those things that we have found with kids with special needs when we do stool testing or do organic acid testing and find elevated markers that are indicative of clostridia bacteria, one of the first things that I will look to do is to use Culturelle as a long term treatment support. In part 2 of this video I will go into more of the different types of probiotics that can be used for different situations.

I have had some good experience with a particular remedy called Respen-A. Respen-A is a patch, it is a homeopathic derivative of something called reserpine which is an herb that has been used for many years to help lower blood pressure as well as to treat some of the core issues with respects to kids on the spectrum. What Respen-A definitely appears to be doing is helping with some of those core issues, the eye contact, the affection, the cognitive awareness, kids just being more aware and more engaged socially. I have also seen some decreased self stimulatory behavior and improved sensory issues with kids using Respen-A. One thing I would like people to be aware of is the Respen-A therapy. Like any remedy or anything that has come forth within the biomedical community for special needs kids, nothing is a magic bullet. Nothing works 100% of the time for 100% of the kids. But in my opinion from what I have seen so far the Respen-A definitely has some positive influence on kids particularly in the area of eye contact, particularly in the area of socialization and just the willingness, not only the willingness to socialize with other kids but just being more engaged with their family. So Respen-A could be a useful thing for you to talk to your physician about. It is very easy to take, it is a patch, it is worn 12 hours on 12 hours off and it is a very useful remedy.

I have talked before about serotonin levels within kids with special needs, particularly those on the Autism spectrum. I have also talked about how serotonin has an influence on learning, on brain function, on mood, on states of happiness. That is the reason why many individuals are given medications like Prozac or Paxil or Zoloft, these things are called serotonin reuptake inhibitors because for many people in our society, serotonin becomes depleted and people become depressed. Now for kids on the Autism spectrum, what appears to be happening with many of them is that they can’t convert serotonin into its more active form and that has adverse effects on many of the overall core issues we see in Autism from self stimulatory behavior to language issues to eye contact problems to behavioral problems.

There is an enzyme in the brain called MAO-A (monoamineoxidase A) that seems to be one of the problem areas. MAO-A which helps with this conversion of serotonin into its active form is not working appropriately. Now there is actually a therapy called reserpine, reserpine is from an Indian herb. This has been shown in the past to be used with individuals on the Autism spectrum even dating back into the ‘50’s where reserpine was used to help boost the levels of MAO-A and to help essentially with many of the core issues we see in Autism. There is actually a therapy called Respen-A which is a patch, it is a homeopathic derivative of reserpine which is showing some good benefit with respects to many of these core issues, the eye contact, the focusing, the attention, the self stimulatory, the sensory seeking behavior, the language problems that are so common.

So the complexities of brain chemistry are being unfolded more and more as research goes on into the complexities of Autism. But that is one particular area that is of great interest is this link between serotonin, is the link between MAO-A activity and the potential use of this Respen-A as one therapy that can help in this area.

I have talked before in various recordings on this site about gluten sensitivity and Celiac disease. We’ve also mentioned that gluten for many kids with special needs actually creates peptides, peptides are small amino acid chains that actually have a chemical or drug like effect on brain chemistry. So they can affect attention and focusing and behavioral issues. There is an interesting phenomenon with gluten in that gluten the digestive system can actually, through the breakdown process and if it is not broken down adequately enough create a situation where serotonin is being produced in too high amount, actually in the digestive tract.

We think of serotonin as a neurochemical in the brain that helps with mood, states of happiness, it can be involved in learning. One reason why so many people are given so many antidepressants is to help maintain adequate levels of serotonin in the brain. Well it turns out that for many kids on the Autism spectrum, they actually have the potential to create too much serotonin in the brain and what is happening is their brain chemistry is not breaking down or processing that serotonin appropriately and converting the serotonin that is being produced in its active form. That can contribute to some of the things we see like self stimulatory behavior, attention and focusing problems, behavioral issues, obsessive compulsive behavior, etc.

So if you are creating a situation where they already have too much serotonin that is not being broken down into its active form. Now you are eating gluten and the gluten is stimulating an overproduction of serotonin in the digestive tract and the serotonin is absorbed into the bloodstream, carried throughout the body, that just leads to serotonin an overall increased pool of serotonin. That can be one reason why some children on the Autism spectrum have such a sensitivity to gluten. It is really set apart from tried and true diagnostic assessments or what is known to be with respects to Celiac disease.

So there is a lot of complexity to food sensitivity and how some of these foods react in our body. But that is one mechanism, is that gluten and the breakdown process or the inability to breakdown gluten in the digestive tract can stimulate serotonin production, serotonin production is therefore increase and then the problem of actually converting that serotonin into its active form can be problematic for many kids with special needs.

Let’s talk a little bit about the differences between gluten sensitivity and Celiac disease. Now for most of the kids on the Autism spectrum we talk about the gluten and casein free diet as a primary diet to help reduce some of the inflammatory proteins that are found in gluten. Gluten is found in wheat and casein is found in dairy. But we know that these foods also have a drug like effect on many kids because they have something called peptides. Peptides are small amino acid chains that can influence brain chemistry adversely.

So gluten sensitivity is actually having an intolerance in the body to the gluten protein found in the wheat. Celiac disease is a form of gluten sensitivity except that with Celiac disease it is actually a genetic disorder where you truly lack the ability to breakdown the specific proteins found in wheat, one of them being gluten, another one is something called gliadin. Gliadin is actually a subfraction of gluten and it is an inflammatory protein in individuals with Celiac disease where they lack the specific enzymes that allow them to process that protein in the digestive tract. Then it creates an autoimmune reaction, auto meaning self, immune reaction in the gut and that leads to an inflammatory type process and essentially over time it starts to wear away at the surface lining of the gut. What I often tell people is you can have a gluten sensitivity and not Celiac disease but if you have Celiac disease, you have gluten sensitivity. Everyone with Celiac disease has a gluten sensitivity but not everybody who has a gluten sensitivity has Celiac disease.

Testing for it can be somewhat complicated. You can do an IgG food sensitivity profile and look for reactions to gluten, to look for reactions to gliadin and even to look for reactions to the entire wheat complex if you will. That only identifies a sensitivity reaction. The Celiac disease tests are more in-depth. You can do IgA as well as IgG reactions to gliadin. You can do an IgA reaction which is an immune test for something called transglutaminase. There is also something called reticulin antibodies. Many times to get a confirmatory diagnosis, some gastrointestinal doctors will also put a scope down into the intestinal system and take biopsy samples of different parts of the intestinal tract to see if there are cellular changes specific to Celiac disease. So it is a little bit more in-depth getting a diagnosis of Celiac disease as opposed to getting a diagnosis of gluten intolerance. The treatment for it is essentially the same and that is the avoidance of gluten proteins. I just wanted to make you aware that there is a distinction between gluten sensitivity and Celiac disease. With kids on the spectrum it is one of those things that we make a common recommendation for because we know it helps so many of them, not only from a digestive standpoint but from a cognitive standpoint.

Let me talk a little bit about regression particularly now that the holidays are over with, regression after the holidays. I have seen a few kids in my practice where regression is really hitting them pretty hard and obviously it is very disturbing for their family. Kids who were doing pretty well, language, eye contact, socialization and things seemed to be on the mend, improving and now all of a sudden we have a child who has regressed, they’ve lost eye contact, they’ve lost language, they are doing more self stimulatory behaviors, their sensory seeking has increased, what could be going on?

Well a couple of things particularly after the holidays, first thing I’ll always want to find out about is dietary infractions that may contribute to regression. Have there been any infractions with the diet whether it is gluten that they were not eating that they got over the holidays or dairy that they were not eating that they got over the holidays. Is that a possible trigger for regression? If not, another avenue is sugar, kids just naturally being exposed to more sugar and artificial ingredients through the holidays whether it is being at a friend’s house, parties at school, wherever it may be, that can also contribute to regression. Sometimes just a change in diet can bring on some of these regressive behaviors. Usually, particularly too if your child has any sort of yeast sensitivity, increasing sugars in their diet sometimes bring a worsening in yeast and obviously that can lead to eye contact problems and self stimulatory behaviors and sensory issues associated with regression.

Sometimes just the change in routine, as school is getting out, we’re now on to the holidays, there is a lot of excitement, people are traveling, sometimes that change can disrupt the normal routine for a child and that can cause regression with some kids. Also, transitioning back into school, if your child is of school age where they have been off for a couple of weeks over the holidays, now they are being transitioned back into school and that can contribute to regression. Or their therapies are starting up again so things are a little bit altered that way, maybe they are feeling overwhelmed and that is causing regression. There can be a combination of these things happening to cause regression. But sometimes you just simply have to look back and find out what changed in their environment, what changed in their routine and what may be changed in their diet that may have contributed to some of the regressive patterns that you are currently seeing with your child.

It comes up quite a bit in my practice and that is a child who either been on an antibiotic or they’ve recently been given an antifungal medication, instead of improving with their overall behavior, they regress. And if we are talking about yeast specifically with respects to treatment for yeast from the antifungal medication whether it is Nystatin, Diflucan, Nizoral, or some of the more antifungal herbs, things like oregano oil, grapefruit seed extract, etc. and the child is worsening instead of improving. But they are worsening in a pattern of becoming irritable and aggressive, self injurious, they are more withdrawn. Usually what you are dealing with is some underlying type of bacterial problem.

Now there is a common bacteria that is present with many kids on the spectrum called clostridia. There is a wide variety of clostridia bacteria. One particular form of clostridia called clostridia dificil can actually cause a form of inflammatory bowel disease, that is not specifically what we are talking about when we talk about these behavioral changes. That particular bacteria may lead to certain toxins that could contribute to that but what we are talking about is the family of clostridia, not just one specific type of clostridia.

There is a test called an Organic Acid Test from Great Plains Lab, they also have something called a Microbial Organic Acid Test and it looks at the markers specific to yeast and specific to clostridia bacteria. The clostridia marker is specifically something called HPHPA and it is a metabolic toxin of clostridia. It is that metabolic toxin that seems to interfere with different brain chemicals that can to contribute to some of the behavioral problems we see with kids on the spectrum.

Now why it is tied back to antifungal use is that yeast and bacteria, particularly yeast and clostridia bacteria, are living in somewhat competition in the digestive tract. When you lower one, the other one if it is not being treated at the same time, can sometimes get worse. So if you have a yeast overgrowth and you are just treating the yeast and you also have an overgrowth of clostridia bacteria, many times that clostridia bacteria can increase because it is no longer being inhibited or it is no longer in competition with yeast. If you had a regression in your child where you’ve recently given an antifungal medication or if you’ve given an antibiotic, antibiotics can also deplete the normal bacteria in the digestive tract and that sometimes can spur on this opportunistic bacterial called clostridia to get worse. Those two situations can be very common.