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Solving Autism Problems
By: drbate
Posted on: 2007-06-11
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Article Summary: Neuroliinal Training and some supplement programs offer new hope to parents of autistic children.
There is no one therapy that does it all. And, to complicate it
further, like most "mental" problems", it's not simple to diagnose.
In the younger ages, it's easily confused with mental retardation,
or brain damage.
What are the known causes of autism? Perhaps the best known today
is the usage of mercury (thimoserol) in infant and childhood
vaccines. Only in the past few years was this practice
discontinued. So, we've literally poisoned millions of children
with good intent! Protecting them from dangerous childhood
diseases has caused much worse problems. (Remember DDT?)
Another well known cause of autism is food sensitivity and allergy.
Virtually every known mental problem may be caused by a normally
harmless allergen - a simple food that has been "recognized" by
that person's immune system as "dangerous".
This seems to be caused by what is called "leaky gut syndrome". A
major theory in this cause is that the malnutrition of the mother
prior to birth and while feeding after birth opens the entrances
from the gut into the portal vein too much in the attempt to obtain
more needed vitamins and minerals and enzymes, etc.
This larger "leaky gut opening" allows larger "particles" thru the
gut walls. Instead of digested single amino acids, or simple
combinations of a few amino acids, longer chains of amino acids
areallowed thru. These larger than "normal" collections of amino
acids may then be recognized by the immune system as possible
viruses, bacteria, or even parasites. This particular collection of
amino acids is now a distinct allergen to that person, even though
it is actually harmless, and may even be "good food".
There are possibly many other minor causes and/or combinations of
causes. We know very little about the evolution of our immune
system, and how allergy/sensitivity is developed.
What can we do to "normalize" autistic children? What are the
answers that we already know?
The Mercury Toxicity Problem
As a former orthomolecular psychologist, mineral toxicity is well
known to me. I've been successful with several schizophrenic
patients that suffered from copper toxicity in particular.
The first step is diagnosis of this problem. Is mineral toxicity
involved? There are several different ways to diagnose mineral
toxicity. In my opinion the best way is a mineral hair analysis.
Most MD's prefer a 24 hour urine collection. Actual blood tests,
urine and saliva tests are not as reliable for mineral toxicity.
It seems that all toxic minerals are stopped from getting into the
brain by the filtering and storage facility of the liver. A large
amount of mercury getting to the brain would be very dangerous, so
the liver stops it and stores it, and then gradually releases as
small amount as possible back into the bloodstream so that it can be
excreted.
Hair is an excretion route, and an inch or so of hair tells a
"history" of mineral excretion over a period of weeks. While hair
analysis isn't very accurate insofar as amount in the body, it's
very accurate as to what's been excreted over time. Blood and other
tests tell what is in the blood stream now, not what is in storage!
A hair analysis would be my first step towards solving the autism
problem. At a cost around $100 it's cheaper than most other tests.
Supposing that the hair analysis came back showing large amounts of
mercury. What to do next? The answer is some form of chelation.
Chelation means "to grab onto". There are several drugs that do
this for minerals. In the blood stream, these drugs (EDTA and
others) literally grab onto minerals, and allow them to exit the
body thru the kidney/urine excretion system. This usually involves
going to a chelation clinic, sitting for an hour or so with a
needle in the arm. It's not that uncomfortable, although a small
child might find it so. This procedure is done several times over
a period of several weeks.
One problem with this is that because the chelation agent (drug)
"claws onto" all minerals in the blood stream, it takes out
essential minerals as well as the toxic ones. So, it becomes very
necessary to supplement the minerals our bodies need for everyday
use. In effect, taking all out, good and bad, and putting back the
good.
It's also not cheap, as it involves "doctor time". And, it should
be noted that it takes a lot of time to get minerals out of the
body. There is no "quick fix", or magic pill. It could take years!
I successfully used a cheap and effective alternate in my practice.
Vitamin C. Vitamin C combines with minerals in the bloodstream
metabolically to form a mineral "Ascorbate" combination that is
also water soluble and passes out thru the same kidney/urine exit.
There are several advantages to using Vitamin C instead of drugs.
It is a natural antibiotic that kills both viruses and bacteria in
the bloodstream. So, people who use it will be healthier than
most, AND they'll be getting rid of toxic minerals at the same time.
The same thing happens as does with drugs. Since vitamin C
combines with ALL minerals, we are taking out the essential ones
along with the toxic ones. So, all the essential ones must be
supplemented daily.
Few people realize the truth about vitamin C today, in spite of the
work done by Linus Pauling, a true genius. The "spin" by
nutritionists and MD's and the RDA has us taking very insufficient
amounts of vitamin C for daily use. Did you know that the
veterinarian RDA for a 150 pound ape is 4000 mg (4 grams) per day?
We humans and other primates such as that ape handle vitamin C
exactly the same. Yet the RDA for us is under 100 mg (0.1 gram).
For schizophrenic adults I worked with in past years, I used 10
grams per day in split doses. For these patients, their schizoid
symptoms seemed to disappear within two weeks or so, but
surprisingly, a six month hair analysis showed even higher levels of
copper. Carl Pfeiffer, a mentor, and a good friend, explained that
the body is now allowing more toxic material out of storage into
the bloodstream so that it can be excreted safely. Most goes out
via the kidney/urine pathway, and also hair. To my surprise, this
increase in hair levels was actually good.
Allergy/Sensitivity Problem
The "leaky gut syndrome" is becoming a huge health problem, albeit
unknown to most people and even most physicians. It's a function
of our culture moving more and more away from healthful foods
containing good nutrition and moving more and more to sweet and
pre-processed foods without good balanced nutrition.
Because we have evolved requiring certain amounts and balances of
vitamins, minerals, amino acids, fatty acids, and enzymes derived
from what we eat, we, as a culture are not getting even close to
sufficient nutrition for good health without taking vitamin mineral
supplements. One theory of "leaky gut syndrome" is that each
generation, being malnourished, has to find a way to get more
necessary nutrients, and allowing more amino acids and other
needed nutrients thru the walls of the intestines, this is
accomplished.
There are several possible answers to this particular problem:
1. Giving the person with the problem digestive enzymes. This
helps the digestive system do a better job, breaking up proteins
into amino acids easier to digest as small peptides and individual
amino acids. This solves part of the problem at least, especially
in those cases where digestive problems are present. Of course,
protease enzyme is the most desired.
2. Avoiding those foods that are most likely the allergens that
the immune system has "decided" are enemies. This is the basis of
the milk free and gluten free diets that are popular, and have
proved of value for some autistic cases. (I personally prefer the
Caveman Diet.)
3. Allergy search and solution. The only really effective "test
and cure" system is the End-Point-Titration method. This not only
finds both allergies and sensitivities, but also provides a
neutralizing amount. Unfortunately, the costs are prohibitive,
ranging in the tens of thousands of dollars.
4. EEG Biofeedback (aka Neurofeedback or Neurotherapy) has long
been used with ADD/ADHD successfully. Dr von Hilsheimer in Orlando
has successfully worked with several autistic children using this
therapy. He has taken well over 200 sessions with several
patients. The problem is that it is very expensive as it requires
a lot of "doctor time".
5. A new therapy called Neuroliminal Brain Wave Training was
invented by me in 2004. It does exactly what EEG Biofeedback does,
namely change brain wave strengths (and in the case of autism
patients, increases brain blood flow (similar to HEG biofeedback).
Besides being as successful as EEG BF, it actually has several
other advantages for autism cases:
a. Very affordable cost - a fraction of EEG BF, a viable
alternative to the dangerous drugs used for the ADD-autism
continuum. Mid and low income families simply cannot afford EEG
BF, leaving the only real choice the dangerous drugs.
b. Very simple to use at home. No messing around with wires
and sticky paste or even bulky helmets. Even the "worst" autistic
kids can be trained without problems. Simply play a soothing CD
while sleeping.
c. No motivation required to simply go to sleep. With ADD/ADHD
and high functioning autistics, motivation is a critical factor in
success.
In a recent test of 9 autistic children from 3 to 11 years of age,
over an eight week period, ALL nine improved, some dramatically,
and some slowly. This is exactly what would be expected if using
EEG and HEG BF. All parents put up a $100 deposit, and if no
improvement was found, they could get that back. All preferred to
keep it and continue training.
Those are the options I see at present. Autism is increasing as
our nutrition is decreasing, and more and more toxins are used for
good reasons that have bad effects.
If I had a child who was autistic, or even slow to develop in any
way, what would I do?
1. I'd start Neuroliminal Brain Wave Training immediately.
2. I'd do a hair analysis to see if mercury is at toxic levels,
and if so, I'd start my child on 5-10 grams of vitamin C per day.
3. I'd try a Caveman Diet for a week or so to try to determine if
common allergens such as milk or grains are a major culprit.
4. I'd investigate digestive enzymes for autism on the web, and
start using them.
The belt and suspender theory seems to me to be the best way - do
all of the above as soon as you know about the problem and possible
solutions. The sooner the autistic child is started on all these
therapies the closer to "normal" they usually become.
There is no magic pill. All these programs take time. Magic pills
usually aren't anyway, and all drugs have serious side effects for
some at least. What I have outlined does not in any way.
Unfortunately, the physician's dictum "do no harm" is no longer the
case.
Dr Bate is a retired Orthomolecular Psychologist, and is considered by
many as a pioneer. He is the inventor and patent holder of Neuroliminal
Brain Wave Training. Testing over 3 years has shown that using
Neuroliminal Training CD's Training produces similar results to EEG
Article Source: http://www.upublish.info
About the Author:
drbate
Dr Bate is a retired Orthomolecular Psychologist, and is considered by
many as a pioneer. He is the inventor and patent holder of Neuroliminal
Brain Wave Training. Testing over 3 years has shown that using
Neuroliminal Training CD's Training produces similar results to EEG
biofeedback at a fraction of the cost!