Autism Society of America
7910 Woodmont Avenue Suite 300
Bethesda, MD 20814-3067
Web: www.autism-society.org Phone: 800.328.8476
©2006 Autism Society of America
We’re Loaded with Toxins: Analyzing the Toxic Body Burden of Americans
By Judy Chinitz Gorman
The Environmental Working Group (EWG), a nonprofit organization, has taken on a huge project:
analyzing the toxic “body burden” of Americans. What they have found is the stuff of which nightmares are made. The researchers tested for 525 toxins (analyzing subgroups of toxins in several different studies) and found 455 different toxins in their research subjects. On average, participants’ bodies contained 60 toxins that could be detrimental to the stomach or intestines, 57 that could affect the health
of the reproductive system, and 52 that could affect the brain and nervous system. To obtain this information the EWG tested the blood, urine, breast milk and umbilical cord blood of 72 randomly selected subjects. The toxins found in these subjects’ bodies ranged from polybrominated diphenyl ethers, which are flame retardants found in furniture foam, computers and TVs (known to adversely affect brain development and the thyroid), to the heavy metals such as methylmercury, arsenic, lead and cadmium (which are particularly dangerous to infants, fetuses and children, and are known to cause cancer, a range of chronic illnesses and even death).
Perhaps most frightening of all is that 256 toxins known to cause birth defects and developmental delays were found, an average of 51 of these toxins per person. We know that fetuses and children can be critically damaged even by low levels of exposures to many of the toxins found.
The EWG also conducted a study in 2005 to assess the “body burden” of newborns. They tested umbilical cord blood from 10 randomly selected infants and found that an average of 200 industrial chemicals and pollutants had crossed the placenta. The list includes substances such as mercury, pesticides and perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs), which are the active ingredients or breakdown products of Teflon, Scotchgard and other fabric and carpet protectors, and food wrap coatings. All of these are
linked to birth defects and developmental issues, as well as to cancer.
“Yes, this can seem very depressing and, yes, it is alarming. But the good news is that at least now science is moving in the right direction,” says Lauren Sucher, EWG’s director of public affairs. “Twenty years ago we didn’t even know that chemicals could cross the placenta. Now we know differently. Now we can collect this kind of information so that hopefully soon we can make the best use of it.”
The EWG is a small group of only 20 people, yet its voice is disproportionately loud. “We share this information with the CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention],” says Sucher. “Every two years they put out the ‘National Exposure Report,’ which lays out what chemicals they found in the blood of Americans. Their sample sizes are much larger than ours, but while their data is a mile wide and an inch deep, ours is an inch wide and a mile deep. We complement each other.”
EWG’s Web site notes, “Our research brings to light unsettling facts that you have a right to know.”
There is plenty to be unsettled about, according to Sucher. For example, only 11 percent of the chemicals used in make-up, shampoo, soap and shower gel -- products used every day by millions of people -- have been screened for safety.
Sucher says a key reason for the lax regulation of chemicals is that the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), which governs the industry’s use of chemicals, is 30 years old and outdated. On August 2, 2006, the independent Government Accountability Office (GAO) presented its report to the Senate on the effectiveness of the TSCA to protect Americans. In this report, “Actions Are Needed to Improve the
Effectiveness of EPA’s [Environmental Protection Agency] Chemical Review Program,” the GAO states that “Chemicals play an important role in everyday life, but some may be harmful to human health and the environment . . . some chemicals, such as lead and mercury, are highly toxic at certain doses and need to be regulated because of health and safety concerns.”
The GAO found that the EPA exerted its authority to require testing for fewer than 200 of the approximately 62,000 chemicals currently used in commerce, because the task was too costly and time consuming.
Additionally, since the TSCA was enacted, the EPA has banned or limited the production of only five individual chemicals or groups of chemicals.
The study also stated that the EPA’s reviews of the safety of new chemicals “provide only limited assurance that health and environmental risks are identified because TSCA does not require companies to test chemicals before they notify EPA of their intent to manufacture the chemicals.”
A Senate bill addressing this issue, S.1391, has been proposed by Senators Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and James Jeffords (I-VT). The EWG believes this bill would update and strengthen the TSCA. “Right now our governmental policy is one of first allowing the use of chemicals and worrying about their safety later. This bill will reverse that,” says Sucher.
According to Sucher, the bill would place the burden of proof of a chemical’s safety back on the manufacturer. It would also considerably reduce the parameters of what is considered confidential and allow the public much greater access to information. For the first time ever, chemical substances will have to meet a safety standard, described in the bill as “a reasonable certainty of no harm,” she notes.
Such legislation, the EWG believes, could potentially play a significant role in preventing neurological and developmental disorders such as autism. In a 2004 report entitled “Overloaded?” the EWG notes that the work of Jill James and colleagues (see separate article in this issue) reveals that exposure to toxins may be particularly deleterious to children who are at risk of developing autism. James and colleagues found that many autistic children have a metabolic impairment that reduces their ability to rid their bodies of heavy metals and other toxins. The findings of James’ research team, the EWG says, “potentially identify a subgroup of people with dramatically increased risk of harm from industrial chemicals, and provide important new evidence that policies designed to protect the average person, or even the average child, from chemical exposure, are insufficient to fully protect the public health.”
Other nonprofit groups, including the Washington Toxics Coalition, the Alaska Community Against Toxics and Commonweal, also have tested for “body burdens” of toxins, and all have found similar results. Communities are beginning to use this information to leverage change with public awareness campaigns and legislative initiatives. The state of California, for example, recently passed a bill that
mandates a state-based biomonitoring program for toxic exposures.
Information about the Environmental Working Group is available online at www.ewg.org. An online copy of the report “Overloaded?” is available at www.ewg.org/reports/autism/execsumm.php.
Judy Chinitz Gorman, is the parent of two sons, one of whom has autism. She holds a master’s in special education and is currently pursuing another in nutrition.
Showing posts with label autism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label autism. Show all posts
Monday, March 29, 2010
Monday, November 23, 2009
ADHD and Natural Therapies
| ADHD and Natural Therapies |  |  |  |
| |
| A small pilot study was published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine (2007 Dec;13(10):1091-7). The idea was to treat the 10 subjects with multiple natural therapies, including chelation, nutrition, environmental control, behavioral therapy, speech therapy, physical therapy and educational therapy. The subjects were aged 4-10 and had been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and with ADHD. They were treated with a comprehensive program of natural therapies for 3-6 months. The results were judged by doctors, teachers and parents and all ten children demonstrated significant improvement in language skills, writing, behavior and social interaction. Also, urinary lead levels dropped in all of the subjects. Granted, this was a small study. It was not double-blind or placebo controlled. It does, however bring up the interesting possibility that children with ADHD may respond to a comprehensive program of natural therapies. It makes sense to use a multi-faceted approach and try to develop a safe and natural way to address this complex problem. A larger, objective study would be interesting to see. |
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Vaccines and Autism and Some Research Articles
The broader picture for autism and vaccination has changed dramatically very recently.
Legal information on the Hannah Poling case.
CBS reports that nine other autism cases have been settled and sealed, but the parents have gone public in this case.
See CBS report on the case.
Dr. Poling, Hannah's father, has already gone on record defending vaccinations, confounding his critics who want to label him a fanatic.
Dr. Poling's defense of vaccination.
Dr. Poling has also responded to his uninformed medical critics by opening his daughter's case up to public scrutiny and answering any possible criticism.
Dr. Poling rebuts his medical critics.
The medical community is clear that none of the science has changed, but that is secondary because the possibility of liability has changed. If parents can win in court, then the medical community will follow the lead of the courts by changing the way that vaccinations are treated.
Dr. Poling is quotes the CDC policy line that “vaccinations are the most important medical discovery in the last 100 years,” which completely ignores the discovery of antibiotics, etc. But he is clear that parents should question and possibly refuse vaccinations.
The safety record for vaccinations is incredibly hard to find and almost impossible to estimate now that we are using multiple vaccinations. I have listed some information under the vaccinations page. Previously the CDC did give some estimates, but that information was removed and the VAERS reporting site is impossible to interpret.
Mitochondrial disorders such as what Dr. Poling describes for Hannah are more common than has been reported in the media. Her specific mutation is incredibly rare, but I have seen estimates as high as 1 in 500 children for general mitochondrial dysfunction.
In summary: just as non-autistic children can benefit from a good diet (by which I mean something dramatically different from the S.A.D., or Standard American Diet), studies indicate that diet plays a profound role in the brain development of autistic children.
Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2002 Apr;16(4):663-74. Related Articles, Links
Review article: the concept of entero-colonic encephalopathy, autism and opioid receptor ligands.
Wakefield AJ, Puleston JM, Montgomery SM, Anthony A, O'Leary JJ, Murch SH.
Inflammatory Bowel Disease Study Group, Centre for Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Royal Free and University College Medical School, London, UK. wakers@aol.com
There is growing awareness that primary gastrointestinal pathology may play an important role in the inception and clinical expression of some childhood developmental disorders, including autism. In addition to frequent gastrointestinal symptoms, children with autism often manifest complex biochemical and immunological abnormalities. The gut-brain axis is central to certain encephalopathies of extra-cranial origin, hepatic encephalopathy being the best characterized. Commonalities in the clinical characteristics of hepatic encephalopathy and a form of autism associated with developmental regression in an apparently previously normal child, accompanied by immune-mediated gastrointestinal pathology, have led to the proposal that there may be analogous mechanisms of toxic encephalopathy in patients with liver failure and some children with autism. Aberrations in opioid biochemistry are common to these two conditions, and there is evidence that opioid peptides may mediate certain aspects of the respective syndromes. The generation of plausible and testable hypotheses in this area may help to identify new treatment options in encephalopathies of extra-cranial origin. Therapeutic targets for this autistic phenotype may include: modification of diet and entero-colonic microbial milieu in order to reduce toxin substrates, improve nutritional status and modify mucosal immunity; anti-inflammatory/immunomodulatory therapy; and specific treatment of dysmotility, focusing, for example, on the pharmacology of local opioid activity in the gut.
PMID: 11929383 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Neuropsychopharmacology 2003 Jan;28(1):193-8 Related Articles, Links
Oxytocin Infusion Reduces Repetitive Behaviors in Adults with Autistic and Asperger's Disorders. Hollander E, Novotny S, Hanratty M, Yaffe R, DeCaria CM, Aronowitz BR, Mosovich S.
Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by dysfunction in three core behavioral domains: repetitive behaviors, social deficits, and language abnormalities. There is evidence that abnormalities exist in peptide systems, particularly the oxytocin system, in autism spectrum patients. Furthermore, oxytocin and the closely related peptide vasopressin are known to play a role in social and repetitive behaviors. This study examined the impact of oxytocin on repetitive behaviors in 15 adults with autism or Asperger's disorder via randomized double-blind oxytocin and placebo challenges. The primary outcome measure was an instrument rating six repetitive behaviors: need to know, repeating, ordering, need to tell/ask, self-injury, and touching. Patients with autism spectrum disorders showed a significant reduction in repetitive behaviors following oxytocin infusion in comparison to placebo infusion. Repetitive behavior in autism spectrum disorders may be related to abnormalities in the oxytocin system, and may be partially ameliorated by synthetic oxytocin infusion.Neuropsychopharmacology (2003) 28, 193-198. doi:10.1038/sj.npp.1300021
PMID: 12496956 [PubMed - in process]
J Fam Health Care 2002;12(2):34-8 Related Articles, Links
Diet in autism and associated disorders. Garvey J. Royal Free Hospital, London.
A dietitian discusses the theory that peptides with opioid activity may cause or trigger autism. The use of an exclusion diet to treat autism is explained, weighing the potential benefits against some of the practical difficulties of keeping to a strict exclusion diet. The use of nutritional supplements is described. An abnormal gut flora has also been implicated in autism and the use of probiotics and prebiotics in improving the integrity of the gut mucosa is also discussed.
Publication Types:
• Review
• Review, Tutorial
PMID: 12415751 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Neuropsychobiology 2002;46(2):76-84 Related Articles, Links
Innate immunity associated with inflammatory responses and cytokine production against common dietary proteins in patients with autism spectrum disorder.
Jyonouchi H, Sun S, Itokazu N.
Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn, USA.
OBJECTIVES: Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) frequently reveal various gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms that may resolve with an elimination diet along with apparent improvement of some of the behavioral symptoms. Evidence suggests that ASD may be accompanied by aberrant (inflammatory) innate immune responses. This may predispose ASD children to sensitization to common dietary proteins (DP), leading to GI inflammation and aggravation of some behavioral symptoms. METHODS: We measured IFN-gamma, IL-5, and TNF-alpha production against representative DPs [gliadin, cow's milk protein (CMP), and soy] by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from ASD and control children [those with DP intolerance (DPI), ASD siblings, and healthy unrelated children]. We evaluated the results in association with proinflammatory and counter-regulatory cytokine production with endotoxin (LPS), a microbial product of intestinal flora and a surrogate stimulant for innate immune responses. RESULTS: ASD PBMCs produced elevated IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha, but not IL-5 with common DPs at high frequency as observed in DPI PBMCs. ASD PBMCs revealed increased proinflammatory cytokine responses with LPS at high frequency with positive correlation between proinflammatory cytokine production with LPS and IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha production against DPs. Such correlation was less evident in DPI PBMCs. CONCLUSION: Immune reactivity to DPs may be associated with apparent DPI and GI inflammation in ASD children that may be partly associated with aberrant innate immune response against endotoxin, a product of the gut bacteria. Copyright 2002 S. Karger AG, Basel
Publication Types:
• Clinical Trial
PMID: 12378124 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Nutr Neurosci 2002 Sep;5(4):251-61 Related Articles, Links
A randomised, controlled study of dietary intervention in autistic syndromes.
Knivsberg AM, Reichelt KL, Hoien T, Nodland M.
Center for Reading Research, Stavanger University College, Norway. ann-mari.knivsberg@slf.his.no
Impaired social interaction, communication and imaginative skills characterize autistic syndromes. In these syndromes urinary peptide abnormalities, derived from gluten, gliadin, and casein, are reported. They reflect processes with opioid effect. The aim of this single blind study was to evaluate effect of gluten and casein-free diet for children with autistic syndromes and urinary peptide abnormalities. A randomly selected diet and control group with 10 children in each group participated. Observations and tests were done before and after a period of 1 year. The development for the group of children on diet was significantly better than for the controls.
PMID: 12168688 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Nutr Neurosci 2001;4(1):25-37 Related Articles, Links
Reports on dietary intervention in autistic disorders.
Knivsber AM, Reichelt KL, Nodland M.
Center for Reading Research, Stavanger College, Norway. ann-mari.knivsberg@slf.his.no
Autism is a developmental disorder for which no cure currently exists. Gluten and/or casein free diet has been implemented to reduce autistic behaviour, in addition to special education, since early in the eighties. Over the last twelve years various studies on this dietary intervention have been published in addition to anecdotal, parental reports. The scientific studies include both groups of participants as well as single cases, and beneficial results are reported in all, but one study. While some studies are based on urinary peptide abnormalities, others are not. The reported results are, however, more or less identical; reduction of autistic behaviour, increased social and communicative skills, and reappearance of autistic traits after the diet has been broken.
PMID: 11842874 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
J Autism Dev Disord 2000 Oct;30(5):463-9 Related Articles, Links
Comment in:
• J Autism Dev Disord. 2000 Oct;30(5):471-3.
Metabolic approaches to the treatment of autism spectrum disorders. Page T. Department of Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego, USA.
Although the exact prevalence of metabolic abnormalities in autism spectrum disorders is unknown, several metabolic defects have been associated with autistic symptoms. These include phenylketonuria, histidinemia, adenylosuccinate lyase deficiency, dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase deficiency, 5'-nucleotidase superactivity, and phosphoribosylpyrophosphate synthetase deficiency. When the metabolic consequences of an enzyme defect are well defined (e.g., phenylketonuria, 5'-nucleotidase superactivity), treatment with diet, drugs, or nutritional supplements may bring about a dramatic reduction in autistic symptoms. This review evaluates evidence for metabolic etiologies in autism spectrum disorders, as well as for the efficacy of dietary and vitamin treatments. The relationship between gastrointestinal abnormalities and autism spectrum disorders is also considered.
PMID: 11098885 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Am J Psychiatry 1978 Apr;135(4):472-5 Related Articles, Links
The effect of high doses of vitamin B6 on autistic children: a double-blind crossover study.
Rimland B, Callaway E, Dreyfus P.
The authors used data from an earlier nonblind study to identify 16 autistic-type child outpatients who had apparently improved when given vitamin B6 (pyridoxine). In a double-blind study each child's B6 supplement was replaced during two separate experimental trial periods with either a B6 supplement or a matched placebo. Behavior was rated as deteriorating significantly during the B6 withdrawal.
Publication Types:
• Clinical Trial
• Controlled Clinical Trial
PMID: 345827 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Legal information on the Hannah Poling case.
CBS reports that nine other autism cases have been settled and sealed, but the parents have gone public in this case.
See CBS report on the case.
Dr. Poling, Hannah's father, has already gone on record defending vaccinations, confounding his critics who want to label him a fanatic.
Dr. Poling's defense of vaccination.
Dr. Poling has also responded to his uninformed medical critics by opening his daughter's case up to public scrutiny and answering any possible criticism.
Dr. Poling rebuts his medical critics.
The medical community is clear that none of the science has changed, but that is secondary because the possibility of liability has changed. If parents can win in court, then the medical community will follow the lead of the courts by changing the way that vaccinations are treated.
Dr. Poling is quotes the CDC policy line that “vaccinations are the most important medical discovery in the last 100 years,” which completely ignores the discovery of antibiotics, etc. But he is clear that parents should question and possibly refuse vaccinations.
The safety record for vaccinations is incredibly hard to find and almost impossible to estimate now that we are using multiple vaccinations. I have listed some information under the vaccinations page. Previously the CDC did give some estimates, but that information was removed and the VAERS reporting site is impossible to interpret.
Mitochondrial disorders such as what Dr. Poling describes for Hannah are more common than has been reported in the media. Her specific mutation is incredibly rare, but I have seen estimates as high as 1 in 500 children for general mitochondrial dysfunction.
In summary: just as non-autistic children can benefit from a good diet (by which I mean something dramatically different from the S.A.D., or Standard American Diet), studies indicate that diet plays a profound role in the brain development of autistic children.
Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2002 Apr;16(4):663-74. Related Articles, Links
Review article: the concept of entero-colonic encephalopathy, autism and opioid receptor ligands.
Wakefield AJ, Puleston JM, Montgomery SM, Anthony A, O'Leary JJ, Murch SH.
Inflammatory Bowel Disease Study Group, Centre for Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Royal Free and University College Medical School, London, UK. wakers@aol.com
There is growing awareness that primary gastrointestinal pathology may play an important role in the inception and clinical expression of some childhood developmental disorders, including autism. In addition to frequent gastrointestinal symptoms, children with autism often manifest complex biochemical and immunological abnormalities. The gut-brain axis is central to certain encephalopathies of extra-cranial origin, hepatic encephalopathy being the best characterized. Commonalities in the clinical characteristics of hepatic encephalopathy and a form of autism associated with developmental regression in an apparently previously normal child, accompanied by immune-mediated gastrointestinal pathology, have led to the proposal that there may be analogous mechanisms of toxic encephalopathy in patients with liver failure and some children with autism. Aberrations in opioid biochemistry are common to these two conditions, and there is evidence that opioid peptides may mediate certain aspects of the respective syndromes. The generation of plausible and testable hypotheses in this area may help to identify new treatment options in encephalopathies of extra-cranial origin. Therapeutic targets for this autistic phenotype may include: modification of diet and entero-colonic microbial milieu in order to reduce toxin substrates, improve nutritional status and modify mucosal immunity; anti-inflammatory/immunomodulatory therapy; and specific treatment of dysmotility, focusing, for example, on the pharmacology of local opioid activity in the gut.
PMID: 11929383 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Neuropsychopharmacology 2003 Jan;28(1):193-8 Related Articles, Links
Oxytocin Infusion Reduces Repetitive Behaviors in Adults with Autistic and Asperger's Disorders. Hollander E, Novotny S, Hanratty M, Yaffe R, DeCaria CM, Aronowitz BR, Mosovich S.
Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by dysfunction in three core behavioral domains: repetitive behaviors, social deficits, and language abnormalities. There is evidence that abnormalities exist in peptide systems, particularly the oxytocin system, in autism spectrum patients. Furthermore, oxytocin and the closely related peptide vasopressin are known to play a role in social and repetitive behaviors. This study examined the impact of oxytocin on repetitive behaviors in 15 adults with autism or Asperger's disorder via randomized double-blind oxytocin and placebo challenges. The primary outcome measure was an instrument rating six repetitive behaviors: need to know, repeating, ordering, need to tell/ask, self-injury, and touching. Patients with autism spectrum disorders showed a significant reduction in repetitive behaviors following oxytocin infusion in comparison to placebo infusion. Repetitive behavior in autism spectrum disorders may be related to abnormalities in the oxytocin system, and may be partially ameliorated by synthetic oxytocin infusion.Neuropsychopharmacology (2003) 28, 193-198. doi:10.1038/sj.npp.1300021
PMID: 12496956 [PubMed - in process]
J Fam Health Care 2002;12(2):34-8 Related Articles, Links
Diet in autism and associated disorders. Garvey J. Royal Free Hospital, London.
A dietitian discusses the theory that peptides with opioid activity may cause or trigger autism. The use of an exclusion diet to treat autism is explained, weighing the potential benefits against some of the practical difficulties of keeping to a strict exclusion diet. The use of nutritional supplements is described. An abnormal gut flora has also been implicated in autism and the use of probiotics and prebiotics in improving the integrity of the gut mucosa is also discussed.
Publication Types:
• Review
• Review, Tutorial
PMID: 12415751 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Neuropsychobiology 2002;46(2):76-84 Related Articles, Links
Innate immunity associated with inflammatory responses and cytokine production against common dietary proteins in patients with autism spectrum disorder.
Jyonouchi H, Sun S, Itokazu N.
Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn, USA.
OBJECTIVES: Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) frequently reveal various gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms that may resolve with an elimination diet along with apparent improvement of some of the behavioral symptoms. Evidence suggests that ASD may be accompanied by aberrant (inflammatory) innate immune responses. This may predispose ASD children to sensitization to common dietary proteins (DP), leading to GI inflammation and aggravation of some behavioral symptoms. METHODS: We measured IFN-gamma, IL-5, and TNF-alpha production against representative DPs [gliadin, cow's milk protein (CMP), and soy] by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from ASD and control children [those with DP intolerance (DPI), ASD siblings, and healthy unrelated children]. We evaluated the results in association with proinflammatory and counter-regulatory cytokine production with endotoxin (LPS), a microbial product of intestinal flora and a surrogate stimulant for innate immune responses. RESULTS: ASD PBMCs produced elevated IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha, but not IL-5 with common DPs at high frequency as observed in DPI PBMCs. ASD PBMCs revealed increased proinflammatory cytokine responses with LPS at high frequency with positive correlation between proinflammatory cytokine production with LPS and IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha production against DPs. Such correlation was less evident in DPI PBMCs. CONCLUSION: Immune reactivity to DPs may be associated with apparent DPI and GI inflammation in ASD children that may be partly associated with aberrant innate immune response against endotoxin, a product of the gut bacteria. Copyright 2002 S. Karger AG, Basel
Publication Types:
• Clinical Trial
PMID: 12378124 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Nutr Neurosci 2002 Sep;5(4):251-61 Related Articles, Links
A randomised, controlled study of dietary intervention in autistic syndromes.
Knivsberg AM, Reichelt KL, Hoien T, Nodland M.
Center for Reading Research, Stavanger University College, Norway. ann-mari.knivsberg@slf.his.no
Impaired social interaction, communication and imaginative skills characterize autistic syndromes. In these syndromes urinary peptide abnormalities, derived from gluten, gliadin, and casein, are reported. They reflect processes with opioid effect. The aim of this single blind study was to evaluate effect of gluten and casein-free diet for children with autistic syndromes and urinary peptide abnormalities. A randomly selected diet and control group with 10 children in each group participated. Observations and tests were done before and after a period of 1 year. The development for the group of children on diet was significantly better than for the controls.
PMID: 12168688 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Nutr Neurosci 2001;4(1):25-37 Related Articles, Links
Reports on dietary intervention in autistic disorders.
Knivsber AM, Reichelt KL, Nodland M.
Center for Reading Research, Stavanger College, Norway. ann-mari.knivsberg@slf.his.no
Autism is a developmental disorder for which no cure currently exists. Gluten and/or casein free diet has been implemented to reduce autistic behaviour, in addition to special education, since early in the eighties. Over the last twelve years various studies on this dietary intervention have been published in addition to anecdotal, parental reports. The scientific studies include both groups of participants as well as single cases, and beneficial results are reported in all, but one study. While some studies are based on urinary peptide abnormalities, others are not. The reported results are, however, more or less identical; reduction of autistic behaviour, increased social and communicative skills, and reappearance of autistic traits after the diet has been broken.
PMID: 11842874 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
J Autism Dev Disord 2000 Oct;30(5):463-9 Related Articles, Links
Comment in:
• J Autism Dev Disord. 2000 Oct;30(5):471-3.
Metabolic approaches to the treatment of autism spectrum disorders. Page T. Department of Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego, USA.
Although the exact prevalence of metabolic abnormalities in autism spectrum disorders is unknown, several metabolic defects have been associated with autistic symptoms. These include phenylketonuria, histidinemia, adenylosuccinate lyase deficiency, dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase deficiency, 5'-nucleotidase superactivity, and phosphoribosylpyrophosphate synthetase deficiency. When the metabolic consequences of an enzyme defect are well defined (e.g., phenylketonuria, 5'-nucleotidase superactivity), treatment with diet, drugs, or nutritional supplements may bring about a dramatic reduction in autistic symptoms. This review evaluates evidence for metabolic etiologies in autism spectrum disorders, as well as for the efficacy of dietary and vitamin treatments. The relationship between gastrointestinal abnormalities and autism spectrum disorders is also considered.
PMID: 11098885 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Am J Psychiatry 1978 Apr;135(4):472-5 Related Articles, Links
The effect of high doses of vitamin B6 on autistic children: a double-blind crossover study.
Rimland B, Callaway E, Dreyfus P.
The authors used data from an earlier nonblind study to identify 16 autistic-type child outpatients who had apparently improved when given vitamin B6 (pyridoxine). In a double-blind study each child's B6 supplement was replaced during two separate experimental trial periods with either a B6 supplement or a matched placebo. Behavior was rated as deteriorating significantly during the B6 withdrawal.
Publication Types:
• Clinical Trial
• Controlled Clinical Trial
PMID: 345827 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Autism Awareness Day - Is There a Cure?
After reading many sad but inspiring stories such as this one about a divorced mother contemplating suicide, I've read hope-giving stories as the one written by Amy Lansky, Ph.D.. on her child and how she alleviated autism through homeopathy.
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