Autism is what we call a “syndrome”, rather than a disease. A syndrome is a pattern of symptoms. Of course, diseases have patterns of symptoms too, but diseases have identified causes or specific abnormal biological patterns. In other words, not only don’t we know what causes autism, we can’t confidently describe a single specific biological abnormality. At least on the biological pattern, I think we are getting close (glutamates and cytokines). No one likes uncertainty. The fear of uncertainty grows when the victims are our children. Even worse is the present circumstance. The rising rate of autism has us all concerned. For generations, the medical community has blamed parents. Doctors used to blame emotionally cold “refrigerator mothers” for their children’s problems. Observations that autistic tendencies ran in families has also led experts to blame parents, but for their bad genes, not their personalities or parenting styles. I have never felt comfortable with any of these explanations. In truth, these explanations instead seemed idiotic and demeaning. The most violently dysfunctional or neglectful households certainly produce children with emotional problems, but they don’t create autistic children. If it is simply that genetics are to blame, why is the rate soaring? The answers have to be more complex. A new study has given us some very important information, supporting my common sense opinion. Researchers analyzed the entire genome of 340 people in 85 families where at least two children had autism. The presumption of the autism-is-genetic school of thought was that the children in these autism prone families would share the genes causing their autism. To clarify, I don’t mean children from different families would share the same genes. That would be too simple. I mean the assumption was that the autistic children in the same family would share the same autism-associated genes. The results shocked many. The autistic children of the same two parents seldom shared any genes linked to autism (31%). What does that mean? It means that, although the genes of a certain individual might make that child more likely to develop autism, something else has to be the trigger. My money is on an environmental factor. The leading candidates are organochlorine pesticides, phthalates, glyphosate (ROUNDUP) and heavy metals like mercury. A large study conducted by Harvard and the MIND Institute at UC Davis found a correlation between prenatal toxin exposures and autism. Autism was identified by Dr. Leo Kanner at Johns Hopkins in 1943. There is evidence suggesting that many of his patients had mercury poisoning. This important study adds to...
As I have written before, Vitamin D has become boring to me. That is not because it doesn’t do anything. To the contrary, it is precisely because it is so vitally important and effective. Maintaining a good level of vitamin D is fundamental to good health, no matter what health problems a person does or doesn’t have. Now and then, I find patients who haven’t grasped how simple and important Vitamin D is to health, so here is a reminder, appropriate to the season. Among the “everything” that vitamin D impacts is brain development and function. Consequently, rising rates of autism spectrum disorder and the “normalcy” of vitamin D deficiency, demand our attention. Are they linked? Evidence suggests they are. Several years back, studies in Sweden and Minnesota found that Somali immigrants suffered rates of autism and autism spectrum disorder much, much higher than the local caucasian children. The Somali communities in both countries were understandably concerned but also surprised by this illness, one they had never experienced before immigrating. In Minnesota, the Somali community refers to autism as the “Minnesota Disease”. In Sweden, they call it the “Swedish Disease”. The reason some of us have lighter skin than others appears to be determined by how many generations our ancestors have lived in the cooler, darker regions of the world. Lighter skin allows our bodies to make more vitamin D with little sunshine. Although there are many other differences experienced by these Somali children, particularly diet changes, exposure to new environmental chemical toxins and severe social stress, the drop in circulating vitamin D is profound. Since then other studies have added compellingly to what we already knew about vitamin D deficiency as a risk factor for autism spectrum disorder. The new publications, confirm the association. In 2010 the University of Minnesota and the CDC, with support from Autism Speaks, studied Minnesota children, seeking links between ASD and vitamin D. They found that white children in Minnesota had a rate of autism nearly three times the national average and that the rate in Somali children was higher still. Untidy as all such research is , that survey found that other black and hispanic children had lower rates of autism spectrum disorders than either the white or Somali children. As the study was focused on comparing Somali and white children, it is possible that the investigators’ focused increased the likelihood of autism spectrum disorder diagnosis in white and Somali children. Most notable to me is that ALL children there, white, black, hispanic, and Somali...
A new, very large, well-designed and important study linking specific prenatal maternal environmental exposures to later autism, conducted by researchers from Harvard and the MIND Institute in Davis, has just been published. Here is the link to the article. The study of 325 autistic individuals and over 22,000 healthy children, compared data about environmental levels of toxins possibly linked to impaired brain and nervous system development. They found a direct correlation between how high recorded toxin levels were at the date and location of each child’s birth and their risk of developing autism. One study limitation was the “street light” scenario, where the drunk person is looking under a street light for his keys. He may or may not have lost them around there but it is the only place he could see them in the dark. We can’d find a connection when we don’t have data, so while other toxins could be just as important or even more so, we can’t see that. I would very much like to see these data reanalyzed incorporating total mercury exposure from the number of vaccines each child received. The argument is getting stronger and stronger that environmental exposures are very important. The most consistent biochemical difference between children with autism and other children is a deficiency in a metal-detoxifying pathway involving glutathione. Many of the linked chemicals are detoxified by this pathway and for many years vaccine preservatives were similar chemicals. The most compelling studies suggesting a possible association between vaccines and autism evaluated the total number of mercury-containing vaccines, not one specific vaccine or another. One study showed that women who took iron for several months before and after the beginning of pregnancy were 40% less likely to give birth to a child, later to develop autism. Minerals and metals like iron, compete with each other for absorption. Taking iron would partially block the absorption and potential damage caused by toxic metals. I do not believe these facts are all coincidences. Certainly more careful investigation is warranted. Avoiding excessive use of vaccinations, especially those with these preservatives is obvious. So too is aggressively treating iron deficiency in women in their childbearing years and helping them otherwise avoid and remove any known toxins. ...
The results of a recent trial were disappointing to some but I think that disappointment is unwarranted. Subjects were given 1000 iu of D3 daily. This dose did not reduce their body weight. That would have been nice for those wanting to lose weight. However, the subjects did significantly lower body fat and abdominal fat, both of which are more meaningfully connected to your health. Also, as many of you I am sure recognize, 1000 iu/day is pathetic. Just to reach a normal blood level, most of my patients have to take a minimum of 3-5,000 iu/day. So, an adequate dose might well have done more. That would have been in keeping with numerous other studies linking elevated weight with low vitamin D status. A recent study in DERMATO-ENDOCRINOLGY authored by vitamin D pioneer William Grant adds to the evidence linking low vitamin D with autism. Children living in sunnier states developed autism roughly half as often as children living in the cold, dark northern states. With their darker, less vitamin D efficient skin, African Americans in the northern states were 40% more likely to be diagnosed with autism than white children in the same states, which parallels their reduced blood levels of vitamin D....
The mission of this site is to inform and empower you. Representing the sum of my experience as well as the latest clinical research, my perspective is often somewhat at odds with the simplistic articles appearing in the media. Applying the information here you can become healthier, stronger and hopefully happier. Look around and let me know what you think.
