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ADD / ADHD,
Dyslexia. It's a family issue. Improve grades and self-esteem. Evaluation and
non-drug therapy that really works!
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 Autism: Its Causes, Contributors, and Maximizing the Chance for Recovery
Ed R Meelhuysen, Co-Founder, Sharper Mind Centers, Inc.
Copyright
©
2008 Sharper Mind Centers, Inc. All rights reserved.
It is my studied opinion that autism
and its various forms (Autistic Spectrum Disorders) are caused by
neurotoxins in the brain, complicated or contributed to by a genetic
susceptibility towards a digestive metabolic disorder.
It is also my opinion that the neurotoxins
can be readily removed and the recovery process begun. The
brain may be rehabilitated to a lesser or greater degree, in some cases virtually eliminating
any sign or evidence that the autism at one time was present. The degree
of the recovery depends on a variety of factors. These include, but are
not limited to:
-
the severity of the neurological damage
-
the
age at which the neurotoxins are removed (the younger the better)
-
the gender of
the child (females may respond better than males)
-
the therapy utilized post
detoxification (is it broad-spectrum in its nature or narrowly targeted?)
-
compliance with continuing treatment (low level detox
and dietary restrictions)
This opinion stems over the years from reading a number of
articles and studies online and in my physician wife's medical journals, talking with a number of parents of children that have autism, as
well as working with children with autism and seeing some that no longer have
any identifiable symptoms of autism (essentially a full recovery).
Generally there have to be several contributing factors to
precipitate an autistic condition. Typically
there is a genetic predisposition to being unable to metabolize
grain proteins (a gluten intolerance), dairy protein (a casein intolerance) as
well as being unable to metabolize and eliminate toxins. Often in conjunction with this genetic deficiency is a cognitive
processing disorder. We see this
combination in about approximately 30% of the children and adults we work with
at our Sharper Mind Centers. Recapping
the combination:
-
Difficulty metabolizing gluten (permanent)
-
Difficulty metabolizing casein (permanent)
-
Difficulty metabolizing toxins (toxins are removable)
-
Presence of a processing disorder (usually resolvable)
This genetic deficiency appears to be most commonly found in those of
Northwest European descent: English, Welsh, Irish, Scottish and in the
fair-haired Scandinavian population (Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Finnish). However, most ethnic groups have this to varying degrees, and autism may occur
with or without the other components and other contributive factors.
Neurotoxins can come from a number of sources. They could stem from ingestion of foods that are high in mercury
content by the pregnant or breast-feeding mother, or exposure to toxins through environmental
contact. The latter might occur through the toddler eating lead paint chips
or drinking first-run water from a
faucet where the static water has absorbed lead or tin from the fixture.
Foods that are high in mercury content include tuna (esp.
white Albacore or light), American lobster and swordfish (click
here for a ranked list). The larger the fish, the higher up the food chain,
the greater the bio-accumulation of mercury or other toxins. Studies
have been done comparing toddlers whose mothers while pregnant ate foods high in
mercury with those who did not. Study
results clearly demonstrate that there is a diminishment in cognitive function
of the toddlers whose pregnant mothers ate foods high in mercury. However, it is not reported that any of these toddlers whose mothers ate
food high in mercury were autistic, just cognitively behind. Personally, I
don't recommend the eating of fish by pregnant women, but rather the usage of
flaxseed oil to obtain the necessary Omega-3 essential fatty acids (EFA).
Consumption during pregnancy of high Omega-3 containing foods that DO NOT come
from high-mercury fish have been showed to aid cognitive development of the
baby.
However, the greatest culprit in the introduction of toxins
to the brain has historically been through the vaccination process and schedule.
I should make the disclosure that my firstborn
child died two weeks after the baby received his eight week vaccines. Subsequently
my wife, a medical doctor, elected to delay
vaccination of our subsequent children until they were older. It should be noted that
we are not against vaccines per se, just
-
their over-implementation,
-
their too early application (start later and spread
them out over a longer period of time (i. e. from 6 months to 8 years
old).
-
the failure to consider the effect of the cumulative
dosages of the preservatives in the vaccines
-
the failure to consider the negative synergy or
toxicologic
synergy when a preservative is combined with a multiple dose of
pathogens (e.g. the MMR or DPT)
-
the failure to consider if the infant had received any
antibiotics that may have led to a yeast infection which affected the
metabolic processes.
-
the failure to consider the immunological strength of the
baby's system at the time the vaccine is administered. For example,
the immune system of an infant is weakest at around 2 months old.
Therefore administering vaccines should be withheld during this period or if
the baby has a cold, the flu or other condition.
-
the failure to consider any genetic issues.
There is a growing body of evidence that suggests that preservatives
in vaccines played a substantial contributive role in the outbreak of autism. The reason for preservatives’ usage in vaccines is that in multi-dose
vials of vaccine, the usage of a preservative is required in order to prevent
the spreading of a pathogen (virus, fungus, bacteria) within the vaccine bottle (FDA
website on history of preservatives). Early
in the history of vaccines, it was quickly discovered that if a preservative was
not used in a multi-dose vial, that if there was an
accidental introduction of a pathogen into the bottle of vaccine, the pathogen
would multiply and then be injected along with the vaccine into the
child. A high percentage of those
children died. Thus preservatives
were developed, with the most common preservative being Thimerosal.
"Thimerosal is the preservative of choice for vaccine
manufacturers. First introduced by Eli Lilly and Company in the late 1920s and
early 1930s, the company began selling it as a preservative in vaccines in the
1940s. Thimerosal contains 49.6 percent mercury by weight and is metabolized or
degraded into ethylmercury and thiosalicylate." http://www.naturalnews.com/011764.html
Thimerosal consists of approximately 50%
mercury (organomercury). When its
use first began, it was used in adult vaccines (esp. during the war effort) and with the larger size of
adults (as compared to children) and its infrequent utilization, no notable side
effects were noted. Subsequently Thimerosal was used in childhood vaccines,
again with no major side effects noted (incidence of autism 1 in 10,000). However
as the number of required childhood vaccines increased, the typical modern child
was receiving a greater load of mercury than a child born years earlier. In 1991, the number of vaccines jumped from 10 to
24. At this point, we began seeing a jump in the incidence of autism (which some
people are calling vaccination injury). More recently the number of recommended vaccinations has gone as high as
36. While arguments
are offered that this is done to prevent the child from getting a broad spectrum
of diseases, there is a risk/benefit ratio to everything, and I believe that our society’s
vaccination schedule is at this time promoting more risk than benefits.
Recognizing that there was a link
between vaccinations and autism, the government and various pharmaceutical
entities began a cover-up to disassociate the evidence from the result. Some of the ways they did this were to:
-
Sell the incriminating data to a private firm to prevent its
release subject to the Freedom of Information Act.
-
Diagnose children as autistic who really had another
learning disorder (i.e. reclassification to muddy up the analysis).
-
Develop a stated "mercury- free" vaccine, but where the bottles were still rinsed with Thimerosal and a portion of the Thimerosal was allowed to remain in the vaccine containers (this was reported to a doctor by an pharmaceutical company
insider). An analysis of many “mercury free vaccines” demonstrate that
they still contained mercury, albeit in smaller amounts than
before. Even the FDA website reports trace amounts of mercury in
a number of current vaccines.
-
and I suspect to craft studies to disprove the vaccination/autism
link and to broadly disseminate those study results to pediatricians and
other doctors to deal with the public's concern.
Studies start with the end in mind
"Lies, damned lies, and statistics" is part of a
phrase attributed to Benjamin Disraeli and popularized in the United States by Mark Twain: "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and
statistics." The statement refers to the persuasive power of numbers, the
use of statistics to bolster weak arguments, and the tendency of people to
disparage statistics that do not support their positions.” (Source)
I recall talking to a leading psychiatrist in the Portland, Oregon area whose firm works for pharmaceutical companies doing medication research
and the FDA required studies (I had done an in-service for the mental health
professionals on their staff). He
made the comment that if you are going to spend considerable money to prove the
efficacy of a medication or treatment (i.e. you start with the end goal in
mind), you first do a preliminary study in order to determine the criteria that
will yield the best results. Criteria such as: do you have to carefully screen
your test subjects, (if so, what are the best characteristics: age, weight,
gender, general health, family support, attitude, compliance, etc. ), control the
time of day the medication or protocol is administered, frequency of
administration, etc. Then one crafts
a larger study based upon this preliminary study. The results of the larger study are then essentially a foregone
conclusion.
Of course then the positive study results are published and if
adequate, the medication or treatment is approved by the FDA for usage across
the board (both on label and off label
prescribing). Patients and their doctors are surprised when a medication or
treatment protocol doesn’t work as promoted. Often side effects, which are not commonly seen in the carefully crafted
study, are more often seen in the general population when using the medication.
So studies can be crafted to prove just about anything, and
it is my opinion that the "large scale studies" that deny any link
between vaccinations and autism were crafted so as to produce the foregone
conclusion. They may have done this by isolating a single vaccine’s
implementation as opposed to looking at the negative synergistic consequences of
administering 24 to 36 vaccines within the first 24 months of birth. The
vaccines used in the study may have been "mercury-reduced" or came
from preservative-free batches (i.e. single dose vials). They may have
used an alternative preservative such as ethylene glycol (a component of
antifreeze) or aluminum. The
cross section of the population may have been skewed to include a high Hispanic,
Asian or Afro-American population which may have a lower tendency towards the
gene that contributes to a child's susceptibility towards autism.
So study research isn’t always as objective and unbiased
as it should be. And yet
professionals often discount anecdotal evidence even if the anecdotal evidence
is very substantial. As I mentioned earlier, I have spoken to a number of
moms whose children exhibited autistic symptoms within hours of receiving a vaccine.
As one mother said, "I had concerns taking my child in for the vaccination
but the pediatrician persuaded me that it would be alright. She was almost
to the bottom of her vial of vaccine [where incidentally the heavier
preservative tends to settle]. Within hours of receiving the vaccination,
my child stopped talking. It was heart-breaking and I have had guilt for
years since then." One of my former staff members had twin
grandchildren. Within 24 hours of receiving a vaccination, one stopped
talking and didn't communicate again verbally for nearly 2 years.
Jenny
McCarthy and Jim Carrey are actors and parents actively involved in
autism-related causes. They have an autistic child Evan, which they have
been able to help to a substantial level of recovery.. McCarthy is the author of
the book "Louder Than Words: A Mother's Journey in Healing Autism."
She has spoken to many moms and dads who also observed their children become
autistic after receiving a vaccination.
It is my opinion that strong and consistent anecdotal
evidence is a clue, and that if an unbiased study was truly to look at the factors
involved, it would turn up the self-evident results. However most current studies are not funded in an unbiased environment,
but rather are funded with the end in mind, usually by the pharmaceutical
companies who stand to gain or lose if their products are approved or denied, or
by government researchers who don't want to shut
off the vaccination pipeline for "national security" or other purposes
(why
an EIi Lily Protection act?).
The close relationship between the FDA and pharmaceutical companies (it can be a
revolving door between the two at the higher executive levels) is unfortunate
and the lack of the FDA oversight, properly guarding the American public, has
contributed in the widespread distrust of this organization and the government.
Another study that needs to be redone on a larger scale was
the small study of 12 children done by the University of Texas that demonstrated that 100%
of children given methylphenidate (the active ingredient in Ritalin,
Concerta, Metadate) for ADHD developed chromosomal abnormalities consistent with
long term cancer risk. 100% is called a clue. (Search)
But who would fund a larger, longer term study that would truly be
unbiased? Would the pharmaceutical companies that would be at risk of diminished
revenues or increased liability (or would they rather craft a study to prove
that it doesn't)? Would the government fund such a study and risk taking
many kids off of meds? Can you see why clues are ignored? As my
astute wife has said, "If something doesn't make sense, follow the money or the power."
Seizures and autism
Many autistic children experience seizures
or tics. Generally
these types of events are caused by neurotoxins lodged within the sensory motor
cortex. Because the mind-muscle
feedback loop is not functioning properly, the sensory cortex of the brain that
receives the input from the sensors that feedback a muscle’s position to the
brain improperly interact with the nerve cells that fire those muscles, and a
seizure or tic results. Eliminate
the Neurotoxins and often the seizures can be eliminated.
Example: a mother brought her six-year-old boy to us who
was experiencing 5 to 8 seizures a day including convulsive, grand mal
seizures. He often wore a helmet
to protect his head when he blacked out and took a fall. The boy did not have any speech or language function and virtually no
emotions. We began by putting him
on our rapid intensive detox protocol. The
mother reported that within three weeks, the boy was seizure free. He remained seizure free for almost 6 months until the toxins due to
his inability to metabolize toxins begin accruing again resulting in some very
minor seizures. The mother then
placed him on a low maintenance detoxification protocol to keep him seizure
free. After the detox protocol, he began to make speech efforts,
revealed a teasing personality and was interested in fun things, was able to
discontinue a ketogenic
diet that he had been placed on, and was more responsive to additional
therapies.
Recovery protocol
So, if your child has autism or you suspect so, what can
you do?
-
Detox quickly and safely of the majority of the
neurotoxins (~5-6 weeks for our protocol), and then maintain the individual on a low
detoxification protocol for the rest of their lives.
-
Eliminate the use of gluten products
-
Eliminate or dramatically reduce the use of dairy products
-
Use highly absorbable vitamins and minerals to help
offset the malabsorption disorder and provide adequate nutrition for the
child
-
Use brain growth stimulating therapies to improve brain
function, especially auditory integration therapy, sensory motor integration
therapy, balance therapy and visual therapy.
The Sharper Mind Centers program which addresses each of these areas
(and much more) is probably one of the most effective for stimulating the
brain to grow properly.
Detoxification and chelation therapy
Chelation therapy has been around for many years and has
many proponents. However, I feel
there are much more effective methods with lower side effects and substantially
lower costs. The best detoxification
therapy includes the usage of binding agents that are negative ionically charged
ingestible minerals such as Calcium Montmorillonite and Zeolite Clinoptilolite. Use of a negative ionically charged footbath can also be helpful, but
does not replace use of the ingestible minerals.
Highly effective for
larger children and adults is also combining use of the binding agents with a fasting protocol, or
spending extended time in a low heat sauna (not recommended for young or thin
children). Sharper Mind Centers can provide most of these items including rental of
an ionic footbath if that is of interest, along with training and instructional
materials. Please note that this detox protocol is
"experimental" in that it is not an approved treatment by the
FDA. However, the FDA has ruled that the ingestible materials are under
the GAS (Generally accepted as safe) classification.
Uncommonly seen side affects during the detox period may
include some emotional volatility, drooling, hair loss, intestinal discomfort
and flu-like symptoms (Herxheimer
affect) as the toxins are pulled out and replaced by beneficial
minerals. These side affects usually last only a few days to a week or
so. If these are seen, decreasing the amount of ingestible binding agents
and extending the duration of the detox may be helpful.
The initial detox process generally takes 4-6 weeks, but as
mentioned earlier, due to the individual's difficulty in metabolizing toxins,
over time toxins of some nature will begin to accrue again, so a low dose, maintenance
detox needs to done on a regular basis (e.g. once a week, twice a month, etc.).
Eliminate use of gluten and dairy products and
other considerations
As was discussed earlier, it is common for someone who has
an autistic spectrum disorder to also have the same gene that causes Celiac
Sprue disease. This condition is
also known as mal-absorption disorder. There
is a lot of information on the Internet on Celiac Sprue and how to go on a
gluten-free diet, recipes, restaurants, etc., so I won’t cover that here.
What’s really challenging to go gluten free and be a vegetarian at the
same time.
If your child is struggling with the foregoing, other
things to watch out for include autoimmune disorders such as Hashimoto's
thyroiditis.
Nutritional supplementation
Studies have shown that often the systemic nutritional
levels of those with Autism is less than what one would suspect. I believe
this is due to the malabsorption disorder that most of these have. Therefore it is essential to incorporate highly absorbable nutritional
supplements into their daily regimen. This includes both vitamins and
minerals. Liquid vitamins are best, though capsules or tablets can be
used. To test if a tablet or capsule breaks down readily, drop it in a
glass of warm water and see how long it takes for the tablet to break apart.
It should take no longer than 5 minutes, preferably less than 3. I don't recommend the use of "Performance"
or high potency supplements as the
trace elements or unique components in these may have undesirable side affects
that the autistic child may not be able to tell you about. Stick with a
good basic supplement. I do prefer a concentrated food supplement as
opposed to a chemically derived one.
Processing disorders
It is also very common (based upon the numbers we see at
our Centers) that a child with a gluten/dairy intolerance will also have a
cognitive processing disorder. It
appears the same gene or a related gene that contributed to the autistic
condition also contributes to improper development of the
left hemisphere, especially the auditory, visual or sensory-motor cortices, or
the speech and language cortices. These
impairments can result in impairments in auditory processing (central auditory
processing disorder), visual processing (remembering what they see, proper
orientation of the visual), or issues with gross or fine motor skills (esp.
handwriting and drawing). Therapies
that promote the development of each of these areas should be done in order to
promote cognitive development in a challenged child or adult, even more so in a
child seeking recovery from vaccine injury.
The Sharper Mind Centers program is likely the most intensive,
broad-spectrum program available to most families and we address each of these
areas and more. We service families from a wide number of states and internationally. We invite you to review this website
(www. SharperMindCenters.
com) for more
information on overcoming cognitive disorders and how we work with long
distance families.
I also invite you to call me at toll free
1-866-HELP-A.D.D. to discuss your situation.
Ed Meelhuysen
DISCLAIMER: None of the statements above have been evaluated by the FDA. All content presented herein has been compiled to provide
information to you. Always consult a physician or board certified health practitioner before taking any product. Use the information at your own risk.
References
Comments:
Here are a couple of links to Jenny McCarthy's interview
with Larry King Live on the subject of Autism.
Studies? What Studies?
In
the referenced article Thimerosal in Vaccines on the FDA website, in
reviewing the Bibliography on the Studies on Safety and Effectiveness of
Thimerosal (text copied below), note that NONE
of these studies had anything to do with intravenous injection of Thimerosal
compounds into an infant or young child. Some of the study
applications included
use of Thimerosal in nasal sprays, ophthalmic related uses (i. e. for cleaning contact lens,
ophthalmic drugs), hardly the same thing. We don't put contact lens on
babies and we don't usually give them a nasal spray. So how do these studies
correlate to the real world of infant vaccinations and why are these studies
even listed?
Bibliography
Studies on Safety and Effectiveness of Thimerosal:
- Batts AH, Narriott C, Martin GP, et al. The effect of some preservatives
used in nasal preparations on mucociliary clearance. Journal of
Pharmacy and Pharmacology 1989; 41:156-159.
- Batty I, Harris E, Gasson A. Preservatives and biological reagents.
Developments
in Biological Standardization 1974;24:131-142.
- Beyer-Boon ME, Arntz PW, Kirk RS. A comparison of thimerosal and 50%
alcohol as preservatives in urinary cytology. Journal of Clinical
Pathology 1979;32:168-170.
- Gasset AR, Itoi M, Ishii Y, Ramer RM. Teratogenicities of ophthalmic
drugs. II. Teratogenicites and tissue accumulation of
thimerosal. Archives
of Ophthalmology 1975;93:52-55.
- Goldman KN, Centifanta Y, Kaufman HF, et al. Prevention of surface
bacterial contamination of donor corneas. Archives of
Ophthalmology 1978;96:2277-2280.
- Keeven J, Wrobel S, Portoles M, et al. Evaluating the preservative
effectiveness of RGP lens care solutions. Contact Lens
Association of Ophthalmologists Journal 1995;21:238-241.
- Naito R, Itoh T, Hasegawa E, et al. Bronopol as a substitute for
thimerosal. Developments in Biological Standardization
1974;24:39-48.
- Wozniak-Parnowska W, Krowczynski L. New approach to preserving eye
drops. Pharmacy International 1981;2(4):91-94.
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