Autism
and Nutrition
The Autism Research
Institute sponsors Defeat Autism Now! (DAN!) Conferences.
Physicians and researchers who are doing progressive work with nutrition and
other alternative modalities, gather at these conferences.The
FDA has taken the position that there is no effective treatment for autism.
DAN! medical professionals and researchers disagree.
One small example is the use of vitamin B6 and magnesium. There are 22
published studies (11 of them were double-blind, placebo-controlled studies) by
scientists in 6 countries showing that vitamin B6, used in conjunction with
magnesium, is highly beneficial in the treatment of autistic children and
adults.
Another area that has generated a lot of interest is
gluten-free diets. One small study, published in Nutritional Neuroscience (2002;5(4):251-261.) compared 10 autistic children who were
placed on a gluten-free, casein-free diet to 10 autistic controls who were not
placed on a restrictive diet. The study lasted for one year. Those on the diet
experienced a significant reduction in aloofness, anxiety and ritualistic
behavior. They also experienced improved learning skills. They developed more
empathy and improved relationships with other children. They became more
tolerant to physical contact. There were also improvements in nonverbal
communication skills, eye contact, and responsiveness to verbal cues. There was
an increase in their range of interests, and responsiveness to dangerous
situations. There was also a reduction in excessively passive or restless
behavior. There was significant improvement in nonverbal cognitive skills.
The control group did not have these improvements—in fact
they became worse over the course of the study. One theory for this result is
that gluten and casein do not break down properly. In the autistic children,
eating these foods cause a release of opioid-like
peptides (peptides are pieces of protein—partially broken down), causing the
change in behavior.
Another area of interest is the inflammation of the brain itself. Research
appearing in the April, 2002 issue of the journal Molecular Psychiatry (volume
7, number 4, pages 375-382) studied autistic children who had a form of the
disease characterized by apparently normal early development followed by
regression in the second year of life. Previous studies have found evidence of
immune issues in this group of autistic patients. Earlier research has shown
that in this group of patients, bowel inflammation is often an issue [The
Lancet (1998; 351: 637-641), American Journal of Gastroenterology (2000;
95: 2285-2295)]. In this study, the researchers found changes in the cells in
the intestine of the autistic patients that suggest that the immune system is
reacting against the intestinal cells. The authors made comparisons to children
with mental retardation, cerebral palsy, celiac disease and normal controls,
none of whom had these cellular changes.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have found that the brains of
some people with autism have signs of inflammation. In research published in
the November 15, 2004 issue of the journal Annals of Neurology, brain tissue
was examined in 11 subjects with autism. The subjects were deceased—killed by
accident or injuries (as opposed to some disease process). Tissue was taken
from three different areas of the brain. The tissue samples indicated the
presence of inflammation.
The cerebrospinal fluid (the fluid that surrounds the brain
and spinal cord) in six living patients (children between the ages of six and
twelve) was tested for cytokines and chemokines. The
presence of these two chemicals indicates inflammation. They were elevated in
the children with autism.
The findings indicate that the immune system may be involved with autism. Also,
the immune response and inflammatory response is local—happening in the brain
only. It is not the result of a systemic immune response.
This opens the possibility of using antioxidants and immune support for
autistic children. Clearly the FDA is wrong when it says that there is no
treatment for autism.