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.

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.

Just in case you missed it, last week, we took a look at the basics of Biofilm. If you did miss it, go on and get caught up, and then come on back.  In summary, Biofilm as a slime like organism that can form almost anywhere where water is present. One of its favorite places to form is in the human gut as well as in the bloodstrean and on teeth. That little fur coat that your teeth seem to be wearing after no brushing your teeth? Yes, that’s Biofilm. In most cases, Biofilm hides itself so well that it is often not affected by even the highest and strongest doses of Antibiotics.

The interesting thing about Biofilm is that once it is broken down during Chelation, it gave off a large discharge of toxic metals into the bowel. This was detected in stool samples. Interestingly enough, a stool sample taken from someone before Chelation may not have shown that high metal level. See how smart Biofilm is? Until its accessed and broken down, it isn’t detected. If it’s not broken down, it’s just holding onto bacteria and metals that can contaminate the body.

High levels of toxic metals has been known to be something that is often found in those with Autism. A large amount of Autism treatments include the removal of these metals and improvement of symptoms has been noted. If these toxic metals are hiding deep inside of a matrix as biofilm does, it makes the removal a bit more difficult.

Enter: Biofilm Protocol Treatment:

The Biofilm Protocol was developed by Dr. Anju Usman and her staff during the Defeat Autism Now (DAN!) Think Tank. It wasn’t discussed much as it was relatively new at the time. The idea of the protocol is to break down the Biofilm by targeting the fibrin that biofilm needs to form. Breaking down the fibirn is done with the help of enzymes such as silk-worm produced serapeptase. Once this has begun, then the body must be trained to recognize what’s about to be released. If the immune system doesn’t recognize the broken-down biofilm, then one may get sick. It’s not always about killing the bugs and sickness. The idea is rewiring the gastrointestinal system to that those bugs cannot exist.

The protocol was also developed keeping in mind that the body may have to go through a heavy metal detox since the biofilm may be holding onto toxic metals like aluminum and lead.

The Protocol itself is meant to be a 2-3 month process and comes in three steps:

ONE: Detatchment of the Matrix - the Matrix is where the biofilm hides itself, so it’s essential that this is broken down. Chelation is often used to be able to disolve the minerals in the matrix to initiate a breakdown. This is done on an empty stomach.

TWO: Targeting the Microorganism: Since the biofilm is now unprotected, a dose of antibiotics is given to the body to attack it.

THREE: Clean up:  The body is given anything that can bind up the matrix and potential metals in the gut.

This isn’t an overnight treatment. It took a while for the body to get to the point where the infectious biofilm forms and is hiding to the point where its affecting the body, but undetectable. So, reversing the situation also takes a bit of time.

In 2009, at the Lyme Induced Autism Conference, an interesting point was brought up concerning the outbreak of MRSA.  The most effective antibiotic to MRSA was vancomycin.  However, it wasn’t effective because there was a biofilm. When the drug was combined with EDTA (a Chelation agent), the elements of the biofilm were extracted and the film was broken down. This shows that the idea of breaking down the biofilm and then dismembering the matrix has been effective in other situations as well.

What is “DAN!”?

DAN! stands for “Defeat Autism Now!” and is a project which was initiated by The Autism Research Institute to educate parents, caregivers and therapists about the biomedical approach to healing autism and biomedical testing and research.

The Autism Research Institute (ARI) believe, as do I, that autism is a treatable condition and that psychotropic drugs, with all of their side effects, are not the best way to treat autism spectrum disorders. The ARI, and many physicians and researchers, believe that there are more effective ways to alleviate, and sometimes cure, these disorders.

Mission Statement

The Defeat Autism Now! project’s mission statement is:-
“Defeat Autism Now! is dedicated to the exploration, evaluation and dissemination of scientifically documented biomedical interventions for individuals within the autism spectrum, through the collaborative efforts of clinicians, researchers and parents.”

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