With 1 in 110 kids having autism, early detection is crucial to their treatment and their leading as normal a life as possible.

You’ve seen the commercial.  The one where the narrator gives the chances your child makes it as a professional baseball player, astronaut, ballerina, or some other hoity-toity career title.  Then she gives the sobering static for the chances your child gets autism:  1 in 166.

As shockingly high that risk is, it’s got nothin’ on the latest stat.  The CDC now says that autism affects an astounding one in 110 children!

Autism is a developmental disorder that affects the way children communicate with the outside world.  The symptoms of it—e.g. aggressive behavior, throwing tantrums, inability to interact with others, repeating words over and over, being oblivious to dangerous situations—cost parents thousands of dollars annually in treatment for a disorder that remains enigmatic.  The only thing that is known for sure is that its impact varies from person to person and its genesis is believed to derive from genetic mutations in the brain formed at birth.

The fact that autism is increasing so rapidly—a 1,148 percent growth rate—suggests that environmental factors may be to blame as well.  Perhaps the prevalence of chemicals and additives in our foods?  Maybe.  Overexposure to lead and mercury from tuna fish?  A definite potential culprit.

Whatever the causes are, it’s important to be aware of the symptoms of autism because early diagnosis is crucial.  There’s no known cure for autism, but early detection allows professionals and supplements the ability to better treat a brain that’s not fully formed.  Early diagnosis can help the autism-affected brain learn how to better cope with the disease so it doesn’t affect their adult life as much as it would were they to be diagnosed late.

There are many signs and symptoms of autism, but some of the most common ones include repeating the same words over and over, arm-flapping, avoiding social interactions, avoiding eye contact, fascination with parts of things (e.g.  a spoke on bicycle wheel), throwing tantrums, odd forms of play, and not wanting to be touched.

Because autism is a disease that affects the brain and its development, be on the lookout for supplements that promote blood flow and oxygenation to the brain.  These include dimethylglycine and choline.  Both improve brain function and oxygen circulation.

For vitamins, vitamin B complex has proven helpful.  Besides the fact that it improves circulation to the brain, vitamin B complex helps the body better absorb nutrients.  Past studies have shown that kids with autism often have gastrointestinal disorders, and vitamin B improved their ability to digest foods more easily.

Because autism forms early in life, recommended doses should be halved if the child is between six and 12, be three-quarters of the recommended amount if they’re between 12 and 17, and be one-quarter of the amount if they’re under six.

Sources:
autism-society.org
news.yahoo.com
Balch, Phyllis  A.  “Prescription for Nutritional Healing.”  4^th Edition.  2006.  Avery:  New York

Vitamin E supplementation shows improvement in children with autism.

The famous former prime minister Winston Churchill will be forever remembered as a stalwart conservative, but no one could call him conservative in his commentary.

Never one to pull punches, Churchill called it like he saw it, with utterances like “I may be drunk, miss, but in the morning I will be sober and you will still be ugly,” “There is no such thing as a good tax,” and “A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.”

He applied this quote to anything that was mysterious or difficult to explain.  And while Churchill wasn’t known for applying this quote to diseases or health matters, I have no doubt he would have applied it to man’s understanding of autism.

Though science has come a long way in determining just what autism is, it still remains that riddle wrapped inside a mystery inside an enigma.

What is known about autism is that it’s a developmental disorder that overwhelmingly affects young children, boys primarily.  It’s typically diagnosed between a child’s first and third birthday, and is characterized by an inability to communicate, aggressive behavior and/or repetitive motions.

There’s no known cure for autism, so treatment options really run the gamut, much of it depending on the severity of the child’s condition.  Prescription drugs and therapy are often required, but there’s been an ever increasing investigation into analyzing the diet of a person’s autism.

In a past column written on autism, I talked about the common food allergies the scientific community often sees in people with autism.  Today, the scientific community is looking into what autistic boys and girls may be lacking in.

For instance, writing in the journal Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, Russell L. Blaylock discusses his findings about how children with autism might react to dietary interventions.  Past research has indicated that children with autism are often neglecting in vitamin E.  Using this knowledge as a backdrop, Blaylock recruited 187 children to see how their supplementing with vitamin E and omega-3s might affect their symptoms.

According to Blaylock and the parents’ assessment of their autistic children at the conclusion of the study, all of the children showed improvements in virtually every aspect that autism tends to affect after supplementation:  speech, eye contact, motor skills and sensory perception.  At the start of the study, all of the children were deficient in these areas of communication.

As with all studies, more needs to be researched before making any broad-based conclusions as to how vitamin E and omega-3s can counter the effects of autism.  But this is certainly a welcome finding in a world that’s dominated by advancements in drug therapy treatments.  There’s no question that some prescription drugs have done wonders for millions of people, but advancements in natural medicine is a breath of fresh air.

Sources:
rightwingnews.com
nhiondemand.com
alternative-therapies.com