There is Hope for Autism Spectrum Disorders: Reaching for Recovery with the Biomedical Approach (June 2009)

Introduction

The statistics are staggering: autism spectrum disorders are being diagnosed today at a rate of 1 in 150 children in the United States, with similar statistics being reported in other areas of the world. Autism has become the fastest growing developmental disability, and more children will be diagnosed with autism this year than cancer, diabetes, Downs Syndrome and AIDS combined.

Autism is a developmental disorder that is characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and restricted and repetitive behavior, signs which typically begin before a child is three years old. Until recently, the conventional medical assumption ruled: autism was as a brain disorder and could not be cured or reversed, and treatment for children with it should be focused on training and special education. Though known essentials such as speech as well as occupational therapies and special classes do help many a child with ASD child to learn and develop, a growing number of concerned parents of ASD children have wondered about the other symptoms of autism, the biological problems that go hand in hand with it and are often left unaddressed by conventional medicine, including poor eye contact, chronic constipation and diarrhea, the sleep problems and the eating problems, to name a few. These concerns are frequently left un-dealt with to and the collective symptoms, a sign of a deeper imbalance which lies at the root of many children's developmental delay.

A Biomedical Approach

Back in 1995, a group of about 30 selected physicians and scientists convened in Dallas , Texas , members of the growing group who began to challenge the notion of autism as a diagnosis from which there was no recovery. The group, who soon to be known as the Autism Research Institute (ARI)'s original DAN! (Defeat Autism Now!) doctors, comprised the early movement which worked to find alternative treatments for autism, and were committed to educating parents and clinicians regarding biomedically-based research, appropriate testing and safe and effective interventions for autism, and to share that information and find medical treatment options as quickly as possible. The result of the meeting was a protocol which today includes a variety of interventions, many of them nutrition-based, which are individually customized and in some ASD children, have produced dramatic results in their development.

The Root Cause?

The DAN! approach is based on the concept that for most, autism is the result of a genetic predisposition, combined with cascade of assaults on the body and brain plus an overload of environmental toxins which may include antibiotic exposure, chemical pollutants, vaccines or others. Studies by world renowned biochemists have shown that many people with ASD and other chronic disorders have abnormalities in their sulfation and methylation systems, which are involved in the body's detoxification process and this, along with the burden of environmental and toxicity and digestive dysfunction, can contribute to biochemical imbalance and many of the symptoms we know as "autistic." The goal of the DAN! approach is to find and work to reverse or heal these imbalances; through the appropriate use of vitamins (i.e. B6), minerals (i.e. magnesium) and essential fatty acid supplementation, digestive enzymes, probiotics and even chelation therapy (see below), a growing number of patients have seen developmental breakthroughs in a variety of symptoms, including speech, eye contact, socialization and more.

Gastrointestinal Health

As previously mentioned, many special needs and ASD children tend to have problems with digestion as well as food sensitivities, and many are found to have an overgrowth of yeast (candida) in their intestines. According to the biomedical approach, these issues are signs of intestinal damage, often the result of an overuse of medications such as antibiotics, combined with a poor diet. In addition, a lack of adequate digestive enzymes to break down food proteins, allows undigested foods to travel through the intestinal barrier, passing through a "leaky gut"(permeable intestinal lining) which can play a major role in food allergies and in food sensitivity (see below).

The biomedical approach sees "healing the gut" as the basis of good health and developmental progress, and one of the first steps in helping an ASD child is assessing the health of his or her digestion and correcting any imbalances that are present. Many parents find that healing digestive imbalances alone allows a developmentally delayed child to progress in a dramatic way.

Special Diets and Food Allergies and Sensitivities

Many families have heard of or done a trial of the gluten, casein (and soy) free diet, and a significant group of children have seen huge gains with it. According to one ARI study, out of 2,208 individuals on the GFCF diet, 65% showed an improvement in their symptoms. The diet is often the very first recommendation made and it is considered a DAN! cornerstone, and the reasons behind the diet are many; some ASD children lack the enzyme that allows them to break down the peptides from gluten, casein and soy and the improperly digested proteins cross the intestinal membrane, travel in the blood, pass through the blood-brain barrier, interfering with neurotransmission. When removed from the diet, many children show an improvement in their attention, socialization and speech.

Although there are a variety of diets which can be used as part of a biomedical approach, including elimination diets, the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD), the Low Oxalate Diet and the candida diet, the most commonly used is the gluten-free, casein-free (and soy free) diet. A number of children with ASD also suffer from excess food allergies and sensitivities which can be assessed using IgE and IgG blood tests (histamine-related reactions and delayed hypersensitivity); eliminating the offending foods is akin to removing a block on their road to healthy development.

Heavy Metals and the Role of Vaccines

As a result of the impaired detoxification pathways mentioned before, the hair, urine and feces analyses of children with ASD often reveal significantly higher levels of toxic heavy metals such as lead, arsenic and particularly mercury. It is known that the accumulation of heavy metals can damage organs such as the brain, nervous system, liver, kidneys and hormone glands. However, testing for the presence of these metals is difficult, since often they are no longer circulating in the blood and are instead bound to the tissues and organs they are damaging. DAN! doctors often use a chelation challenge test to identify the presence of toxic metals, comparing a baseline urine sample to a sample taken after the administration of a chelating agent, which pulls out heavy metals from the tissues. For many children, speech and development are greatly improved after heavy metals such as mercury are removed with the help of chelation.

Is This Right Approach Right For My Child?

There are a number of additional therapies utilized as part of the DAN! protocol including specialized vitamins and minerals, anti-viral therapy, low dose naltrexone, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, etc, and there is no one absolute "protocol" for treatments, as every child's case is unique. The greatest successes occur when individuality is emphasized through treatments, and a good practitioner should always give you a choice when it comes to testing and treatments and protocol. Many interventions are so safe, in fact, that there is little no reason not to try them in trial doses (i.e. essential fatty acids). Tests are also available for diagnostic purposes, but with many of the vitamin/mineral interventions, the only way to know if it will help your child is to try it. Remember that you should always seek the guidance of a qualified health professional before trying any new treatments with your child.

In closing, due to its holistic and individualized goal of restoring biochemical balance to heal the "disease," a biomedical protocol holds much promise for the helping and healing ASD children. As we advance in treatment and knowledge, it is important to remember that every child is unique and that the purpose of the approach is to give each child the best chance to maximize his or her development in the journey towards recovery.

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Roni Enten is a Certified Nutrition Specialist (CNS) who received her BSN in Natural Health and Nutrition in 2001 from Bastyr University , one of the world's leading academic centers for the natural health sciences and her MSc in Nutrition from the Hebrew University . Together with Dr. David Berger, a Board Certified Pediatrician, one of the few medical practitioners in the world that offers individualized holistic treatment plans prepared by a Board Certified Pediatrician, Roni offers holistic and biomedical nutrition services for autistic spectrum and special needs children as well as adults with neurobehavioral and other chronic health conditions, using the DAN! (Defeat Autism Now!) protocol/biomedical approach. For more information, visit www.ronienten.com or contact her at 08 946 1497.