New Autism Cure - breakthrough treatments and cures for autism

Last week, we explored the basics of Homotoxicology. (You can catch up by reading last week’s post).

The focus of homotoxicology is to rid the body of harmful toxins in order to promote self healing. The Homotoxicology method of treatment believes that the body possesses the innate self-healing mechanism and can treat and prevent illness, and that disease is the culmination of toxins in the body.

The philosophy of homotoxicology is that disease develops over six steps or phases. These phases are listed below with their related symptoms and reactions:

1) Excretion Phase

The excretion phase is the expulsion of toxic products. It is characterized by intense sweating, difficulty concentrating, coughing, sneezing, tears, joint and body aches, electrolyte shift, and increased susceptibility to disease and infection.

2) Inflammation Phase:

Acne, menengitis, conjunctivitis, acute sprain,  acute bronchitis, urinary tract infection, weak immune system.

3) Deposition Phase:

Obeisity, gout, gallbladder or kidney stones, intestinal polyps, and nasal polyps.

4) Impregnation Phase: (invasion of toxins into the cell):

Allergies, Asthma, migraines, chronic gastritis, glucose intolerance, chronic infections, autoimmune disease, chronic urinary tract infections, hypertension, and insufficiency of the lymph system.

5) Degeneration Phase:

Alzheimer’s, macular degeneration, congestive heart failure. renal atrophy, anemia, fibrosis, diabetes.

6) Dedifferentiation Phase:

Tumors, Cancer.

The first two phases are part of the Humoral Phase. The defense system is intact and the body can excrete toxins via numerous pathways.

Phases three and four are part of the Matrix Phase. During this phase, the biology of the cells in the body begin to change.

The final two phases occur in the Cellular Phase. At this point. the body cannot excrete toxins.

Homotoxicology is not a substitute for medical treatment, so much as a supplement to it. It can treat any of the conditions and diseases listed in the phases of disease development. Practitioners who study homotoxicology assess which stage the disease is at, and which phase it falls into.  The treatment plan will depend solely on the stage of the disease and the condition of the patient.  The smaller scale and acute symptoms are often treated first, and then the chronic condition.

As the body is detoxified, the idea is that the disease or condition will become a “lower” phased condition, and enable the body to heal itself. The typical treatment plan will require 12-18 weeks of consistent treatment. The more severe the condition, the longer it may take.

In a case like Autism, we have spoken about the need to detoxify the body of toxic metals. This detoxification, in homotoxification theory, would enable the body to begin to heal itself. Without being completely free of toxins, the body has the inability to promote it’s natural ability to heal itself.

The basic idea of homotoxicology is to restore the body’s chemical balance by detoxifying. It shares the same idea as Chelation, which is the process of removing heavy metals from the Autistic body. With homotoxicology, homeopathic remedies are given to help the body learn to heal itself. A belief of homotoxicology is that every human being regardless of age, race, gender, or nationality has the ability to instill healing mechanisms  and processes within themselves that can prevent and treat illness.

Homotoxicology was developed in Germany over 50+ years ago and is becoming more and more studied and used at this point in the Uniter States.

Practicing homotoxicology promotes the idea that it is believed that almost every disease is the result of an overabundance of toxins within the body.

In order to start the process, homotoxicology calls for homeopathic remedies to be administered to the body. Homeopathic remedies are FDA approved and are given orally, topically, via inhalation, or by IV injection. A great deal of homeopathic remedies are all natural and have been developed organically from animals, minerals, or plants. Once the remedy is in the body, it goes to work aggressively to stimulate the part of the body that is believed to be able to heal itself. Small amounts of remedies yield to the body practicing its ability to restore its health.

Another view of homotoxicology is that “Like yields like”. In short, this means that the side effects of a remedy may cause a similar reaction to that which is being treated. In essence the body is being given a substance that will trigger these symptoms to train the body to fight them. You can compare this to a chicken pox or flu shot that injects the body with the condition to get the body educated on how to fight.

Because of the dangerously high amounts of chemicals just in our oxygen, let alone through our homes, or supermarkets, or any public place, the body can pick up disease, sickness, and chemical traces rather easily. Toxins that are picked up from an external source are called Exogenous. The liver, kidneys and skin membranes do their best to take these chemicals and rid the body of them.

Endogenous toxins are created inside the body and reak havoc on the body just as the exogenous can. These toxins are often the result of nutrient deficiencies, emotional traumas, psychological stress, and histamine. These conditions constantly generate toxins that can adversely affect cells, tissues, organs, etc.

Next week, we’ll take a look at the homotoxicology process and dig a bit deeper into this holistic type approach to Autism, Diabetes, and other diseases in which poor chemical balance could exist.  You won’t want to miss next week’s post.

Meanwhile, please as any questions you might have regarding this process, and we’ll address them accordingly!

A new study conducted by a professor at the University of Memphis suggests that Autism can be detected through speech patterns and signatures of children with the disorder. The study focuses on the analyzing of sounds produced rather than words in children.

The theory supports the idea that many Autistic children have an inability to communicate effectively, and rather than words, produce grunting,  or random sounds. Analyzing these sounds at an earlier age, when it’s typically considered “baby talk”, could be the key to diagnosing Autism.

The research study was headed by Dr. D. Kimbrough Oller, professor and chair of excellence in audiology and language pathology. Dr. Oller hopes that LENA (Language Environment Analysis) will enhance the study of language development and Autism.

LENA itself is a pocket-sized processor and analysis software. Running the processor is an algorithm developed by Oller and his team that analyzes 12 aspects of language development. The LENA processor fits into the pocket of the child’s clothing and records a full day of his/her speech. It detects and differentiates between crying, attempts at talking, etc. It also can tell and filter out other voices and background noises.

Oller says that his LENA was 86% successful in detecting Autism in children. The system can detect the difference between speech patterns conducive to Autism,  typically developing children, and children with a language delay.

LENA will hopefully give parents a much more cost efficient way to diagnose their child with Autism. In fact, Oller hopes to get LENA to the point where it is offered in family doctor’s offices. This way pediatricians can conduct the test, analyze the speech, and then make the decision whether or not to refer the family out to an Autism specialist.

Currently, the average age of diagnosis for Autism in children is between 5 and 6 years old. This is typically well after the average child begins speaking, communicating, and functioning at a more advanced level. Dr. Oller and his team say that LENA can bring that age down to 18 months. The sooner autism is detected, the sooner that appropriate treatment methods can be implemented, and the chance of recovery and improved symptoms heightens.

An online report of the aforementioned study can be found online in the July 19th edition of   Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The behavior of Autistic children can be a very challenging thing to handle. From temper tantrums, to self-injury, to repetitive, destructive behavior, parents often don’t know where to turn to for behavior modification techniques. When “No!” doesn’t work, and time outs are ineffective, it almost seems as though it’s a lost cause. Behavior Modification Therapy focuses on these outbursts and trains the Autistic mind to relate good behavior with good feelings.

In the shoes of an Autistic Child…

If every day you went to work, did your 8 hours, and didn’t get paid, would you continue to do go to work? If you started a new diet, and it claimed that maybe someday you would be healthy, would you continue to do it? Life is all about the reward system: if you do something correctly, then you receive a reward. What the reward might be is relative to the situation, but if you seek value in that reward, you’re sure to do what is required in order to get it.

If you went to work late everyday, sat around and did nothing and still collected a paycheck, would you continue to go to work? If you were on a diet that allowed you to eat as much candy as you wanted, but promised that you’d lose weight rapidly, would you remain on the diet? Probably. Life is also about consequences. If your reward isn’t taken away when you do something against policy, then you never learn right from wrong. How are you to know that going to work late is wrong, or that eating candy is bad, if you’re not given a consequence to your action?

You Need To Say Exactly What You Want To Get Exactly What You Want

For this to be a structured approach, it’s important that you identify three main ideas to the new method:
1) What exact behavior are you looking for from the child.
2) How long do you wish for the child to apply this behavior?
3) Under what circumstances should the behavior be preformed.

For example, if you are having an issue with your child throwing a temper tantrum every time you try to put their shoes on, this can surely become a great hassle. In this situation, the behavior you’re looking for might be to calmly sit on the sofa, and allow his/her shoes to be put on. The  duration of the action may be for 2 minutes or until the shoes are on and tied. The circumstances would be when it’s time to go outside and you have to wear shoes. The goal here would be for the child to learn the idea that “When it’s time to go outside and put on shoes, I have to sit on the sofa for 2 minutes until my shoes are tied”.

Creating a reward system and sticking to it

Why should your child put their shoes on? Of course it prevents mommy and daddy from going nuts from all of the screaming, but what does the child get out of the deal? If there’s no reason or reward for them to do it, then why in the world should they?

It is our own natural defense mechanism to avoid pain and gravitate to good. If you don’t know the difference, then how do you know which direction to go? Behavioral Modification creates a reward system for desired behavior, and enables the child to create healthy behavioral patterns. If they do the right thing, they receive a reward. Whether it be a hug, a high five, 5 minutes to play a video game, the key is to make the reward be something that the child wants. If you try giving a child who doesn’t like ice cream and ice cream cone, that’s not considered a reward.

In our shoe example, let’s assume that the child loves hugs and sandboxes.In this case, we may want the child to think “When it’s time to go outside and put on shoes, I have to sit on the sofa for 2 minutes until my shoes are tied, and then I get to go outside and play in the sandbox and get a big hug from Mommy”.

You Might Need a Little Help…

Unless you have your PhD in Behavioral Health hanging in your office, you probably aren’t completely sure on where to begin. There are plenty of specialists available who can help get you and your family on the right track to behavioral modification. True to form, you as the parent should keep your eye on the reward:

A happier, healthier child. This is probably above all, the best reward we could offer.

In any child, or person for that matter, it is important to keep the body healthy and balanced. We hear all of the time how the body has too much of some things and not enough of others and it causing havok on the body. With more and more research pointing to the theory that Autism is in fact a biochemical disorder, the benefits of  maintaining a healthy body are becoming more documented and studied especially in Autistic children.

Some of the most commonly studied and practiced methods are diet modification, and vitamin and mineral therapy. Each method has its own purpose but aim for the same goal: maintaining a healthy autistic body to reach increased functioning and decreased symptoms.

Diet Modification

We’ve spoken before about the benefits of changing your childs diet. There have been plenty of studies surrounding the omission of Gluten (wheat, bread) products and Casein (dairy) products. In many children with Autism, there are issues with stomach and gut. The first thing that doctors typically suggest is the removal of gluten and casein from the child’s diet.

Some parents report that getting their children to stop eating wheat and dairy products is similar to trying to get an addict off of drugs. Their children seem to fiend for wheat and milk, and parents end up giving in because they finally feel they can give their child something that they need and want. Think again and maybe a little more literal into the “addict” comparison.

When digested, gluten and casein are broken down into peptides; glutenin and giladin respectively, attach themselves to opiate receptors of the child’s brain. This means that wheat and dairy products can act like narcotics and children can literally be addicted to them.

So, how do you get a child off of Gluten and Casein? Luckily, these days there are many wheat and dairy substitutes in grocery stores with the boom of vegetarianism and all-around body health awareness.

Vitamin and Mineral Therapy

Because of the dietary needs and habits of children with Autism, it has been found that a great deal of children are lacking the proper vitamins and minerals in their bodies. Even as fully-grown, healthy adults we often focus on the proper amounts of vitamins and minerals each day. Specific supplements have been documented as helping aid in the alleviation of autism symptoms and increasing the level of functionality.

One specific mineral that has been often studies is DMG (Dimethylglycine). DMG is found, albeit in small amounts in brown rice and liver. Chemically it resembles vitamin B15. Some of the improvements noted by administering DMG (available over the counter in health stores) are attention span, social awareness, eye contact and speech.

Some parents report an increase in hyperactivity with DMG, but have found success with an alternative, TMG (trimethylglycine).  The same improvements have been reported in TMG as in DMG.

There are quite a number of ways to keep the body healthy. Of course, parents are looking for the methods with the highest result. Which method will decrease symptoms and alleviate some of the everyday frustrations that come with Autism? You know that we can’t answer this directly simply cause each child’s body makeup is different. What might be good for one child, may be counterproductive for another. You may have to try one, two, or ten methods. Stay optimistic, even with minor setbacks, that you will find a method that will work for your child.

Autism is a puzzling disorder. Almost too appropriately, the universal logo and symbol of Autism is a puzzle. When you find out that your child has Autism, you’re going to be flooded with information on treatment methods from doctors and specialists. There are a variety of available treatments, but when you’re still suffering from the shock of the diagnosis, it’s difficult to tell the difference of each treatment. Here are a few of the most commonly used treatment options.

1. Behavioral Modification

Often in cases of Autism, children have difficulties with maintaining acceptable behavior. Hitting,  self injury, temper tantrums, and other like behaviors are common and damaging to the child and their families. Behavior modification treatment focuses on refining the behavior by initiating a reward system for acceptable behavior. Children are rewarded with hugs, high fives, toys, or something that they enjoy so that they associate good behavior with positive reinforcement.

2. Dietary Modification

It has been found that diets that are high in gluten or casein can be damaging to the autistic body. Eliminating these wheat and dairy items can be easier said than done because they’re often such a large part of a child’s diet. With substitution and new skills, parents can learn how to remove these foods from their child’s diet and allow their inflamed guts to heal.

3. Communication Treatment

Social interaction is another area in which children have a hard time performing in when they are diagnosed with ASD. Very often, Autistic children are unable to speak or communicate effectively and this makes it difficult to understand what it is that your child needs or wants. Communication treatment or Speech therapy explores other methods of communication such as non-verbal communication that can enable ASD children to communicate on a level that can be understood.

4. Chelation

Chelation is the process utilized to remove damaging heavy metals from the body. Mercury, iron, and other metals are often found in the Autistic body and can have negative effects on the brain making Autism symptoms even worse. Another source of damaging metals is Thiomersal, which is found in many childhood vaccines. Chelation Therapy includes the administering of chelating agents to remove heavy metals.

5. Treatment with Medication

When it comes to treating Autism with medication, since the ultimate cause isn’t known, you aren’t really treating the Autism so much as the symptoms. With Autism often comes depression, anxiety, and behavioral challenges in which doctors are quick to hand over a prescription for an anti-depressant.  While this can give symptoms a pacifier and can make living with Autism somewhat easier, there’s no one medication to treat autism.

An ideal treatment plan will focus on your individual child’s needs and interests. For example, if you have a child is is very interested in toys and enjoys playing with them, toy therapy may be a beneficial treatment for them. It’s perfectly okay to explore different methods of treatment to find which one works best. While there is no cure for Autism, there are a decent number of treatment options that can be very beneficial to treating the symptoms and body damage that Autism brings with it.

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.

Though it’s not completely proven, there have been studies that show a strong connection between food allergies and autism symptoms. One of the most frequently heard connections is that between Gluten (wheat) and Casein (milk) products. These food proteins are broken down into smaller proteins, also known as peptides. The two peptides, glutenin and gliadin, and leak into the gut and attach to the opitate receptors of the autistic child’s brain. This is very similar to the body being on a morphine drip. The peptides act as a Narcotic to the autistic body.

One of the primary steps in the Defeat Autism Now! (DAN) Protocol is that the autistic child be placed on a Gluten Free, Casein Free diet for at least three months. Many parents have been reporting a link between Autism and diet for years, but it’s now being found that children who consume gluten and casein regularly have more severe autism symptoms. Some of the research reports that claim to “disprove” this theory, also depend a lot on the idea that this is an allergic reaction that is being claimed to exist. Quite the contrary. In fact, it’s not due to an allergic reaction that the symptoms worsen. It’s because the autistic body cannot break down the proteins properly from gluten and casein.  It’s not necessarily an allergy so much as an intolerance.

When parents make the move to take their children off of Gluten and Casein completely, they’re often worried. One of the main concerns is that their children love gluten and casein products. Many parents have a difficult time getting their children to not eat gluten and casein, as if they’re addicted to it. This is more than just an analogy. It could be completely true. Remember, when gluten and casein break down, they leak into the gut and attach themselves to the opiate receptors of the brain. The same receptors that morphine, codeine and heroin attach themselves to. Your child could literally be addicted to gluten and casein.

Researchers are firm in their statements that “autism is not caused by an allergy.” When some parents read about the effects of gluten and casein, they assume their child is allergic to the foods and that’s the cause of Autism. They take their children off of the foods and expect a cure. Again, as far as we know, autism is not caused by an allergy. However, children with Autism Spectrum Disorders are very sensitive - especially in their immune system in how it reacts to the environment.

One of the primary focuses of the Autism Alternative Medicine field is exploring ways in which we can treat our children’s autism symptoms and getting to the source of the problem. While there have been some reports that go against the connection between food allergies and Autism, there are still researchers who very much believe that there is a valid connection and they’re exploring this intensely.

If someone would have recommended you to try HBOT 10 years ago, chances are that you would have thought it was some new-age robot that helped you with something like housework. How helpful it would be to have a machine that would do the impossible. Today, though it’s not as universally known, more and more people realize that HBOT isn’t a robot - it’s a highly successful treatment of many brain traumas.

The Basics - What is HBOT?

HBOT is an acronym for Hyberbaric Oxygen Therapy. “Hyper” means ‘increased’, and “Baric” relates to pressure. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) is the intermittent treatment of the body with 100 precent oxygen at pressures greater than the atmosphere.

When 100% oxygen is delivered to the body at an increased pressure, much of the oxygen is absorbed by the blood stream and carried to necessary organs and tissues. This delivery of pure oxygen helps antibiotics and other medications work better, and activates white blood cells in order to ward off infection.

How Does Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy help Autism?

Oxygen Free Radicals are a developing brain’s worst enemy as they attack and destroy developing brain cells.  There are naturally ocurring antioxidants in the body whose job in the body is to attach these Oxygen Free Radicals and balance them out. Studies have found that the levels of this antioxidant are very low in a large amount of autistic children.

Delivering 100-precent oxygen to the Autistic body as is done in HBOT,  stimulates an increase of SOD (superoxide dismutase), one of the body’s most important antioxidant. SOD seeks out Free Radicals in the body and works to balance them out.

What Can I Expect With HBOT?

There are many pictures of Hyperbaric Oxygen Chambers available on the internet. They can be a bit overwhelming and downright scary for a parent considering the treatment for their child.  The process itself is simple, and the patient is made to be as comfortable as possible. Many children enjoy the time in the space-ship like chamber.

An HBOT treatment is usually an hour long. The patient is placed on a cot-like bed and rolled into the chamber. For the hour, 100% Oxygen is released into the chamber, and the patient breathes it in. The pressure is increased slowly throughout the treatment and at the end, the patient is slowly decompressed and then exits the chamber.

During the treatment, the patient is free to watch TV, listen to music, talk with friends/family in the room, nap, read, or generally anything. The chamber has 360 degree vision as to avoid any claustrophobia or crypt-like feelings.

Does HBOT Really Work?

As with every treatment for every disease and disorder, there are those for the treatment and against the treatment. Worldwide, many conditions are being treated using Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment and there are many success stories.  Some of the other conditions that are being treated using HBOT include: sickle cell anemia, Cerebral Palsy, Stroke, and Multiple Sclerosis. Though, there are over 100 conditions in which the HBOT chamber is being used to treat.

The question was: “Does HBOT Really Work?” - and we don’t have an answer for each person individually. We’d love nothing more than to declare, “YES! It works for us and it will work for your child!” But, we can’t. The effectiveness of any treatment is going to solely depend on your child’s specific condition and body chemistry. There have been success stories; children who show less destructiveness and aggression; but it’s not for everyone.  Scientifically, however, the treatment just makes sense. A primary cause of brain cell destruction is the abundance of Free Radicals. Delivering 100 percent oxygen to the blood stream enables the production of an antioxidant proven to seek out these Free Radicals. It just makes sense!

So, I want to try HBOT for my child. Now What?

Contact Us! We have an Autism Consultant - Yvette - who is here to help you with any questions or concerns that you might have. We have leads on HBOT Chambers and treatment centers available.