Posted on 08 January 2012 by autism
A phenomenon that I have seen with a number of kids on the Autism spectrum, some kids aren’t necessarily classically diagnosed with Autism but who have the characteristics of something called PANDAS which is a streptococcal infection where it is a condition in the body that is triggered by a streptococcal infection, specifically Group A Beta Hemolytic Strep where individuals develop obsessive compulsive behavior, sometimes tics, behavioral issues, weird and odd movements of the head or the eyes or side glancing, different manifestations like that usually come about after an infection, sometimes a sore throat. It can be a marked change in their behavior, social anxiety, anxiety in general and as I mentioned before very, very severe forms of obsessive compulsive disorder.
Now there are certain individuals on the Autism spectrum who have this characteristic and there are also other people who develop obsessive compulsive behavior and tics etc. who also have PANDAS who are not Autistic. One of the things that is interesting is in many of the supplements that people take, specifically probiotics, there is a specific bacteria called streptococcus thermophilus this is a natural bacteria and is essentially listed as a beneficial bacterial for the digestive system and for our overall health. You also find it in some yogurt products as well. Now it is reported that streptococcus thermophilus is entirely different than Group A Beta Hemolytic Strep as far as its protein structure, etc. and therefore should not be a contributing problem to the obsessive compulsive problems or the other manifestation of PANDAS. The problem is clinically I’ve not always seen that to be true. Which basically means in many kids that I have seen, whether they are on the spectrum or not, who have this problem just don’t seem to react very well to probiotics that have streptococcus thermophilus.
So the reason I am putting this video out here is just to inform you that if you have a suspicion that your child has PANDAS or is likely a problem, check their probiotics. See if the probiotics that they are taking have streptococcus thermophilus, if it does consider changing it out to a different probiotic. It doesn’t always fit but often times it does.
I had a situation a couple of years ago where a patient and a child actually who had PANDAS was successfully treated for it and was essentially in remission started a group of new supplements and all of a sudden started coming down with those PANDAS conditions again, anxiety, tics, obsessive behavior and so we went through a list of supplements and found out that there was a new probiotic that had been started. And the mom didn’t realize that the streptococcus thermophilus was an issue until we recognized that that was likely a contributing factor. Just stopping that one supplement alone, his PANDAS symptoms, his OCD, his anxiety disappeared. So I have seen that happen now with other kids and other people as well. So it is one of the things that I look at clinically is if streptococcus thermophilus is being used in a supplement, that is one thing I look to remove. So just a little FYI, I just wanted you to be aware of that.
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Posted on 08 January 2012 by autism
The thyroid gland is an important gland in our body with respects to metabolism. It really helps with energy production throughout the body. Whether it is our immune system, our cardiovascular system including our heart, our lungs, our bones, our gut, our brain specifically and without good thyroid output we tend to run deficits in energy production. In many kids on the Autism spectrum we know that there are underlying medical problems which contribute to many of their issues. We know that research points to the fact that there are methylation chemistry problems which can affect attention and focusing, we know there are mitochondrial imbalances with can influence negatively metabolism throughout the body and energy production as well. We know that there can be immune system imbalances, digestive problems, etc.
One of the things that doesn’t get a lot of attention is thyroid imbalances. And the thyroid is often either not assessed or under assessed with respects to Autism. In patients with various mental health problems, depression, bipolar, etc., many times thyroid dysfunction is a contributing factor and often optimizing thyroid function helps to really improve the overall mental status and health status of patients. So I want you to be aware of the importance of thyroid function in Autism as something to just assess for your child’s overall health.
So if you are doing a blood chemistry test or any type of blood testing for your child, make sure that your doctor includes a thyroid panel and specifically what you want to look at is what’s called TSH, thyroid stimulating hormone, free T4, and free T3. Now these are important because the free fraction of those hormones, specifically the free T3 is what is acting physiologically at the cellular level. You can also add what is called a reverse T3 and if the body is producing a lot of reverse T3 it will actually inhibit thyroid function as well and often that goes missed. So TSH, free T4 and free T3.
Now personally I like to see the free T4 and the free T3 in the upper 2/3 of normal in its reference range. Often if they are low many times I will use natural thyroid such as Westhroid or Armour Thyroid etc. to try and replenish thyroid function. That is not something necessarily we do forever, but sometimes 6 months to a year just to see if we can re-establish thyroid function. And often times it helps with energy and brain function and cognitive function and even growth.
So again the thyroid is something important to assess and I recommend that any parent who is having their child be assessed by a physician with respects to blood work to make sure you include a thyroid panel, the TSH, the free T4 and the free T3. A couple other things that you could also add to that panel to rule out that an auto-immune process may be occurring is something called anti-TPO and an anti-thyroid globulin antibodies. If there are antibodies being produced to the thyroid gland then that indicates that there is some type of auto-immune process that is likely affecting the thyroid adversely so that would be really a complete thyroid panel. But minimally the TSH, the free T3 and the free T4 are critically important to look at.
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Posted on 13 November 2011 by autism
Let’s talk about something called Helicobacter pylori and Autism or H Pylori. H. Pylori is a bacteria that has been responsible for the development of stomach ulcers. Now we typically wouldn’t think of kids having problems with H Pylori or even ulcers but it does happen. We know that kids on the Autism spectrum seem to have a lot of gut problems. They have a lot of bacterial imbalances, they have a lot of yeast problems, many of them just have digestive problems in general. So they seem to have a greater susceptibility of these types of infections. Or at least they have a greater susceptibility of behavioral problems associated with these infections whether it is self stimulatory behavior that is driven by yeast, or aggressive behavior that is exacerbated by the presence of clostridia bacteria.
Helicobacter Pylori is also found in kids on the spectrum and what it typically tends to do is it tends to aggravate the stomach, alters stomach acid production which can affect digestive enzyme function in the small intestine. It leads to poor digestion, malabsorption, etc. Helicobacter Pylori can also be a trigger for food allergies or food sensitivities. It can also lead to stomach pain, it can lead to reflux, gastritis and just overall discomfort in the upper intestinal area, particularly after eating. A lot of kids will actually avoid meat because it is just hard to digest. We see that a lot in adults too they just don’t have a desire to eat meat. And that can be an indicator that Helicobacter Pylori may be a problem. So I want you to think about Helicobacter Pylori as another type of infection that may be affecting your child’s digestive system and affecting the way they digest food and in the next video I will actually talk about specific tests that can be done to help detect the presence of Helicobacter Pylori.
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Posted on 01 August 2011 by autism
This is part 2 of the 2 part series on Respen-A blended chord and inositol. So inositol has been around for a long time and has been recommended in the past for OCD and anxiety. In some kids it works great, others it doesn’t work at all. And unfortunately it has been seen some kids who have reacted negatively to just the straight use of inositol. It probably likely has to do with the fact that its having an effect on glucose sugar metabolism in the brain and bolstering serotonin release. But up until recently, I mean we are talking the past couple of years, there wasn’t a lot known about how serotonin was metabolized in kids on the Autism spectrum.
We know now through the work of Elaine DeLack and the research through the Respen-A people that the Monoamine Oxidase A tends to be a problem area for many kids on the spectrum and therefore something like Respen-A has been a useful remedy to use, and I have seen that clinically in my practice as well. So just some information if you are looking to do the Respen-A blended chord it is now recommended that inositol be used along with it. And then if you want to find out more information specifically, obviously it comes with the Respen-A when the prescription comes from the dosing instructions. You can also access Respen-A on Facebook and I also have information on autismactionplan.com in the biomedical protocol section of that website. And I am of course available on an ongoing basis through the parent forum of autismactionplan.com to just answer your questions on a daily basis.
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Posted on 31 July 2011 by autism
This is part 1 of a 2 part series on Respen-A blended chord and inositol. With respects to Respen-A, there has been a lot of discussion about the new blended chord, or the blended chord version of Respen-A. The Respen-A originally is now the blended chord which has two different ingredients. There is the Reserpine which has been there all along to help boost and bolster the Monoamine Oxidase A activity and the active metabolite which helps to, not nullify but inhibit and neutralize the excess Monoamine Oxidase B activity that can occur and that creates the imbalances in serotonin, etc.
One of the things that has been recommended in the past to help boost the release of some of the stored serotonin to keep things in a more steady state was a little bit of gluten. Now we know the gluten free diet has been a steady, safe remedy now in the Autism community for many many years and there’s a tremendous amount of children who have benefited from the gluten and casein free diet. And so there are still some kids who just really can’t tolerate gluten at all.
What has been discovered is that a supplement called inositol can be useful and often can be used in place of needing a little bit of gluten with the Respen-A. What has happened is that the recommendation has really converted over now to using a small amount of inositol in the morning with the Respen-A, 300, 350, 400 or 500 or so mg of inositol, every kid is going to be a little bit different. But on average about 500 mg of inositol in the morning seems to be enough to help with the steady state release of serotonin so that it can be acted upon by the Monoamine Oxidase A, converted into its active aldehyde form to have the physiological effect that we are looking for with respects to Respen-A, which is attention, focusing, greater awareness, kids being more social, language development, etc. The next part will cover more about inositol’s role in this new Respen-A formulation.
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Posted on 25 July 2011 by autism
Let’s talk about folate, folinic acid, the new information that is really coming out recently about cerebral folate deficiency in Autism. Cerebral folate deficiency has been a known medical entity now for many, many years. Kids tend to have poor growth, tend to have nervous system problems, speech problems, comprehension issues, attention problems, many times kids their heads stop growing normally at an early age, etc. And what has been discovered with these kids who have these problems, when they do research, what are called antibody testing, they find out there are immune folate reactions occurring to the folate transport receptors.
Now in order to get folate, most people think of folate like folic acid, but in order to get folate taken into the brain where it needs to be utilized as a nutrient for brain growth, etc., it needs to be transported across the brain from the blood, the brain in the cerebral spinal fluid and into the brain tissue to be utilized correctly. If we have antibodies that are blocking those receptors then we are going to have a problem where the blood levels of folate may go up but the cerebral spinal fluid levels goes down and then we start to have corresponding problems with folate deficiency.
There has been research testing that has shown, and is showing, that a number of kids on the Autism spectrum are showing up with these folate receptor or folate transport receptor antibodies. And I have done some testing in my office and have seen that same trend. Dr. Rossignol and Dr. Frye, two biomedical physicians and researchers in the biomedical field now have been looking at this for quite some time and are finding that when kids are given high dose folinic acid, more than what you would get from a regular supplement, this would be something that would have to be compounded, there are prescription doses of folinic acid. And kids are actually improving quite significantly with respects to speech, with respects to general awareness and attention and focusing, etc. This is very exciting information because some of these kids they have done a lot of different types of biomedical therapy but just overall they just haven’t responded the way that was originally anticipated.
I would like you to do a little more research into this. Look at cerebral folate deficiency, Autism and you will come across a lot of information from Dr. Frye and Dr. Rossignol. I think this will be worthwhile for you to look at. I also have information through my member forum, the parent forum, of the AutismActionPlan.com website and I am available for questions regarding this and other therapies as well through that forum on a daily basis.
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Posted on 03 August 2010 by autism
In talking about autism treatment, It’s important to touch on certain aspects such as Respen-A, cholesterol, oxytocin, anti-yeast therapy, supplements, etc. If you have not done a cholesterol test on your child, or, let’s say that they’re due for some other blood work, or you’re going back to your pediatrician to do some blood work…It’s a really good idea to check for total cholesterol while you’re at it.
Total cholesterol is a marker of cholesterol level in the blood. And we know that cholesterol is very important for brain function. We know that cholesterol is a major precursor to various hormones in the body which tend to run low for people as they age but they can also be low in kids.
Cholesterol is also critically important as a stabilizing chemical to that helps to bind the oxytocin more effectively at its receptor site, and it improves the function of the oxytocin receptor so that whatever oxytocin is being produced, it works more efficiently. Cholesterol is also an important autism treatment.
We also know that oxytocin – another autism treatment – is a hormone in the brain that is very much involved in social bonding, facial expression recognition, and voice cue emotional recognition – it helps with people being more connected on a human level. Without oxytocin our brains are not wired correctly to create the social interest and bonding that is so important in human interaction. So the cholesterol level’s critically important and what they’ve found is that when the cholesterol level is low, kids are less social, they have more behavioral problems, they have more sleep problems, sometimes aggressive, irritability, self injurious behavior. So it’s something that you want to look at it production in your child’s body. There is a link between cholesterol and there is a link between oxytocin as well. Both of these chemicals have a relationship with Respen-A as well which helps to coordinate the beneficial influence of all of them.
So please, if you’re going to do some blood work, make sure your doctor runs that total cholesterol level and we would like to see a level above 160, ideally between 160, 170 would be nice, at least in my opinion, for all individuals on the Autism Spectrum.
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Posted on 07 July 2010 by autism
I am often asked “How long does my child need to do a diet?” – such as the gluten and casein free diet, or “How long does my child need to take methyl B-12 therapy?” or “How long does my child need to do a particular other therapy?” whether it is dietary therapy or supplements. And it is a very difficult question to answer because each kid truly is an individual. I wish we could say that we could implement these therapies straight across the board and get 100% improvement 100% of the time with all kids. It is just not the reality and to be honest with you that is just not the reality with anything in life. Specifically that is not the reality with anything in medicine. There is always a certain level of uncertainty with different types of therapies that are implemented. And there is always a certain level of non-responders to any particular type of therapy.
However with the majority of biomedical therapies that are available, the things that have stood the test of time or the things that have been around now for many, many years, these things tend to work in great percentages for a wide variety of different kids, from all shapes, sizes and ages. More importantly from my experience they are very, very safe when you compare them to many of the traditional medications that are used, specifically something called Risperdal which is the main medication that is actually FDA approved as a treatment for Autism. When you are talking about dietary intervention or nutritional supplements or methyl B-12 therapy or treating yeast or bacterial issues that are quite common with individuals on the Autism spectrum, they are incredibly safe compared to many of the pharmaceutical medications. Now that is not to say that some kids, or teenagers or adults who are on the Autism spectrum may not need any medication from time to time because clearly behavioral problems, learning difficulties, attention issues can certainly be quite problematic and sometimes medications are needed. But in many cases medication isn’t needed and so actually implementing a variety of different treatments can make a world of difference. Part 2 of the series will cover more information on dietary interventions as well as nutritional supplements.
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Posted on 17 February 2010 by autism
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.
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Posted on 09 December 2009 by autism
Let’s talk a little bit about cod liver oil. Cod liver oil has been a remedy and around the Autism community for quite some time. A lot of kids show benefit to the use of cod liver oil not only because it is a fish oil that has the essential fats that many kids need for brain development such as EPA and DHA. Cod liver oil also has natural vitamin A which is very effective for the health of the eyes.
So why is this important in Autism? Many years ago there was a researcher by the name of Dr. Megson who found that a lot of kids who have visual stimming, whether that is side glancing out of their eyes or flicking their fingers in front of their eyes, just doing things from a visual standpoint, many of these kids benefited from cod liver oil. Sometimes it was a teaspoon or two of cod liver oil a day where their visual stimming would actually improve. It was found that what the natural vitamin A that was found in the cod liver oil was doing was having a positive influence on various receptors in the retina in the eye and the way visual information was being passed from the eye to the visual cortex of the brain.
So as time has gone on, this theory has been proved correct over and over and over for many of these kids where cod liver oil has become a pretty standard treatment for kids on the Autism spectrum particularly if they have had visual stimming issues or side glancing issues or other types of visual problems. You can actually use cod liver oil as a remedy for that. If you look at most supplement programs for kids on the spectrum it will generally include a multi-vitamin, a multi-mineral, a probiotic, some zinc and cod liver oil is usually on that list as well.
Think about cod liver oil as a nice remedy for your child to help with some of the visual issues, visual stimming, etc. The cod liver oil is a common remedy that is used and has a lot of essential fats, it is generally very easy to take. New Beginnings Nutritionals has a couple of different versions of cod liver oil. You can check out their website and I think cod liver oil will be a helpful remedy for your child.
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