The problem is that you can go too low. We know that when your cholesterol is too low it can create problems with hormones in your body, immune function of the body as well as the nervous system. Cholesterol is a balance, just like anything in the body, everything is in the balance. You can have certain things that are too high or if they go too low that can be problematic. A perfect example would be things like sodium and potassium. If sodium levels go too high or potassium levels go too high that is a problem and if they go too low that is not good either. Cholesterol is the same way. Cholesterol is very important for hormone development. Cholesterol is actually the precursor to sex hormones, testosterone, estrogen, progesterone, DHEA. It is also the precursor to cortisol which is a stress hormone in the body which helps to control inflammation and a hormone that helps to control sodium and potassium levels in the body. So cholesterol plays a big role in hormone development.

Cholesterol is also important in immune function and is very critical for brain development. Cholesterol makes up a very large percentage of our cell membrane. The cell membrane is what helps the cells communicate with each other. So the pliability and plasticity if you will or the elasticity of the cell membrane allows for cell to cell communication. Cholesterol is also involved in myelin. Myelin is what helps surround the nerves cells that help with speed of conductivity of electrical impulses between cells.

Cholesterol is very, very important for our overall health. Now what has been discovered, through the work of Dr. Shaw and Great Plains Labs, he found that many people on the Autism spectrum have very low cholesterol. There is a genetic disorder called SLOS which is where these kids lack a particular enzyme which helps them to actually make adequate amounts of cholesterol. It is a genetic disorder and what they have found is that individuals with this disorder SLOS have very, very low cholesterol levels. The levels can be extremely low, sometimes less than 60 or even 50 on the blood tests. Sometimes the levels can get down even lower than that. Kids many times manifest with different types of physical features but behavioral problems too. They tend to show a lot of aggressive behavior, irritability, self injurious behavior, learning problems, cognitive problems, etc.

They have found that certain individuals with SLOS also have Autism. What we have found, what Dr. Shaw has found and what I have found through my practice through testing this is that the majority of the kids on the spectrum that I have seen have low levels of cholesterol as well. Not to the level of the SLOS kids but not to the optimal levels either. The lowest level I have seen in my practice is a child who had a cholesterol level of 65. We are actually looking for a total cholesterol level of 170 to 180 to be optimal. What they have found is that less than 160 can coincide with various symptoms, aggressive behaviors, behavioral problems and learning problems, etc. On average most of the kids I have seen are around 110 to 120. So in that 100 to 130 range with an average of 110 to 120 is where most of the cholesterol levels fall. Typically the only way to get cholesterol levels up was to eat large amounts of eggs which there is about 250 mg of cholesterol per egg. Or you can eat brain which not too many people are doing or eat liver. So for the most part a lot of these kids who have the SLOS condition are having to eat huge amounts of eggs each day. New Beginnings, which is one of the supplement companies that I use commonly in my practice, carries a particular supplement called SONIC Cholesterol. It is 250 mg per capsule of pure cholesterol, non egg derived so it is hypoallergenic.
This is a very effective thing to use to help raise cholesterol levels back up towards those normal ranges. In my practice I have not seen a child go from too low cholesterol to too high cholesterol using this supplement. It is something that transitions over time, usually a couple two, three four months of using this particular supplement to get those levels up. It is not something that changes the levels rapidly on blood tests. You can, however, sometimes see rapid changes in cognitive development and behavioral problems when you implement cholesterol supplementation.

So again, SONIC cholesterol is a particular supplement that you can get now to help raise cholesterol. It is a physician ordered supplement only so New Beginnings will not sell it to the public. It has to have a physician order behind it. It is always a good idea to work with a physician on this just so that you can track your child’s cholesterol levels once they are low and track it every couple of months with blood tests to see how the levels go. As the levels normalize and you reach the 170, 180 mark, the need for aggressive therapy at that point isn’t really warranted. You may continue with some maintenance therapy over time. The cholesterol supplementation is a very, very important therapy and I have seen it and used it in my practice with very good success. One of the things that you have to look for with your kids if you are doing any type of blood testing through a pediatrician, neurologist, etc., have them run a cholesterol panel or what is called a lipid panel. You can see the value of total cholesterol. If it is less than 160 then cholesterol supplementation should be considered at that point.