Autism – just the word causes panic in parents everywhere.
When I was growing up, polio had a similar effect. But the vaccine for polio has been found, while work on the prevention and treatment of autism is still continuing feverously.
To the horror of families with an autistic child, the scientific community can offer little in the way of reassurances.
The main reason for this stems from the lack of agreement over the causes of the disorder. And without knowing the causes, it’s pretty difficult to design treatments.
We can not even agree on figures for autism. With the change in classification of autistic symptoms, has the number of autism cases increased or held the same?
The scientific world is rife with theories, many of which were presented in the latest issue of Neurobiologae Experimentalis out of Warsaw, Poland.
This journal has never before been on my radar, but they decided to dedicate a whole issue of the journal to the autism debate and so caught my attention.
And what are the theories that are currently being brandished around?
Well, genetics and immune deficiency problems are at the top of many experts’ causal list.
New research represented at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) by Ning Lei, PhD from Princeton University linked the newly discovered mutation of four genes with autism.
One of the new genes identified was neural cell adhesion molecule 2 (NCAM2). NCAM2 is expressed in the hippocampus of the human brain — a region previously associated with autism.
One of the interesting things about this study is that Dr. Lei found that NCABM2 mutations were also common in the family members of autistic children, though these family members had no autism themselves.
The idea then is that other possible factors, including environmental toxins, have to come into play in order to for autism to develop.
The role of environmental toxins in the etiology of autism is as hotly debated as any of the other theoretical causes.
For many in the health field, the pervasiveness of environmental toxins in other disorders does make one question its role in autism.
Environmental toxins are disturbing for one reason because they have the ability to mask the detection of other conditions, such as hypothyroidism.
According to Mark Starr, MD, these toxins can disguise the levels of thyroid hormone in the body, making it nearly impossible to diagnose.
Because the thyroid is necessary for maintaining health, it is critical for it to function properly.
To learn more about how environmental toxins are masking thyroid malfunction, and how thyroid malfunction can be treated, check our courses on Mind/Body.
In the meantime, I welcome your thoughts on the causes of autism.
Do you know of someone who has been diagnosed with autism and whose story would be helpful to the larger debate about the causes and treatments of the disorder?
Please share your thoughts and opinions below.
It is indeed my belief mesothelioma can be the most lethal cancer. It has unusual features. The more I look at it the more I am confident it does not react like a true solid cells cancer. When mesothelioma is a rogue virus-like infection, so there is the prospects for developing a vaccine plus offering vaccination to asbestos exposed people who are vulnerable to high risk associated with developing foreseeable future asbestos connected malignancies. Thanks for revealing your ideas for this important health issue.
Hi there this is a good article. Can I use part of it with my own wellness and weight loss blog site? I’d naturally backlink to your webblog so people could check out the full post if they wanted to. Kudos in any case.
Let’s not forget we have a culture that does not support breastfeeding, the most important immune protection! Add in environmental pollution, dietary (school lunches – for the most part – yikes!!!): GMO’s, BGH and other hormones (let alone all that cortisol caused by factory farming), trans fats, processed foods, HFCS and artificial sweeteners – our diets are scary, and kids suffer the most. In addition I worked early in my career and did special training for the autistic spectrum issues and participated in a rigorous Rutgers Study, working with an Autistic 3 year old boy who had high intelligence and extreme allergies in addition to the autistic Bx’s. His mother was convinced about the (then) British study about the damage caused by immunizations, known to have toxic materials in them, and a book by a French author about how she worked with her children with the Dx to reverse the SxS, to a large extent. I wonder that the negative effects of the chaotic pace of our society and the carelessness with which we treat our bodies and world might just be catching up with the most sensitive among us. We all need to speak up on so many levels – keep up the good work!!!
Dear Ruth, I am grateful to you and NICABM for your article on the CAUSES OF AUTISM. Dr. Stephen J. Genuis, MD, University of Alberta, environmental neurologist, has reversed completely some cases of autism by adding deficient micro-nutrients, and slowly and safely removing toxins. As for vaccines, a friend says that it isn’t so much the vaccines themselves, although that can factor in. It is clearly the toxic preservatives and adjuvants that are added that are a serious part of the problem. Just using common sense, anyone can see that adding mercury and aluminum to a baby’s regimen is clearly not intelligent, no matter how good the cause. Both mercury and aluminum, and other highly toxic ingredients used, are proven neurotoxins, even in very small quantities.
– Doc Meek, Monday, July 26, 2010, at South Jordan, Utah, USA.
I am convinced that vaccinations have a direct correlation to the increase in ASD. Granted, not every child that gets inoculated becomes “Autistic” but not every child has a genetic predisposition or is ill at the time of the inoculation. I have been a Speech Pathologist for over 30 years and have seen the increase (especially since they combined the MMR). I have seen too many family videos depicting normally developing babies who suddenly (within two weeks of immunizations) become a different child.
We advise our young mothers to find a Doctor that will separate the shots and give them over a period of months. We also advise the mothers to monitor temperatures, bowel function, etc BEFORE taking a non-speaking child in for shots. Good Doctors comply.
Research is beginning to catch up with the anecdotal evidence that the epidemic of autism spectrum disorders is linked to thimerosal, the mercury-derived preservative that has been used in vaccines. As vaccine after vaccine was added to infant inoculations over the years, increasingly larger amounts of mercury compounded with the mercury already present from the gestational period. Mercury from fish and dental amalgam fillings (50% mercury) stored in a mother’s body, readily crosses the placenta and is passed unto her unborn child. With a strong and well-functioning detoxification system a child’s body handles these environmental assaults and excretes critical amounts of mercury. However infants suffering a specific genetic weakness in their detox system will have a hard time ridding themselves of the mercury burden, and are more likely to suffer due to the influence of this very potent neurotoxin. For research on this please see this study and the work of Jaquelyn McCandless, MD.
The work of Gordon Neufeld in isolating which Autisitc behaviours are caused by the genetics of the syndrome and which are caused by emotional fear responses due to overstimulation / increased sensitivity is very useful. He acknowledges that while we can’t change the autism itself, there are many symptoms of Autism that can be changed and therefore enable the child/ adult to live a successful, productive and happy life. Also Porgeous work with autism is showing amazing results working with the same basic theory.
My nephew is on the Autism Spectrum. He is highly intelligent but struggles with stimulus overload and socila skill.s He is an amazing child and watching him learn to navigate his world has been a miracle in progress. I beleive it comes down to a perfect storm for these children. Pinpointing one cause does not seem plausable. However, it does appear that genetics, environmental factors, and vaccine sensitivity may all be interacting together to create this issue. I appreciate that search for a cause, but I feel that more of our attention needs to be focused on treatments and interventions both for these children and their families. Starting early is the key. My brother and wife wrapped Connor in various kinds of therapies. Music therapy was especially helpful for him. He is now moving toward recovery. He is talking more, having conversations, makes movies for the computer, and is a delightful child. He is able to voice what works for him and what doesn’t and it is important is that he has a family that respects the boundaries he sets. I think we all need to work on being more accepting and open to all these children and the adults they are becoming. They can enrich our lifes in ways we can’t even imagine!
I have a beautiful son who is incredibly inteligent lacks the debilitating social ‘nicety’s’ that so many of our ‘normal’ children are oppressed by and allways dances to his own drummer!! and I would not have him any other way…and he was also diagnosed with Aspergers syndrome when he was 5….so what do I think were the causes and are the causes? For my son I beleive genetics played a huge role, my dad was a genious who never was able to fit into society, had very rigid routines he adhered to and was a social disaster, gratefully after learning about my own son I realized that my father was also in this category of high functioning autism and we had the most amazing relationship in the last 8 years of his life…because I understood and did not aggravate his condition by trying to force him into acting like ‘normal people’. (so in other words I needed to be educated to understand what he neededand he did not need to be ‘fixed’)
yup, I also think that our toxic world contributes to and exaberates the condition, vaccines, and all of that,but their is no one cause! Our world needs to stop filling ALL of us up with toxic chemicals, none of us can afford to be assaulted by these toxins. But what I really think needs to happen is our proffessionals and scientists need to STOP trying to find the cause, there is no one thing that brings autistic symptoms to the surface annnd stop feeding into the paranoia and leading parents to beleive that this condition is some horrible affliction that has ruined their childs (and their own) life. Oh if only we as a society were willing to put that money and energy into early childhood dedection and then providing the intereventions (no matter the cost) needed to support the child to overcome the challenges they face (and not try to make them ‘normal’we dont need more ‘normal’ people)
and equaly important we need to educate the masses to the value of people with autistic tendencies, to be curious, take the time to get to know autistic people, rather then put them in the ‘nutso box’
How many of you are aware that people like Isaac Newton, Vincent Vangoue, Winston Churchill, Bill Gates, and possibly even Albert Einstien (some say albert was dyslexic but at any case he was not ‘normal’) just to name a few all showed classic autistic behaviors? or in Bill Gates case have been officially diagnosed. where would our world be withoout these beautful minds?
I was very lucky that when I was first introduced to the idea that my son was autistic I was handed an article that said “you know all those nutty proffessors that cant get their pants on right way round, who fill our university’s, they probably have forms of high functioning autism! And I said to myself “I would love and be proud to have a ‘nutty’ proffessor for a son!” and from that moment forward I worked hard to find solutions and stratagies for the MANY challenges he faced as a child but always from the focus of he is amazing for who he is and does not need to be ‘fixed’ just supported to find the right paths for him! and today at 15 many of those challenges dont exsist anymore, he is happy, gets a’s and b’s at school, has freinds who enjoy his ‘oddity’s’ and has a very high self esteem. he hopes to be a marine bioligist….I recognise that their is a spectrum of autism and that the lower forms present very different challenges but who are we to say that thier different way of being in the world is bad???it is simply not ‘our’ way!
I love what you wrote. My son is similar. Does your son work?
The vitamin D council has a very convincing argument on the role of vitamin D deficiency.
As a hearing therapist I’ve treated hundreds of autistic children. I believe, and most of their parents believe, that there was a clear demarcation between when the autistic tendencies began and it had to do with the third MMR shot. You say, “One of the interesting things about this study is that Dr. Lei found that NCABM2 mutations were also common in the family members of autistic children, though these family members had no autism themselves.” Those parents were the first generations to get multiple vaccines. Now the second generation children are having even more problems. Could this be caused by even greater weakened immune systems handed down to them by their parents weakened immune systems? Perhaps the toxins are not the primary cause at all but a secondary causative factor for the immune system, already weakened by second generation vaccines, to deal with.
I heard the audio of a Congressional hearing that took place Wednesday July 21 on alterative treatments for PTSD and TBI. One of the physicians was presenting evidence of efficacy of hyperbaric oxygen for TBI. He commented that his own autistic twins gained stunning improvement in their autism symptoms from hyperbaric oxygen treatments. He stated that oxygen heals wounds in the body, such as diabetic wounds, and it can also heal the brain.
I am convinced that toxins play a role as I have seen improvement when we use a patch to raise the level of Glutathione in the body and use acupuncture principles to move the energy in the brain. Glutathione is the body’s master antioxidant and it gets rid of toxins. Levels as high as 300% above baseline have been seen in 24 hours with the effects appearing that soon also. I can supply parents that can relate their experience. It gives some hope to a challenging, heart-renching situation.
It is looking like the effects of various malnutrition topics are affecting gene expression in the developmental stages of those stricken with autism.
In more recent time, the fat soluble nutrients/hormones, vitamin D, vitamin K2, vitamin A and minerals have gone missing. These seem to be implicated in the cause of autism and its increase in incidence.
Thank you, Ruth, for the tremendous body of work, gathering of folks in the forefront of current thought and practice, and offerings. I have read some of Stephen Porges’ work that might be of help to you, Dawn, regarding autism. Perhaps you have already read his work, too. If not, his articles can be found on his web site.
Just a quick response to the last commentator about resources for autism- you may wish to look at the work of Michelle Garcia Winner from Social Thinking. She offers new insights for understanding ASD and skills for teaching/treatment. I attended her workshop here in London and learned a lot.
Ruth, if you read this maybe you maybe you would like consider her as a guest speaker to one of your web seminars?
Suipnrsirg to think of something like that
I, too, would argue that vaccinations play a role even if not the sole cause. No matter what the ultimate culprit is determined to be, it’s too late to matter in my case. My child is autistic spectrum and my focus has moved on from cause to how do we help this child. More resources need to be available to non-celebrity families with limited resources for treatments and alternative options. Also, accurate diagnosis at an earlier age would have been EXCEEDINGLY helpful. Most are too quick to slap the ADHD label on every case of less than normal behavior.
Perhaps the causes are vaccines themselves from our attempts to prevent other illnesses.