Autism Disorders / Attention Deficit
Brain related disorders seem to be on the rise over the past 10 to 20 years in both the adult and child population. A variety of effects have been seen , from the mild to severe, and can be extremely frustrating.
Whether involving a little memory loss or poor concentration, to the more severe dementias and Autistic Syndromes, people are often left with a sense of despair.
Unfortunately traditional medicine, with its desire to create medication for every possible symptom, has once again fallen short of help or hope because of its displaced focus. There has been little advance made in the prescription realm because there is no real attempt to understand the causes of dysfunction.
In the world of Complementary , Nutritional and what I describe as Comprehensive Medicine, we search for and find causes of illness and therapeutic options that enable understanding an excellent outcome.
For many years with my patients , I have been constantly updating protocols to maximize results in those that have brain related disorders.
- Fatty Acid analysis
- Amino Acid Analysis
- Vitamin and Mineral Analysis ( longstanding eval)
- Comprehensive Hormonal Analysis
- Heavy Metal Analysis
- Digestive and Absorptive evaluation with Heidelberg Analysis
- Neurotransmitter testing
- DAN Protocol
- Correction of vitamin deficiency with oral supplementation
Including digestive enzyme therapy , Tailored Amino Acid therapy- Chelation Therapy
- Secretin Therapy
Autism: It’s Not Just in the Head
The devastating derangements of autism also show up in the gut and in the immune system. That unexpected discovery is sparking new treatments that target the body in addition to the brain.
“There were days I considered shutting the garage door and letting the car run until I was dead,” says Colorado mom Erin Griffin, of the time nine years ago when she learned that both her boys—not just her firstborn—suffered from autism. Brendan, her angular, dark-haired older child, was diagnosed in 1996 at age 4. Kyle, her round-faced, hazel-eyed younger son, was diagnosed in 1998 at age 2½.
But Kyle and Brendan’s story does not have a tragic ending. After interventions that included occupational and speech therapy, as well as dietary change and nutritional supplements, both boys improved significantly. Their tale of slow, steady recovery reflects the changing landscape of autism today. The condition, traditionally seen as genetic and originating in the brain, is starting to be viewed in a broader and very different light, as a possible immune and neuroinflammatory disorder. As a result, autism is beginning to look like a condition that can, in some and perhaps many cases, be successfully treated.
That is astonishing news about a disorder that usually makes headlines because it seems to be growing rapidly more widespread. In the United States, the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders has increased about tenfold over the past two decades, and a 2003 report by the Centers for Disease Control suggests that as many as one in every 166 children is now on the autism spectrum, while another one in six suffers from a neurodevelopmental delay. This explosion of cases has raised countless questions: Is the increase real, is it the result of increased awareness and expanding diagnostic categories, is it due to environmental changes, or all of the above? There may be no single answer. But the public concern about autism has caught the ear of federal lawmakers. The Combating Autism Act, approved last December, authorized nearly $1 billion over the next four years for autism-related research and intervention.
This document is intended to provide a simple summary of the major biomedical treatments available to help children and adults with autism/Asperger’s. Biomedical treatments will not help every child, but they have helped thousands of children improve, sometimes dramatically.
This summary is primarily based on the excellent book “Autism: Effective Biomedical Treatments” by Jon Pangborn, Ph.D., and Sidney Baker, MD,. published by the Autism Research Institute. That book provides much more depth on the testing and treatments which are briefly summarized in this document. Another good source of information is “Children with Starving Brains,” by Jaquelyn McCandless, MD. After reading this document, it is highly recommended that you go to those sources for more information.
This summary generally follows the DAN! philosophy, which involves trying to treat the underlying causes of the symptoms of autism, based on medical testing, scientific research, and clinical experience, with an emphasis on nutritional interventions. Many of the DAN! treatments have been found by listening to parents and physicians.
