Category Archives: Biomedical treatment
What Is DAN!?, What Can I Expect At My DAN! Appointment? and other Frequently Asked Questions
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.
Why Biofilm Protocol Works in Treating Autism
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. The answer lies in Biofilm.
Biofilm Protocol: What It Is, and How It Works
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…
An Easy To Understand Guide to Biofilm
Simply searching for biofilms using Google brings you to page after page of medical jargon. Since it’s a medical term, this isn’t surprising, but what about those who don’t have an MD after our name? How are we expected to know what biofilm is? Is it a good thing? Is it a bad thing? What does it have to do with Autism and why is there a specific Biofilm Protocol that people are talking about?
A Closer Look At Biomedical Treatments
Over the years, it has been debated whether or not factors other than neurological ones have anything to do with Autism and other Neurological Disorders. Studies have found that many ND’s begin in the stomach and can be results of a poor or lacking diet.
Autism, Autoimmune Disease and Gluten
Last week, I looked at how genetic abnormalities may be linked to autism and today I’m going to take that a bit further and look at the link between the genetic codes, autoimmune diseases, autism and gluten – an interesting recipe!
Some researchers are suggesting that there is a link between parents who suffer with auto-immune diseases like lupus, type 1 diabetes, Graves’ Disease or Hashimoto’s Disease, celiac disease and autoimmune adrenal insufficiency, and children who have autism spectrum disorders. These scientists believe that a parent’s autoimmune deficiency can make their child more susceptible to autism spectrum disorders in the following ways:-
- Toxins or pathogens may be able to damage the developing brain of the developing child.
- A pathogen may trigger an autoimmune response that could interfere with normal brain functioning.
- In utero, the mother’s immune deficiency may allow a pathogen to damage the brain of the fetus directly or by triggering an immune response in the mother that then “creates pathogenesis in the fetal brain” – see Utah State University’s Study “Possible Immunogenetic Basis for Autism” http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/79073/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0.
Two studies – “Familial Clustering of Autoimmune Disorders and Evaluation of Medical Risk Factors in Autism” by J Child Neurol (1999) and “Increased Prevalence of Familial Autoimmunity in Probands with Pervasive Developmental Disorders” T L Sweeten et al. (2003)suggested that there is a link between a family history of autoimmune disorders and autistic children because autistic children are more likely to have a family history of autoimmune disorders than healthy children in a control group. It was found that over 40% of families with an autistic child had two or more close family members with an autoimmune disorder and that those with first-degree relatives, particularly their mothers, were most often affected.
Autism and Stem Cells – Part 2
Mercury
Last week, I wrote about how some scientists believe that stem cells can treat autism because they believe that autism is characterized by hypoperfusion (a reduction in the oxygen supply to the brain) and immune dysregulation. Scientists like Dr Leonard Smith believe that stem cells can increase blood flow, and therefore oxygen, to the brain and also treat inflammation in the gut. This sounds like great news but can stem cell treatment really “cure” autism?
Well, the simple answer is that it depends what you think is the cause of autism and autism symptoms. If you are of the opinion that autism is caused by a birth injury, a lack of oxygen at birth, then you will believe that stem cell treatment can be beneficial. However, if you believe, as I do, that there are many factors involved in causing autism and exacerbating symptoms, then you cannot believe that stem cell treatment is going to effectively “cure” autism, although it may offer short-term relief and recovery.
Environmental factors that may be involved in causing autism include:-
- Heavy metal exposure – Heavy metals in our environment include mercury, cadmium, manganese and lead.
- Pollutants – Chemicals like phenol, PCBs, dioxins, nicotine etc.
- Vaccines – The MMR vaccine, vaccines containing thimerosal and our program of childhood vaccines.
- Vitamin and nutrient deficiencies – Vitamin A, B and D deficiencies, deficiencies in essential nutrients like amino acids, Essential Fatty Acids and minerals.
- Food intolerances – Foods like gluten and casein causing gut inflammation or causing the production of peptides which acts as opiates on the brain.
- Candida Yeast – An overgrowth of candida yeast in the gut.
How can stem cell treatment possibly combat any of these factors?
It can’t.
Using Nutrient Dense Food to Treat Autism
In the past I have mentioned how important a healthy diet is to all children, not just autistic children, but some parents jump in to using strict elimination diets without first making any simple changes to their child’s diet to make it more nutritious. You never know, a few simple changes to make your child’s diet more “nutrient dense” may lead to vast improvements without having to cut out gluten or casein.
Nutrient Dense Foods
As I have already said, the first thing to do before trying any special diet or eliminating any foods is to make sure that your child is having a nutritious diet and this means giving them nutrient dense foods. A nutrient dense food is a food that is rich in macronutrients, such as carbohydrates, fiber, fats, essential fatty acids, protein and amino acids, and water, and that is also rich in micronutrients like vitamins, minerals, trace minerals, antioxidants and phytonutrients.
According to Catherine Gavin RD, LDN, MPH of the Pfeiffer Treatment Center, a nutrient dense diet is essential because micro- and macronutrients are needed for “proper biochemical functioning of the body and brain”. She advises that parents should give their children organic foods, where possible, and foods that are whole and unprocessed because they are much denser in these essential nutrients.
Antioxidants
Everyone has seen vitamins and supplements that are labeled “antioxidant” but what does this actually mean and why are they essential in our diet?
Antioxidants are substances that protect the cells of our bodies from damage by free radicals which come from pollution, pesticides, artificial colors and flavors, heavy metals, trans fats and hydrogenated fats. Our children’s gastrointestinal tracts and brains are particularly susceptible to damage from these free radicals, which cause “oxidative stress”, and Austim experts like Dan Rossignol believe that oxidative…
The Dangers of Toxic Cleaning Products
I’ve blogged before about reducing your child’s toxic load to help alleviate symptoms of autism, to cut the risk of autism in subsequent children and to have a healthier home, and today I’m going to talk about one particular chemical and toxin, phenol.
What is phenol?
Phenol, or carbolic acid, is a chemical that both occurs naturally and that can be manufactured. It ranges from being a colorless liquid to being a white crystalline solid and has a distinct sickly sweet or “tarry” smell which is often associated with the smell of hospitals.
Phenol is used in many different products. It is used to make phenolic resins which are used in industries like the automotive, plywood, appliance, nylon and construction industries, and it is also an ingredient in disinfectants like Lysol, antiseptics, cleaning products, medicines, mouthwashes, lozenges and ear and nose drops.
Phenol can also be found in food, as gallic acid and malvin.
Dangers associated with Phenol exposure
There are many dangers associated with dermal (skin) or oral (ingesting it) exposure to phenol, and also breathing it in. These dangers and health risks include skin irritation, poisoning resulting in muscle weakness, tremors, paralysis and even respiratory arrest, liver and kidney damage, cardiac toxicity (damage to the heart) and lung damage.
But what has all this got to do with autism?
Autism, Vitamin A and Vaccinations
A few weeks ago, I blogged about Vitamin D and how the rise in Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to the rise in autism, but vitamin D is not the only deficiency that has been linked to autism and some people are suggesting that a deficiency in vitamin A may be responsible.
As I have said before, the Standard American Diet is not healthy and, although we may be eating a lot and filling ourselves up, many of us are actually malnourished because our diet does not contain enough of the essential nutrients that our bodies need to function properly and for our children to develop and grow correctly. Instead our diets are high in sugar, fats, salt and empty calories. However, low fat diets can also be bad for us because by not eating an adequate amount of fat we may actually be causing our bodies to be deficient in vitamin A, which is found in foods like full fat dairy foods, liver and cod liver oil.
Autism and Vaccines
In a study entitled “Is Autism a G-Alpha Protein Defect Reversible with Natural Vitamin A?”, Mary Megson, MD, a developmental pediatrician, argues that “Autism may be a disorder linked to the disruption of the G-alpha protein, affecting retinoid receptors in the brain” and that some cases of autism may be caused by “inserting a G-alpha protein defect, the pertussis toxin found in the D.P.T. vaccine, into genetically at-risk children”. This study also argues that the live viral measles vaccine (MMR) depletes a child’s existing supply of vitamin A and so has a negative impact on the retinoid receptors in the brain.
Megson, in an article entitled “Autism and Vaccinations”, reports that this G-Alpha protein defect causes:-
- Night blindness
- Problems seeing light-to-dark shading
- Problems perceiving what they are
…
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