*Nutrition, Supplements, and Biomedical Therapies

Traditional Medical Doctor's Tx approaches:

Medications: serotonin re-re-uptake inhibitors (SRI)

Many side effects, especially with appetite! This can hinder their muscle tone, brain function...

Also, major impact on GI tract (they already have these problems, this makes it even worse!)

If doing meds longer than 6 months, they need a pediatric dietician to help. Any medicines used for greater than 6 months greatly hinders the functioning of the uptake of nutrients for the body and brain functioning!

Anti-Psychotics (Risperdal, Zyprexa, Closzaril) same as above problems.

Stimulants (Ritalin, Adderall, Dexedine) decreases growth, their growth charts don't move once they are on these! Research shows that stimulants can have an impact on the child's height and growth! This isn't just inhibiting growth of their bodies, it is stopping growth of the brain as well. How can we expect them to learn if their brains aren't being fed? They need an experienced Pediatric Dietician to help with diet!

Another treatment: Education, IEP team is vital to work together and all get on the same page!

Nutrition should be in the IEP and IFSP. How well are they going to respond to PT, OT, SLP if their brains are not getting the essentials that they need, if they are malnourished , if they are not getting enough protein to supply the transmitters? Ask a pediatric dietician to the meetings!

Nutrition- Comprehensive Nutritional Assessment needed on IFSP and IEP, if they are growing then their brain is growing, if not....Child should be able to do basic life skills in IEP also. They should be able to make a menu, a choice in good foods, go shopping, and make the meal! This is vital to life skills! This should be in their junior high IEP! The grocery store is very overwhelming and stimulating so this takes practice!

Conventional Therapy: Behavior Modifications, ABA (Applied Behavioral Analysis ) etc. WHAT IS THE MOST COMMON REWARD? Bad junk food! Sugar is causing cavities, hurts to chew, as well as insulin releases which causes the release of adrenaline to increase sugar level when it drops. The body is up and down with sugar levels up and down and adrenalin being pumped out. This makes a child aggressive, irritable, moody, with no attention - a bad day!

Get off the food reward system for many reasons.

Artificial colors make symptoms much worse and aggravated.

Complementary Therapies: Nutrition is related to the following as well:

Art therapy: until they get comfortable feeling textures they are not going to accept different foods in their mouth!

Music: speech development and language comprehension, auditory stimulation, all of this affects nutrition. How? When you eat at school, home it is a social situation and very stimulating, Auditorily they want to eat fast, get out of there quick! After lunch, have no class that is academically challenging (do PE, art, therapy) because they have to calm down and need a sensory calming break after this experience.

Animal therapy: riding on the horse, touching the hair, texture experiences.....

Homeopathy:

Chiropractic: Cranio-sacral

TCM: Traditional Chinese Medicine

Ayurveda: diet-based tx, oldest medicine to man, use food and detoxification! Ha!

Alternative Therapies: the term alternative is a bad term, call it Integrative treatment, combining all of the above therapies to put together all the puzzle pieces to help the child! Dietary & Biomedical fall under this category usually...

Nutrition Interventions:

1. Basic Daily Supplements: every day they need multivitamin and minerals

2. Essential Fatty Acids: Omega 3 and ALA

3. High Dosage: Vitamin B6 and Magnesium and Vitamin A

4. Diets

BE CAREFUL...not every child needs all the nutrients recommended forever...some are good at periods of life, some are good forever...

Nutrient therapy should not be a chore and should not make you go broke!

Vitamin and Mineral supplements are vital to all children!

Statistics in America: only 1% of children's diet met all dietary requirements set by the US government standards.

If a child is obese, they can still be and usually are malnourished! Children with autism, LD, ADHD , etc. are even at more risk. Limited variety of foods, mealtime behaviors, elimination diets, food allergy, sensitivities, intolerance, chronic GI disorders...

Subclinical Nutrition Deficiency is the global subtle effects of lack of nutrition

Preliminary: depletion of tissue stores

Biochemical: reduced enzyme activity

Physiologic/Behavior: subclinical behaviors

Clinical: you know you have a problem

Subclinical behaviors: anxiety, moody, poor concentration, loss of appetite, depression, sleep problems, irritability. Try going without lunch, go without a meal for a few days, see how you feel!

How to select a vitamin and mineral supplement:

1. Passed a lab test (USP, Consumer Lab, NSF international) go to these websites and look up the vitamins and minerals and these independent labs test them and tell you what is really in them! (For example: the newest and most advertised vitamins for children are the new "gummy bear" multivitamin, when tested by these labs they found LEAD in them. Why are they still on the market? Money talks.)

WEBSITES: www.consumerlab.com, www.nsf.org, www.usp.org

2. Read the label and avoid: artificial flavors and colors, known allergens, herbs, copper, iron

*artificial colors can worsen: irritability, runny nose, asthma, mood changes, attention problems,

*Herbs: the problem is that herbs are medicine. You don't need them every day. They aren't essential nutrients.

*No copper: higher levels of copper found in autism children and it has a redox property, highly reactive O2 molecules that can damage DNA in our cells...

*Iron: same as above, too much can cause redox property, generate excess O2 molecules, damaging DNA in our cells.

Ask your doctor to check the ferrotin levels of your child. This is a sensitive blood test to check for iron deficiency, test again 6 months later. Take iron out if they aren't deficient, especially boys because they can't get rid of iron monthly like girls.

**Drop vitamin in a cup of vinegar for 15 minutes, if it dissolves completely then it is biogradable and dissolves in your system, if not then it is not good. Go to Consumer Labs website and see results: www.consumerlab.com, www.nsf.org, www.usp.org

3. Make sure that the vitamin is comprehensive: don't use baby vitamins for growing children...

What is needed in a multivitamin?

Fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K)

Vitamin B complex (B1,B2,B3,B5,B6,B12, folic acid, biotin)

Vitamin C

Minerals - calcium (hard to get enough, and you will need a separate supplement), magnesium, zinc, selenium, manganese, chromium, molybdenum

Specialized Supplements: you write out what the patient needs and have it compounded at a pharmacy. Ask the dietician to do this! Write a letter to the insurance company from dietician and they state that it is medically necessary that the patient have this, some insurance will pay for compounding. Appeal, appeal, appeal!

Medicaid will cover vitamins, minerals, and all kinds of supplements, and most patients aren't aware of this. Contact Medicaid at the state level, and ask for a copy of the OTC product list... Village Green can do it very inexpensively because they buy in bulk! www.the-apothecary.com

How do you get these into the child? Gradually and slowly! Mix in with juices, fruit smoothie, Rice Dream, fruit sorbet, pudding, peanut butter, jelly, honey, ketchup, cooked foods, homemade juice pops....Go to the health food store to buy smoothie mixes, and let them choose which one they want!

ESSENTIAL FATTY ACIDS: extensive studies have been done on these and they are ESSENTIAL!

Neurodevelopmental Disorders and EFA's: numerous studies indicate that Omega-3 fatty acids are deficient in ADHD, dyslexia, and dyspraxia (poor muscle coordination and speech). Abnormalities in fatty acid metabolism may account for many features common in these conditions.

"Reported DHA 23% reduced, total Omega-3 20% reduced, and Omega-6 unchanged in blood plasma levels in children with autism."

Functions of EFA (Omega-3):

- Brain development of the fetus, infant, and young child through life

- Maintenance of normal brain function

- Vital for brain cell signaling

- Prominent structural fatty acid in the gray matter of the brain and retinal tissue and is

- Very important for visual processing (deficient in reading disabilities)

Differences between Omega-6 and Omega-3... Plenty of Omega-6 in the form of linoleic acid in vegetable oils. This gets converted to Prostaglandin-2 ,which is addictive, and causes heart disease.

American diet is 20:1 Omega 6 to Omega 3.

EFAs : World Health Organization recommends the following intake daily for ALA ,DHA ,EFA:

ALA-Alpha-Linolenic Acid 800-1100 mg/day (high in Flaxseed oil, flaxseed, walnuts and wheat germ)

EPA & DHA (300-500 mg day) (found high in white tuna, sardines, herring, salmon farmed in Atlantic, trout, Mackerel)

Formula for children: take the weight of the child (4 year old 35 lbs/150=.23 * 500= 117 mg.) To know how much they need of these.

• National Academy of Sciences says that a minimum of 60,000 infants a year are born neurologically impaired due to too much fish when pregnant...or too many Rhogam shots and vaccinations, they aren't sure where the Mercury comes from yet...don't take any chances.

• Don't eat shark, swordfish, king mackerel, tuna fish, or tile fish.

• Independent testing labs are pulling tuna off the shelves and found that the FDA admitted that there is more Mercury than what they reported to the public on average, the average is much higher than reported! Reconsider 12 ounces a week, the current recommendation for pregnant and nursing women. This is 4 times the safe level of mercury while pregnant!

Source: FOR ADULTS

Cod Liver Oil 500mg/1/2tsp

Coromega 650 mg/packet (fish oil product that they take out the heavy metals) Flavor tastes like orange pudding

Fish oil supplements 300 mg/capsule

Omega-3 enriched eggs 150-400 mg

1/16th of a tsp with flavored Cod liver oil is not that hard to get into the diet!

Check mercury levels in local fish please...this is a big problem. You can go to the local state website and check levels of toxins in fish there. It is better to catch and release!

Because most children do not consume enough essential fatty acids, adding these to the child's and adult's diet is essential

Can you get too much of these? Adults with heart disease are taking up to 1,000 to 3,000 mg a day of EFA's to thin the blood. The only issue is blood thinning if taking THAT MUCH.

Note: Take off a week before surgeries.

Nutritional Interventions:

- High dosage vitamins and minerals

- B6 and magnesium used to treat neurological disorders has been used to treat depression for years.

-Promising research for schizophrenia and autism...severe PMS...morning sickness...

-B6 functions: neurotransmitter synthesis (serotonin, dopamine, GABA (used for seizures as well to reduce excess firing of brain), norepinephrine) for a calm sense of well being, attention, focus, concentration

-B6 also for formation and maintenance of CNS.

- 8mg B6 per pound a day recommended mostly

- Recent research in last 6 months shows strong need for B6 to control seizures.

- Without magnesium, B6 is not as effective. ADHD magnesium is needed for 200 mg of it a day.

Therapeutic effects of B6 and magnesium (over 1000mg a day was used in research) lowers HVA, average cortical evoked response (AER)less of an over reaction to auditory and visual information!!!!

How to try it on a child? Super Nu-Thera from Kirkmann Labs with a high level of B6 and Mg with 12 forms to choose from. Go to www.kirkmanlabs.com Talk to a DAN practitioner or dietician for this.

If already taking Cod liver get it without Vitamins A & D or get a Specialized Supplement from a local compounding pharmacy or www.the-apothecary.com

Vitamin B-6:

Do a behavior chart for a few weeks, and see case studies.

NOTE: You have to fix GI problems before you can work on potty training...if they have runny stools, etc. they can't train, their GI systems are out of control, and when that's the case, you can't expect them to learn to control it themselves. You also have to fix the GI tract first because you have to get the body to absorb these nutrients and vitamins and supplements! How do you do this? Probiotics.....see notes later.

Can you get too much B6? Sensory neuropathy: if any tingling in hands and feet. Levels under 500mg a day in adults it is very unlikely to see this according to PDA.No reported cases of sensory neuropathy in children or children with autism to this date. Neurologist can check this.

There is enough research to support B6 trails with magnesium.

- B12 injections: these are being used in certain parts of the country. Autism research website and they have info on B12 injections.

Vitamin A: Dr. Mary Megson used to 2 tsp a day of Cod Liver Oil which is a very high dosage.

Her research was related to the DPT vaccine, which separates the G alpha protein from retinoid receptors in the brain. Vitamin A may reconnect the hippocampal G-alpha protein which can help with vision, eye contact, etc.

Over dosage is a common concern with Vitamin A therapy: blurred vision, MS in coordination, liver damage, neurological problems...

Acute:Infants/children 25,000 IU kg single dose (88 tsp of Cod liver oil)

How do keep them from overdosing: Don't let them drink it like a can of coke!

Chronic: too much for a daily basis - Infants 12,500 day or children 16,500 (1 tbsp a day or 3 and 2 tsp a day)

Should only be 1/4 tsp a day!!!! BE SAFE AND MEASURE TWICE!

Many do not feel comfortable with high dosages of Vitamin A. Check levels in blood first, as they may be getting enough if diet is very good.

DMG Dimethylglycine:

*not a lot of research out there to support this but it's been around since 1960's under the name vitamin B15

*Therapists and parents are seeing expressive language improved with this supplement

*Water-soluble and effective within 1 week

*Proposed to help many things, though the only research supports that it helps the immune system. Researchers used different level of DMG (lower) so the research is still out. Clinical observation is best at this point

*DMG Dosage suggestions: Autism Research Institute has come up with an average:

less than 70 lbs: 2 125 mg tablet 1-4 times a day

70-120 lbs: 125 mg up to 4 times a day

if no response up to 4 times a day stop!

Should you recommend DMG? Yes - there have been good responses in expressive language. If they have Aspergers or ADHD don't use this, or you'll get too much talking! If Autistic then you may want to try DMG.

Other nutrients:

Cognitive and Muscle Functioning

Carnitine: helpful for PT and OT therapists when a child has low muscle tone. This nutrient is critical for going to the cell body, picks up long chain fatty acids, carries to the mitochondria, releases ATP for energy for the cellular level, then empties out. It impacts muscle tone, attention, focus, in lethargic, laid back, "don't like to move around a lot" kids. This nutrient is very helpful for those children with low muscle tone. Ask the doctor to do a Carnitine level blood test, and if low, supplement! MD can prescribe a medicine called "CARNITOR" this is better than over the counter!

Others:

*Carnosine: cognitive antioxidants protecting the brain from lipid oxidation, & prevents fat in the brain from being broken down. This is good! The brain is fatty and needs this!

*Coenzyme Q10: adult vitamins have this now; it keeps the brain intact.

*DMAE works with Choline: this is a nutrient used to make acetocholine, which helps you concentrate and pay attention. These work together. In OTC products for attention such as Pediaactive

* Be careful with American Ginseng and Ginkgo Biloba since they are herbs.

Nutritional Intervention related to diet:

ADHD and other neurodevelopmental disorders have a much higher rate of allergies to foods.

What is an allergy? an adverse immunologic response to food protein. The immune system decides it does not like the food. The protein in the food hits the gut and is broken down to a peptide. The peptide should normally be broken down to an amino acid, sent to the brain, and made into lean muscle mass, brain cells, but it isn't in these children...

For example, if a child is given too many antibiotics, then the leaky gut lets the whole peptide leak into the blood stream. The immune system has a problem with that, so it release IgE, which engulfs this, explodes, and releases histamines and can occur in the GI tract, skin, respiratory system. You see this with the symptoms of rashes, redness on face and around the mouth, runny stool or constipation, or asthma.

2^nd mechanism: reacting just on a cellular level, allergy reaction on the cellular level is chronic, not acute. Can drink milk, eat bread, and the reaction happens later and then you can't tell if it's symptomatic of the food. This primarily affects the GI tract.

Food sensitivity: the immune system does not respond, but still have allergy reactions still. Usually these are linked more to the stuff put in food such as additives and flavorings.

Intolerance: defect in metabolism deficiency to metabolism.

Symptoms of food allergies, intolerance or sensitivities:

* Skin-hives, eczema, atopic dermatitis.

*Respiratory: cough, wheezing, asthma

*Intestinal: GER, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, chronic constipation or loose stools

*oral: swelling in mouth or throat

*eyes: tearing

*nose: congestion, drippy nose runny nose, sneezing often, inflammation, sinus problems

Food allergies can actually cause neurological problems in the brain: depression, ADHD, Headaches, inflammation on the cellular level in the brain! ADHD-EEG done while sleeping saw that these children with food allergies had messed-up deep sleep/REM cycle and sleep cycle, had increased night waking, which in turn causes behavior problems, and their long term memory which happens in REM cycle was greatly affected!

90% of food allergies are: Milk and dairy (including Goat and Cow=s milk), wheat, eggs, soy, peanuts, and tree nuts

Can a child outgrow this? As they get older the immune system can get more mature and if you fix the GI tract so that it is less leaky then it also helps with allergy problems.

How do you know?

Lab test: IgE mediated food allergy RAST (a blood test - not exact and a lot of false negatives)

Prick skin test: these are all not as effective. Many false positives with the prick skin test.

Ask for BOTH tests...take the common factors in both tests!

Other tests: IgG ELISA measuring IgG antibodies, commonly ordered by DAN! Practitioners. There are a lot of limitations to this test, it has not been proven just yet. Food elimination based on IgG antibodies helpful in IBS in women in a recent study.

What about the allergies that are just on the cellular levels? You can't test for these allergies yet.

ELIMINATION DIET: You want to identify food allergies! What is going on in the child that you don't know about (headaches, stomach aches, sinus pressure, runny nose, rashes and redness on face, etc.)? Take them to a doctor that takes this seriously, Mom and Dad have to challenge the doctor or find one that will test this! *You may want to get a referral to a board-certified allergist, and Ask for an IgE and RAST blood tests. And ask them to check for seasonal allergies, dust, dog, mold, ragweed, trees, air borne allergens. For instance, after your pillow is older than 6 months 1/3 of the weight is dust mite - allergies! Also, make sure you use a mattress pad, HEPA filter on vacuum and air purification.

Nutrition Therapy DIETS:

SPECIFIC CARBOHYDRATE SYSTEM: Parents of children discovered the SCD, tried the diet, and got positive results. The SCD has been recommended recently for autism. This diet is carbohydrate-free, at first, and then gradually adds them back in when the GI tract is healed. This diet can be helpful for some children, but make sure you are doing supplements and probiotics and healing the GI tract as well.

OPIOID EXCESS THEORY: Casein and Gluten Free Diet, (CFGF) started in 1979 b/c children with autism have higher levels of incompletely digested peptides called gliadomorphine and casomorphine peptides in the urine from not being able to break these down. They're then sent to the kidneys and bladder to excrete. The theory suggested that if they are not all getting out, they are going to the brain and having a opioid affect on the brain. Many parents have tried this diet and had many significant responses. Try for 3 months at least and stick to the diet, without cheating, to truly know if this is a good thing for your child.

Most common positive responses: better sleep cycle, improved GI tract, speech and communication, focus, and attention. There is no lab test that is validated to identify children who are likely responders.

Remember that 90% of food allergies are wheat and milk? Those things removed in this diet. Another theory related to gluten and casein is that children with autism are sensitive to wheat and milk because of allergies to the foods, not an opioid excess. If you are going to do a Gluten free Casein-free diet take them off of SOY as well as wheat, egg and milk! Any child with allergy symptoms may need a GFCF diet.

Findings:

18% children with autism had Milk, soy, wheat allergies

92% when taken off these allergens had a positive response and better behaviors, sleep, decreased eczema, etc.

WE are the only country in the entire world that eats so much wheat and milk. It is becoming very commonly known that these are causing inflammation, autoimmune responses, allergies, migraines, etc. This can benefit many people. Your gut controls the general functioning of your brain and body. What you are eating has so much to do with any medical, behavioral, emotional problems. Foods are just chemicals once they hit the body, and not all foods/chemicals are for everyone.

BIOMEDICAL TREATMENT: best resource is "Children with Starving Brains" by McCandless MD and grandmother of an autistic child.

This area is becoming very popular in the world, but is almost polarizing the medical community. Most MDs won't pay any attention to the lab tests or recommendations, and parents end up with paying for this themselves. Many parents are having huge results from biomedical treatments.Get the DAN! Protocol : Biomedical Assessment Options by Dr. Rimland, PhD. DAN! Practitioners, have embraced this philosophy. You don't have to be an MD to be a DAN! Practitioner, you can go to a nurse practitioner, whomever. Best if a physician, though.

Studies indicate that children with ASD exhibit atypical immune function: abnormalities in T-cells, lower percentage of helper-inducer cells, etc. "...The research is showing that these children are very more susceptible to low levels of toxins and causes severe neurological and developmental impairments from conception on...."

"In Harm's Way" www.igc.org/psr Free download on how our environment is affecting the great rise in disorders!

Chemicals in our environment that affect children:

1. Metals: lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic, manganese.

Any level of lead can cause problems...

Ask the parents when their child was last tested for Lead? Must be below 1; if their lead level is not below 1 then detox.

2. Pesticides on everything we eat and drink are toxic: (organophosphates, pyrethroids, organochlorines)

3. Solvents: (toluene, xylene, styrene, trichloroethylene, alcohol)

4. Other (dioxins, PCB, nicotine, flouride)

Why do certain children have problems getting rid of all this and others don't?