Posted on 06 September 2011 by autism
Self-injury behavior is quite common in autism. I have seen some serious cases where individuals on the autism-spectrum have damaged fingers and hands (from biting) and created deep bruises (from head banging and facial slapping) from self-abusive behavior. There are several theories as to why this occurs, and some resources that can help.
The lack of effective communication skills is likely one of the major reasons for self-injury behavior. The significant language deficits in autism often lead to frustration in a person not being able to communicate their wants or being able to get their point across. The self-abusive behavior such as self-biting can be a way of releasing their frustration. Self-injury can also be a way for an individual on the autism-spectrum to get attention. For example, head-banging or scratching until bleeding occurs will usually draw a parent, therapist or care givers immediate attention. Learning to recognize the different patterns of self-abusive behavior, i.e. the difference between frustration over the inability to communicate versus attention seeking can help in alleviating some of the stress that autistic individuals feel.
Anxiety can be another cause of self-injury behavior. Anxiety in general is high in autism, and if accompanied by self-biting, hitting, slapping, and scratching recognizing the pattern that leads to anxiety, i.e. social gatherings, crowds – then steps can be taken to reduce stressful situations or various treatment intervention, i.e. medication, supplements (GABA, theanine) can be implemented to help ease anxiety.
Recently, studies have uncovered that biochemical changes can occur that contribute to our understanding as to why certain individuals on the autism-spectrum will self-injure themselves. Various chemicals called endorphins are released which influence brain chemistry leading to relief of pain and frustration. In some people these chemicals have a natural calming effect. The improved feelings of calmness may be short-lived, but it does occur. Unfortunately, repeated need to self-abuse is prevalent to induce the endorphin release again. In essence, self-abusive behavior becomes addictive in attempts to get a fix on natural endorphin release for improved sense of temporary well-being.
Some authorities feel that ignoring self-injurious behavior is preferred, but this can be a difficult thing to do for any parent or caregiver. Other reports that learning communication and behavior therapy, possibly along with medication and/or biomedical intervention (diet, supplements) is a better way to proceed. For all family members who are involved in the care of a person with autism learning techniques through communication training is very important. Working with a trained behavior therapist who can help decipher what is causing the self-abusive tendencies can go a long way in eliminating or reducing this troubling behavior.
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Posted on 06 September 2011 by autism
The organic acid test is essential to analyze for yeast, and bacterial overgrowth. It is also helpful to assess the level of oxalate excretion, and other factors related to glutathione and antioxidant status, serotonin metabolism, quinolinic acid production (a marker for potential brain toxicity) as well as markers for in-born errors of metabolism including oxalate and amino acid dysfunction.
Case History Yeast and Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD-NOS)
Mark was one of my first ASD cases back in 1998. He was a 2 year old boy diagnosed with PPD-NOS (not otherwise specified). His development was typical of the history listed above. Multiple ear infections had led to repeated antibiotics for months on end. Loose stools were the norm as he struggled to maintain eye contact and learn in school. I ordered an Organic Acid Test (OAT) from Great Plains laboratory and discovered a massive amount of yeast metabolites – arabinose being the most common and quite elevated in Mark. Being new to biomedicine for autism all I knew (back in 1998) to do was make a recommendation for a gluten/casein-free diet and antifungal therapy. The anti-fungal medication was called Nystatin. Mark’s mother also implemented some basic supplements including a multi-vitamin and mineral, probiotics, and digestive enzymes.
After 18 months of continuous use of Nystatin, dietary modification and general nutritional support Mark was mainstreamed into regular school and continued to do well. His repeat OAT finally showed no yeast overgrowth. This case illustrated for me the powerful changes that could happen for an ASD child with basic dietary intervention and prolonged antifungal therapy.
Yeast has a tremendous effect on health. What are common in children with yeast overgrowth are behaviors that suggest dissociation, withdrawal, and aloofness. The most common behaviors that I see most commonly attributable to a yeast overgrowth problem are the following:
Poor eye contact.
Increased self-stimulatory behavior – fixating on spinning objects, odd hand movements including and finger-flicking in front of eyes.
Toe-walking.
Becoming withdrawn.
“Silly, goofy and/or giddy” – but this is not a behavior that involves other people. The child becomes silly, goofy and/or giddy to themselves. Parents will often describe that their child appears drunk.
Increased sugar craving.
Overall increased sensory seeking behavior, i.e. pressure
Other parents can describe more subtle differences, but those listed above are fairly common manifestations. What is most prevalent with “yeasty” behavior is a giddiness that mimics drugged or drunk behavior. When they are put on medications such as Nystatin or natural remedies, i.e. oregano oil, and/or grapefruit seed extract these behaviors improve.
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Posted on 06 September 2011 by autism
Everyone experiences stress in their lives. What separates one person from the next is how their body adapts to stress. Not all stress is bad, as stress can have its benefits in helping the body react, grow and adapt such as building a vibrant immune system. However, chronic stress can lead to long-term health consequences. Stress can come in many forms. Environmental changes such as cold, heat and extreme weather is a form of stress. Foods and food allergies are a form of stress. Mental and emotional factors are a major cause of stress in many people. Parents of autistic children experience a tremendous amount of mental and emotional stress in having to take care of a special needs child.
Vaccines are a form of stress that pushes the immune system to produce protective immune chemicals against vaccine related illnesses. Unfortunately, at times these reactions go array and lead to biochemical imbalances in the body and brain. Hormone imbalances, digestive problems, immune system dysfunction, metabolic disorders can all occur from a chronic burden of stress. Even children respond to stress in similar ways as adults with many of them experiencing mental/emotional changes such as depression, anxiety, and fear.
Children on the autism-spectrum experience stress in a profound way. Cognitive decline, lack of speech, anxiety, lack of social connections, and other behavioral manifestations are a form of mental/emotional stress. In my experience autism-spectrum children are dealing with a lot of physical challenges as well, many of which contribute and worsen their already declining cognitive abilities. Digestive disorders like diarrhea, constipation, yeast and bacterial infections cause a tremendous amount of toxicity in the body. This can cause pain, headaches and a feeling of overall sickness. Immune dysfunction in many children predisposes them to opportunistic infections such as viral, bacterial and yeast imbalances.
Food allergies and sensitivities play a big role in chronic illness. With autism many individuals are burdened with multiple food sensitivities. This leads to bloating, gas, diarrhea, constipation, and malabsorption – all common in autism. Malabsorption (difficulty in absorbing nutrients from the digestive tract into the blood stream) leads partly to the epidemic of nutritional deficiencies seen often in autistic children. Some of these nutritional deficiencies like iron and B-vitamins can lead to anemia causing fatigue, blood cell abnormalities and immune problems. In short, most autism-spectrum children are dealing with various forms of stress in their lives, and much of this stress is interfering with their ability to get well.
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Posted on 06 September 2011 by autism
Leaky gut syndrome is a phenomenon in which micro-particles, i.e. food fragments, viruses, bacteria and yeast proteins, and other bio-toxic material are leeched into the blood stream from a breakdown of the intestinal mucosal barrier. With respect to autism, leaky gut is thought to contribute to unwanted molecules (food, bacteria, yeast, etc.) permeating through the intestinal wall and cross-reacting with the immune system (leading to increased susceptibility for allergies) and the brain (leading to problems in cognitive function, language, and behavior), as well as leading to brain inflammation.
Leaky gut syndrome is detrimental for a person’s health because toxic substances which are normally bound in the fecal matter making its way through the digestive system for eventual elimination, now has access through a permeable mucosal membrane leading to physical stress throughout the body. For example, a food protein like gliadin (found in wheat) may trigger brain chemical reactions altering attention, mood, sleep and pain response. If the substance is from an intestinal pathogen such as a bacteria it can trigger immune reactions leading to autoimmune disorders. Autoimmune is the process of the body’s immune system attacking itself and it is known that various infectious proteins can trigger this response, i.e. bacterial toxins leading to reactive arthritis (formally called Reiter’s Syndrome) or PANDAS – a autoimmune post-streptococcal infection condition triggered by group A beta-hemolytic streptococcus.
What causes leaky gut syndrome is not entirely known. In autism, part of the issue could be gluten sensitivity. Gluten is a protein found in wheat that certain individuals have a difficult time digesting. With the inability to breakdown gluten in the gut an inflammatory reaction is created which weakens the gut wall. Inside the gut wall are millions of tiny cells that are responsible for absorbing nutrients from our diet, as well as releasing enzymes to help breakdown the food stuff in the gut. The spaces between cells are vulnerable through something called a tight junction. A tight junction is material that holds cells together. Think of it like mortar between bricks in a wall. If the mortar breaks down than overtime the bricks collapse and the wall falls over. The same thing can happen in the digestive system with the tight junctions breaking down and the space between cells becoming more “leaky.”
Other potential contributing factors to leaky gut are alcohol, caffeine, certain drugs like ibuprofen and diets high in carbohydrates. In autism, a diet called the Specific Carbohydrate Diet is used to eliminate the build-up of inflammation in the gut from hard to digest carbohydrates, i.e. corn, potatoes, rice. The results with this diet can be remarkable in helping autism-spectrum individuals improve their health and overall cognitive abilities. For parents with autistic children, as well as doctors and researchers looking at the role of leaky gut in autism, there is always more to understand with respects to causes and treatment. Simply understanding that leaky gut exists in autism is important and will help everyone involved in the care of an autistic individual better understand some of the reasons behind their health and cognitive challenges.
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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 18 July 2011 by autism
I wanted to introduce you to Susan Lynn Perry. Susan is a mother of a child with Autism and she has been hosting a radio program now, something called the Mother Cub show and you can find out more information if you go to her blogsite at mothercub.com. She has also has a cook book, she’s written a number of other books as well, useful articles. And I am a biomedical specialist guest that comes on her show once a month, generally the last Wednesday of every month. We have a discussion about biomedical intervention, whether it is yeast problems or gut problems or supplements, we’ve talked about biofilms, we’ve talked about heavy metal toxicity and testing, chelation therapy and a host of other topics. Susan is great and the information she provides, not only when I am on the segment or on her show, but other guests that she has as well, I think you will find it very, very useful. So again find out about her show, it is called the Mother Cub show. Go to her website at mothercub.com, sign up as a guest, check out the show, it occurs once a well, I think you will find it very helpful.
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Posted on 12 May 2011 by autism
In our first article we discussed the yeast overgrowth that can come in the spring time and why this happens. Now we will talk about more ways to address this if it happens. The other thing is you can do in autism treatment some different types of supplements to help if your child is susceptible to allergies, things like vitamin C, stinging nettles, bromelain, quercetin, N-acetyl cysteine, can be helpful. New Beginnings Nutritionals carries something called an A and I formula which is an allergen inflammation formula you can go right to their website, order that and it has dosing recommendations right there. That can be something that can be used not only for acute allergies but for maintenance therapy too.
Autism Treatment for Spring Allergy and Regression
If yeast is occurring, then of course then doing the things that we know for yeast, prescription wise Nystatin, Diflucan, Lamisil, Nizoral, etc. of course you need a prescription for those. Or there’s natural remedies too. Again New Beginnings carries a yeast formula packet which is a combination of four different remedies you can rotate anywhere from five to ten drops twice daily for five days and then rotate through those different supplements. Grapefruit seed extract five to eight drops two to three times a day can be helpful for yeast. Candex is another type of supplement, it’s an enzyme that helps to break down the cell wall of yeast, there’s a combination of things. I tend to see good results with things like grapefruit seed extract and the yeast formula packet that New Beginnings carries.
If the supplements are not holding the allergies then sometimes even just a short course of an allergy medication, Claritin over the counter can be helpful Singulair as a prescription can be helpful, you can talk to your pediatrician or family physician about that. Even if it’s just for four to six weeks to get through the real intense period of spring. So again, in autism treatment in spring, it can bring on yeast behavior, I’ve seen it I’m already seeing it again this year, just be aware of it.
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Posted on 12 May 2011 by autism
Autism Treatment – Well, it’s that time of year again, spring is upon us and for many kids on the Autism spectrum, spring brings on yeast. It’s interesting, I’ve seen this pattern over the past many years where kids who are susceptible to yeast overgrowth or they have a yeast overgrowth issue and it’s been well controlled, whether through supplements or medications, all of a sudden spring hits, the pollens are out, the flowers are blooming and all of a sudden kids start to regress into yeast behavior, the goofiness, the giddiness, the silliness, the inappropriate laughter, the self stimulatory behavior just odd types of things that we often associate with yeast overgrowth come about.
Explanation of Autism Treatment with Spring Allergies and Regression
Now why exactly is this happening? It’s pretty difficult to know exactly what’s going on but the suspicion is that when you have an increase of allergy in the body you’re obviously going to have an increase in immune activity to those allergens, whether it’s a pollen, whether it’s a grass, whatever it may be. If you have an underlying yeast issue with your child then essentially what’s happening is there’s a bit of a shift that’s occurring in the immune system whether it’s systemically or it’s localized in the intestinal tract or the mucosal lining of the sinuses or nose but it has a systemic effect. Once there’s that increase in immune activity in some respects the yeast can take advantage of that type of situation and many times they start to overgrow and as they overgrow, they increase their metabolic activity their biotoxins are released and kids just start to cycle again into yeast behavior.
So some things that you can do is first off as autism treatment, watch for it. If you’re in a part of the country here all of a sudden it’s pretty cold then all of a sudden it’s warm again real quickly, watch to see if you’re seeing any type of yeast behavior. Make sure, too, when the weather gets warmer, many of us are outside, we start having family and friends over at the house, we’re starting to do more picnics and many times that can be an increased consumption of sugary foods and juices and soda pop and whatnot for some kids so that may need to be curtailed.
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