“This article interested me
as it seems to focus on the mother’s gut-flora.
I wonder how many mothers were tested who had normal if not no gut flora
at the time of pregnancy. I know for a fact in my case…. I was on a special
diet of no carbohydrates and no sugar diet when I fell pregnant with my
youngest….. but was taking the pill.
Interesting opinion isn’t it!”
Raeblogs
The
Silent Time Bomb Now Affecting 1 in 54 Boys in the US
The Centres for Disease Control (CDC)
has announced that 1 in 88 children in the U.S. are now diagnosed with an
autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
The number represents a 23 percent
increase in the last two years and 78 percent in the past five years.
But that was just the average—the
numbers were much greater for Hispanics (110 percent) and black children (91
percent).
The study, published in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report,
also found that ASDs are nearly five times more common among boys than girls.
Broken down, the numbers equate to 1 in
54 boys with ASDs, and 1 in 252 girls.
The updated estimates are based on data
collected in 14 American communities during 2008.
These communities comprised over eight
percent of all American 8-year-olds that year.
Interestingly, the number of children
with ASDs varied widely from site to site.
The highest prevalence was found in
Utah, where a staggering 1 in 47 eight-year-olds were identified with some form
of ASD.
New Jersey was also far higher than the
average, with 1 in 49.
What's really going on here?
WHAT is Causing the
Skyrocketing Increase in Autism Spectrum Disorders?
Personally, I don't see how anyone can
look at a 78 percent increase of any health problem in a mere five years
without snapping to attention. Prior to the CDC's announcement, the Canary
Party, a citizens' action group on autism, rightfully predicted that the CDC
would downplay the seriousness of these latest statistics.
On its new autism webpage, the CDC
state they suspect some of the increase "is due to greater awareness and
better identification" among some of the children.
But even taking that possibility into
consideration, the statistics are truly shocking. How can one in 88 American children have some form of
autistic disorder? In a normal, healthy environment, that just shouldn't happen. And the fact that it
IS happening demands our immediate attention. Something is going very wrong,
very fast...
While many are focusing their efforts
on nailing down one culprit or another—vaccines being the perfect example—I
believe taking such a narrow-minded approach can be extremely
counterproductive. In my view, what we're seeing here is the culmination of
what amounts to a perfect storm...
Research
is now clearly showing that environmental factors play a primary role in the epidemic of autism
spectrum disorders. But which
environmental factors are to blame?
While vaccines have borne the brunt of
people's suspicions, there's plenty of evidence suggesting there are multiple
factors at play. The
factor that prevents us from writing vaccines off as being
harmless is the fact that toxic
overload appears to
be at the core of the problem, and many vaccines do indeed contribute to a
child's overall toxic load. So while it's probably unreasonable to blame vaccines alone for the rapid rise in autism, it would
be just as unreasonable to ignore their impact, and continue on with the
one-fits-all vaccination policy as if everything is a-okay.
The majority of autism cases do appear
to result from the activation or "expression," of a number of
different genes, along with multiple epigenetic and environmental factors that
interact to produce the traits of autism. But science is increasingly showing
us just how malleable our genes are—they continuously respond to their
environment, meaning, your body and everything you put into and onto it...
Furthermore, there's no shortage of evidence that toxins of different sorts can
wreak havoc with brain function. Add to this the more recent findings that your
gut is profoundly influential for brain health, and a picture of toxic overload
combined with inadequate nutrition comes into clear view.
Why We Must Insist on Invoking
the Precautionary Principle
If multiple toxic exposures and poor
nutrition is to blame, then trying to tease out "the" primary culprit will get us
nowhere. I believe we must tackle the issue of ASD with a much wider aim, and that
is to reduce ALL toxic
exposure and improve nutrition. This
tactic includes but is not limited to reducing the vaccine load, especially in
the US where children receive the most vaccines of any country on the planet. I
believe it's imperative to invoke the precautionary principle with respects to
vaccines, and, at the very least, allow people to opt out if they so choose.
While vaccine advocates tend to stress
the importance of so-called "herd immunity," saying the vaccine will
not work unless the majority is vaccinated, there's a great price to pay by
forcing everyone into a one-size-fits-all mold.
Not only are some children at greater
risk for vaccine damage than others (which I'll review in a moment), but we
also eliminate the ability to evaluate the health risks of vaccinations if no
one is allowed to opt out. We NEED to conduct comparison studies to evaluate
the health outcomes of vaccinated versus unvaccinated children, yet such
studies are not done. An oft-cited reason for that is that it would be unethical
to not vaccinate certain children... But this
is not really a reasonable excuse today, as many parents want to
opt out of one or more vaccines for their children.
Environmental
Factors that May Play a Role in Autism
When looking into the possible
environmental factors for autism, they are incredibly diverse. The following is
just a short list of examples:
·
Electromagnetic
fields: Work by Dr. Dietrich
Klinghardt suggests there are distinct correlations between a
woman's exposure to electromagnetic fields during pregnancy and her child's
neurological functioning. He found that if you sleep in strong electromagnetic
fields during pregnancy, your child will likely begin to exhibit neurological
abnormalities within the first two years of life, such as neurological
dysfunction, hyperactivity, and learning disorders.
·
In 2007,
this theory received additional support from a study published in the Journal
of the Australasian College of Nutritional & Environmental Medicine. It
presented the theory that electromagnetic radiation (EMR) from cell phones,
cell towers, Wi-Fi devices and other similar wireless technologies may work in
conjunction with genetic and environmental factors, becoming an
accelerating factor in autism. After more than five years of research
on children with autism they found that EMR negatively affects cell membranes,
allowing heavy metal toxins, which are associated with autism, to build up.
To learn more about the science of HOW electromagnetic radiation affects
and harms your body, please review this previous article featuring Dr. Martin
Blank.
·
Mercury
toxicity: It is already an established fact
that exposure to mercury can cause immune, sensory, neurological, motor, and
behavioral dysfunctions -- all similar to traits defining, or associated with
autism. Mercury pollution is widespread from the burning of fossil fuels, but
the use of thimerosal-containing vaccines and dental amalgams—both of which
contain mercury—also cannot be overlooked as major sources of individual
exposure to this neurotoxin
·
Vaccines: A 2011 review of the
peer-reviewed, published studies on autism (going all the way back to 1943)
revealed numerous documented cases of autism caused by encephalitis following
vaccination. There are many potential vaccine-related culprits, including the
use of toxic adjuvants; the presence of human DNA in vaccines; and the
increasing number of vaccines given in a short period of time
·
Phthalates: Research from 2009 discovered that infants who lived in homes with
vinyl floors were twice as likely to have autism five years later, compared to
those with wood or linoleum flooring. Vinyl floors can emit chemicals called phthalates,
which are widely used plastic softeners found in much more than just vinyl
flooring. Hairsprays, perfumes, cosmetics, toys, shower curtains, wood
finishers, lubricants, certain medical devices and more all contain phthalates.
Researchers have suggested the chemicals may contribute to autism by disrupting
hormones not only in small children but also in the womb
·
Vitamin D
Deficiency: There is also a link between rampant
vitamin D deficiency in pregnant women and the proportionate jump in autism,
which has been highlighted by Dr. John Cannell. The vitamin D
receptor appears in a wide variety of brain tissue early in the fetal
development, and activated vitamin D receptors increase nerve growth in your
brain
Neurologist Dr. Natasha
Campbell-McBride recently shared a common thread that may be linking these and
other environmental factors together, namely brain toxicity stemming
from gut toxicity, otherwise known as Gut and Psychology Syndrome (GAPS).
She cured her own son of autism using an all-natural treatment involving
dietary changes and detoxification, and her hypothesis is in my view one of the
most elegant.
GAPS:
An Elegant Explanation of the Roots of Autism
Dr. Campbell-McBride is convinced that
autistic children are born with perfectly normal brains and sensory organs, but
that abnormalgut flora, passed on from their mother or father,
leads to devastating gut and brain toxicity. In children with Gut and
Psychology Syndrome (GAPS), toxicity flowing from their gut throughout their
bodies and into their brains, literally clogs the brain with toxicity,
preventing it from performing its normal function and processing sensory
information. But what leads to such devastatingly abnormal gut flora?
Dr.
Campbell discovered that a large percentage of mothers of autistic children
were bottle-fed. Then, as they received many courses of antibiotics throughout
their childhood, they developed increasingly worse abnormalities in their gut
flora, which in turn was passed on to their children. Add to that a diet of
processed foods and the use of birth control pills, and the damage to a woman's
gut flora deepens even further, and each generation quickly gets worse and
worse, unless active remediation is undertaken. According to Dr.
Campbell-McBride:
"Many of these modern factors
created a whole plethora of young ladies in our modern world who have got quite
deeply abnormal gut flora by the time they are ready to have their first
child."
Vaccination
Policy is Oftentimes the "Straw that Breaks the Camel's Back"
Dr. Campbell-McBride's book Gut and Psychology Syndrome contains
an entire chapter outlining what health care professionals need to do to
improve the vaccination strategy, because the standard vaccination protocol is
bound to damage GAPS babies.
She explains:
"It's a matter of the last straw
breaking the camel's back. If the child is damaged enough, the vaccine can
provide that last straw. But if it doesn't provide that last straw in a
particular child, then it will get the child closer to the breaking
point."
Fortunately, it's possible to rather
inexpensively identify GAPS within the first weeks of your baby's life, which
can help you make better-informed decisions about vaccinations, and about how
to proceed to set your child on the path to a healthy life. The entire process
for identifying children who would be at risk for developing autism from a
vaccine is described in her book, but to sum it up, in her practice she starts
out by collecting a complete health history of the parents, and their gut
health is assessed. Then, within the first few days of life, the stool of the
child can be analyzed to determine the state of her gut flora, followed by a
urine test to check for metabolites, which can give you a picture of the state
of your child's immune system.
These tests are available in most
laboratories around the world and cost a very reasonable amount, about $80-100
per test -- peanuts compared to the incredible expense of treating an autistic
child once the damage is done.
In my view it is absolutely VITAL to
perform this analysis BEFORE you consider vaccinating your child. If the test
results are normal the likelihood of autism after vaccines is dramatically
reduced. As Dr. Campbell-McBride states, she has yet to find an autistic child
with normal bowel flora. If you find that your baby has abnormal gut micro-flora,
or begins to develop symptoms of autism a year or two later, the GAPS program
should be started immediately, as the younger the child is when you start the
treatment, the better the results. The child should not be given any vaccines
until their microflora tests normal. For more information about the GAPS Nutritional
Program, including the two types of GAPS diets, and the importance
of fermented foods, please review this previous article.
Thoughts
on Reversing the Trajectory of Autism Spectrum Disorders
Autism is a complex condition with many
contributing factors and it takes a multi-faceted approach to treat it. We're
now also beginning to understand it requires a multi-faceted approach to prevent it.
Hopefully, more people will begin to take Dr. Campbell-McBride's information to
heart and put it to practice so that more children may be spared from the
get-go. But even that's not going far enough. We must tackle this problem from
all angles, and that also includes:
·
Reduce your
and your child's toxic burden: This includes avoiding as many dangerous
chemicals as possible, which makes listing the do's and don'ts virtually
impossible. There's just too many. As a general rule though, eating whole
organic foods will go a long way, as that automatically cuts out processed
foods and related chemicals, genetically engineered foods, and artificial
sweeteners.
Also be careful with the personal care products you use, as well as your
household cleaning products and home building materials and furnishings...
Opting for "green" and/or organic alternatives will help reduce many of
the toxins most people encounter on a daily basis.
Do whatever you can to establish a toxin-free environment for your whole
family, and then establish a detoxification program. Please remember hidden
toxins like mould and fluoride. The book, Our Toxic World:
A Wake Up Call, by Dr. Doris Rapp is an excellent resource if
you're unsure of how or where to start.
·
Lower the
EMF burden in your home, especially in your bedrooms.
·
Carefully review the vaccination issue, including the conventional vaccination schedule, and know that in most U.S. states you still have the right to
opt out of vaccines.
·
Avoid
pasteurized milk; it's an absolute imperative to the treatment of autism.
Anyone managing this illness without restricting milk is deceiving themselves.
This includes all milk products, such as ice cream, yogurt and whey. Even
natural flavourings in food must be avoided unless the processor can guarantee
that caseinate is not included.
·
Complete
elimination of sugar/fructose, juice, soda, French fries and wheat (pasta,
bagels, cereal, pretzels, etc) is also highly recommended.
·
Get proper sun
exposure. It is my personal belief that vitamin D
deficiency in conjunction with damaged gut flora may be two of
the most significant contributing factors to autism. Optimizing your vitamin D
levels and your gut flora during pregnancy appears to be the most important
prevention strategies discovered to date.
References:
· The Vitamin D Council, Patient friendly summary on autism.
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