Holistic Therapy for Autism - a few key issues

Neurotoxin and associated inflammation and hypoperfusion (lack of circulation) of the brain tissue are always the focus of the therapies for autism. However, if the body detox function is impaired, neuroinflammation won't get better easily unless the whole body issues are addressed. Here are several clinical concerns worth to be discussed in details:

Food intolerance and other sensitivities

A group of autistic children shows hypersensitivities. Their parents clearly state that the child is sensitive to food and environmental factors. But other parents do not recognize this sensitivity issue so obviously. From my experience, most autistic children have sensitivity issues. If they are sensitive to food, they may express the symptoms like diarrhea and bloating. However if they are only sensitive to the nutrients such as vitamins, minerals and sugar etc., they may not show food allergy symptoms clearly, but show whole body metabolic blockages and detox blockages. Generally speaking, sensitivities are either inherited or a result of high toxicity. With sensitivity and compromised immune system, the body enters a vicious cycle. Without addressing sensitivities, the body never reaches optimal detox function and never get out of the cycle completely. Therefore, desensitization therapy is not just for allergies. It helps the body regain its function and gives the body a fresh start to heal the damages. Also read allergy desensitization.

Candida and Parasites

Most of the autistic children have digestive problems more or less. Weak digestive system is a result of toxic damage and pathogen overgrowth plays a major role here. Because of the malfunction of the immune system and frequent usage of antibiotics, candida yeast overgrowth becomes a common problem. Symptoms include bloating, constipation or diarrhea, sugar craving, mental fog, high inflammation, sleeping problems, increased mucus production and sinus congestion etc. Also read Candidiasis for details. Candida hides inside the intestinal membrane and causes damage to the membrane system. This condition is called leaky gut, which is believed to be the cause of many digestive problems.

Parasites are also common in autistic children although it may not be easy to be detected through stool analysis. The common sign of parasites is that the child is a pick eater and tries to eat many odd things other than food. Body weight of those children are lower than normal kids. They may or may not show constipation or diarrhea. Parasites and candida often come together. But the treatment has to be carefully monitored and timing is also critical. Most of time we do not treat them together. Pathogen releases extra toxins when dying out. Strong treatment plan may results in toxin overloading in the body and the child's behavior going backwards. We usually treat candida and parasites when whole body detox function has recovered somehow.

Leaky gut

Leaky gut describes a condition that there are damages on intestinal membrane and the damages cause mal-absorption of nutrition and leakage of toxins to the body. Pathogen overgrowth is the major cause of leaky gut. The weak healing ability and low membrane regeneration also play a role here. Leaky gut can be a main cause of body's toxin accumulation and high inflammation condition. Meanwhile, partially digested food also leaks to the body and leads to food intolerance and food allergies. Therefore leaky gut is the center piece of the whole body puzzle to health. To treat leaky gut, not only pathogen should be addressed, whole body healing ability, adrenal function, membrane regeneration function should also be addressed as well.

CF/GF diet

Casein is a protein in dairy product, while gluten is from wheat. Some people have trouble to digest them well. Partially digested casein and gluten may leak to blood and behave like morphine chemicals and react to the receptors of brain tissue. The common reaction for casein and gluten is spacy and mental fog. For autistic children, casein and gluten may cause some damages to the brain and slow down nerve development.

Autism is a multifactor disease. Casein/gluten factor may not be the only factor causing the problem. But most of the autistic children do have casein/gluten issue. Thus even you tried casein free gluten free diet and do not see good result, it's still worth to continue the diet and adds on other therapies. Without CF/GF diet, some autistic children may not respond to other therapy very well. It is believed that once leaky gut and food intolerance is fixed, CF/GF diet can be phased out gradually in the future.

Sleep

Sleeping issue should be addressed as early as possible. Without efficient sleep the body would never detox and never recover its healing ability. Many autistic children have sleeping issues even the parents do not realize the problem. Most of children under 10 year old require 10 hours of sleep or more. If a child only sleeps 7-8 hours, after a few years the body will start to show sign of toxin and adrenal problems. To treat sleeping problem, either adrenal or liver has to be addressed. Meanwhile, life style changes are required, The parents have to pay more attention to the child's sleeping needs and schedule it accordingly.

Hyperactivity, Behavior and Emotions

Hyperactivity is often triggered by sugar intake but not limited to it. Some food additives such as colorings may also lead to hyperactivity. Casein and gluten may cause behavior issues as well. Diet control is the number one tool to help hyperactivity and behavior related problems. Taking digestive enzymes and treating digestive system may also help. The connection between digestion and behavior is not only the leaky gut, but also the neurotransmitter imbalance. Some neurotransmitter pathways such as serotonin pathway start from digestive system. Without a good digestion neurotransmitter will never balance completely.

Emotion is another trigger for behavior issues. Most autistic children do not express them well. For most of them speaking is the most difficult tusk they have to face. Their emotional needs can not be easily met and are often ignored (unintentionally) by their parents. This results in emotional blockages in autistic children. Once they have emotional blockages in the body, next time when they experience the same emotion, they are going to explode. Addressing emotional blockages using emotional therapy is an efficient way to help behavior issues. Giving some flower essences to autistic children will make their parents' life easier.