New Autism Cure - breakthrough treatments and cures for autism

As a parent, making the decision to see a DAN! doctor is a difficult task.  Surely, you will search the internet until the wee hours of the morning trying to figure out where you can find a DAN! doctor, what’s going to happen in your appointment, and the benefits of the DAN! protocol over currently mainstream Autism treatments. This week, we hope to shine a little light on the DAN! protocol, DAN! doctors, and what you can expect at your DAN! appointment.

It becomes more and more evident with research that a biochemical disruption has, at the very least, a small connection to Autism. A great deal of specialists, researchers, and parents of Autism believe that it has quite a large impact on the developmental disorder that is currently affecting 1 in every 110 children in the USA.

Where Can I Find a DAN! Doctor?

A simple internet search will bring up many lists of DAN doctors. (We like this list for US doctors and this one for international doctors) It may be somewhat difficult to get a recommendation from your family doctor depending on his or her personal views on the DAN! protocol and the DAN practice in general. Be prepared to hear reasons why you shouldn’t see a DAN! doctor. Listen to the reasons, but also take a look at the reasons why it may be a good move for your child. After all, isn’t that what it boils down to? What’s best for your child?

What is a DAN! Doctor? What makes them different than a regular pediatrician or family doctor?

If you’re a parent, then you probably just “knew” something was going on inside your child’s body. As parents its just nature to realize if something is wrong. Maybe you made an appointment at your family doctor. If that was the case, you may have walked out with a suggestion to go through a battery of tests. Or, you may have walked out with a prescription for a psychiatric medication that would help calm the symptoms.

Some Autism families decide to use psychiatric drugs prescribed by their family doctor to control Autism symptoms, but these drugs do not balance the biochemical levels. However, with the biochemical connection, some parents decide to choose an alternative medication doctor who can target the specialized biochemical imbalance. These doctors, called “Defeat Autism Now” or DAN! doctors are credentialed doctors who go through DAN! training and develop skills to treat Autism using alternative forms of medical treatments (or DAN! protocol) which explores treatments beyond psychiatric drugs.

DAN! Protocol? What is that?

The Defeat Autism Now! Protocol is a series of alternative medicine solutions for Autism. There are several avenues that a DAN! Doctor may explore, but traditionally, the following plan may be enforced.

-Dietary intervention: Omission of Gluten (Wheat) and Casein (Dairy) products from your child’s diet. Additionally omitting junk foods that have refined sugar.
-Vitamin and Mineral Supplements - To balance out the dietary changes, replacement minerals and vitamins that the body may lack will be supplemented. Some of the vitamins and minerals commonly supplemented:  Magnesium, Calcium, Vitamin D, Vitamin B5.
-Chelation - the removal of heavy metals which have proven to be very destructive to the Autistic body
-Treatment of intestinal bacteria

What can I expect at my DAN! Doctor Appointment?

A large determining factor of what to expect depends on the doctor. Many parents report a friendly and helpful physician who is just as interested in the road to a cure as you are. Their focus isn’t so much on treating the symptoms of Autism so much as healing the damaged, Autistic body. With this approach, symptom improvement often comes naturally.

Your child will more than likely go through a battery of testing mostly revolving around the state of their internal body. A test for hidden food allergies will be conducted to be sure that any dietary changes that are made as part of your child’s treatment plan are beneficial and not more damaging to them.

You should leave with your questions answered and a customized treatment plan for your child’s needs. If you have questions, ask, ask, ask. Remember, these doctors chose to be DAN! doctors. They believe in this treatment method, and want to see your child healthy.

It is believed that Mercury plays a large role in adversely affecting brain cells in people with Autism. Those who don’t believe that Mercury is the culprit mostly stand by the results of tests being done on the brain, and mercury not being found. It makes sense - if there is no Mercury being found, then how is it affecting the body? Out of sarcasm, some naysayers say “What, is the Mercury hiding or something?”

In a sense, yes.

In order to remove Mercury or other heavy metals, they must first be located. The brain is showing signs of effects similar to mercury, but it’s not being found. The mystery has stunned and stumped researchers. Until now.

A few weeks ago, we talked a bit about Biofilm. (Feel free to catch up by reading the post here).  As a brief summary, Biofilm is the substance that bacteria, parasites,  and other microbes often hide themselves in to avoid antibiotics and other treatment methods. Not only are the hidden bacteria damaging, but it has been found that the biofilm itself may contain damaging contents, particularly heavy metals.

For some time, we were unable to break down the Biofilm, or find out what its contents are. Researchers have found that digestive enzymes from the earthworm family can be utilized to assist in the digestion of the Biofilm and to release not only what the protective matrix is holding onto within it’s walls, but also what it’s covering up, which is often infections, bacteria, parasites and other gut disturbing particles.

It has been found that heavy metals often are part of the Biofilm matrix. Because the Biofilm is negatively charged, it attracts things like heavy metals which are positively charged and holds tight to them. The Mercury and other heavy metals being in the digestive system cause the same effect on brain cells as they would if they were actually contained in the brain.

In order to detoxify the body of such metals, they have to be released out of the grips of the biofilm. Once they’re released Chelation therapy can be initiated in order to remove the metals.

Sounds good, right?

As with many things, the proof ends up being in the results. As logical and simple as this all sounds, what have been the results of finding biofilm in the stomach, breaking it down, releasing the metals and bacteria, and detoxing the body?

There are several posts throughout the Autism Message boards discussing biofilm protocol. One testimonial in particular that I’d like to share is from Grace.

Grace has a young daughter, Jaden who has Autism. They began the Biofilm Protocol, and while very rigorous and time sensitive dosing of medication was involved, she saw results. Grace reported that Jaden was very ornery, and learned to lie and steal. She also was having very large and interesting bowel movements. In a nutshell, Jaden is a handful. Grace says:

“Why do we put up with this?, you might be asking. Because all of those difficult moments mean the yeast and bacteria are being pulled from their mucousy biofilm, where they were safe before, and killed! Once the protocol is over  Jaden will likely not need antifungals very often. We sent off her urine two weeks ago and received the results today–proof that the protocol is going to work for Jaden!

The good things we have seen: much independence! Getting out of bed on her own and turning on the TV and petting the cat while waiting for me to come out. Getting dressed completely on her own. Getting her own drinks from the cooler and the refrigerator. Using words like ‘disgraceful’ and ‘gross’. Having a phone conversation with her sister and answering every single question–correctly! Enjoying (and asking to go to) the public library and picking out books for herself. Then making me read them over and over and over. She learned to zipper and isn’t afraid of the vacuum anymore!”

Though Autism is often considered to be the incurable condition, there are researchers all over the world studying and making connections between Autism and other psychological disorders. Most recently, a team at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine discovered a connection between a rare disease affecting Amish children and the commonly diagnosed Autism and Epilepsy disorders.

The researchers found that a mutation in the STRAD-alpha gene can cause a rare but severe brain disorder known as Polyhydramnios, megalencephaly, and symptomatic epilepsy (PMSE). Characterized by abnormally increased brain size, PMSE also affects sufferers with its cause of difficulties with cognitive function and epilepsy that is not responsive to medication or treatment.

In animal case studies, animals that lacked the STRAD-Alpha (also called: STRADA) protein,  the pathway for another protein called mTOR is opened. In humans, this opening may promote abnormal cell growth that leads to cognitive impairments especially in children. It’s been found that  STRADA and mTOR are proteins that make up the complicated molecular structures that are often found in Autism and other behavioral conditions.

Mutations of the mTOR proteins are found in several disorders including uberous sclerosis complex (TSC) and other conditions that feature brain tumors. Unlike PMSE, it’s not STRADA but a different protein is affected by the pathway opening. TSC is a much more common disorder with approximately 1 million sufferers worldwide. Researchers find it to be very interesting that a rare disorder like PMSE and a not-so-rare TSC are comparable by their molecular pathways.

Adding PMSE to the list of disorders that is affected by the mTOR pathway is a great advancement in the treatment of Autism. Because PMSE shares some of the same symptoms and characteristics of Autism, it sheds a bit more light on Autism and other similar disorders. The more information that researchers find about possible causes and sources of Autism, the more that they can work towards successful treatments.

When something is ailing us medically, doctors send you to get a complete workup complete with blood, stool and urine samples to determine what’s, well, ailing you. If it’s something detectable, like a urinary tract infection, heightened sugar level, or an irritated liver, then you’re diagnosed as such and given a treatment plan.  There are some conditions, like Autism, that up until now, have not been able to be detected without a series of tests. A new report that was released in the Journal of Proteome Research claims that Autism may be able to be detected via a urinalysis.

As the report explains, children with autism have a different makeup of bacteria located in their guts. Learning more about and looking at the genetic by-products of this bacteria that is found in urine may be a key way to determine whether or not a child has Autism.

Autism isn’t simply a gastrointestinal disorder. As families with Autistic children know, it’s much more than this. It affects social and communication skills. Autism is a very difficult disorder to live with. It’s also a very difficult disorder to diagnose.

The experiment itself consisted of three groups of children between the ages of 3 and 9. There were 39 children who were diagnosed with autism previously, 28 non-autisic children with an autistic sibling, and 34 children who did not have autism or an autistic sibling. The results showed that each group had a different chemical makeup. The 28 children who did not have autism, but had an autistic sibling, had a different makeup than the children who did not have autism or an autistic sibling. Additionally, the 39 children who were diagnosed with Autism had a different chemical make-up than both of the other groups.

What does this all mean?

Right now? Not a lot. But it has a lot of promise.

As it stands right now, Autism is diagnosed by a battery of tests from brain scans, blood work, social skill assessments and etc.  Once the Urine analysis approach is perfected, it will take a lot of lost time out of the treatment schedule utilized for those with Autism. For example, starting on a Gluten Free, Casein Free diet is much more difficult if it’s all a child has known since they were young. Being able to detect this chemical difference in a simple urine exam would enable parents and physicians to immediately begin a treatment regimen early in hopes that a greater result will be experienced.  The earlier treatment begins, the greater chance for there to be positive results from it.