the biomedical approach to treating autism spectrum disorders: an overview

8/6/2019 The Biomedical Approach to Treating Autism Spectrum Disorders: An Overview

1/4


2/4www.autsmone.org REPRINTEDWITHPERMISSIONAUTISMSCIENCEDIGEST:THEJOURNALOFAUTISMONEISSUE01APRIL

INTRODUCTION

A lance at cuent autsm statstcs leaves no doubt that we ae n the mdst oa hoc epdemc that s nsdously stealn the health o thousands o ouchlden. Cuent estmates ae that 1 out o evey 110 chlden n Ameca aeben danosed wth an autsm spectum dsode (ASD) (Centes o DseaseContol and Peventon, 2010). Ts ate supasses the ncdence o both chldhoodcance and Down syndome. rememben that t s medcally mpossble to havea enetc epdemc, the concluson that the autsm epdemc has envonmentaloots s nescapable. Potental envonmental causes (a eecton o the toxc wold

we nhabt) nclude oveuse o antbotcs and exposue to heavy metals, pestcdes,plastczes, and pollutants.

Te use o pescpton medcatons to teat chlden wth ASD s common.Howeve, the antpsychotcs spedone and now appazole, the only medcatonsspeccally appoved by the US Food and Du Admnstaton (FDA) o theteatment o autsm (o the symptomatc teatment o tablty), have thepotental o seous and le-theatenn advese eects. Psychotopc medcatons,epotedly used by moe than 27% o chlden wth ASD, also ental numeoussde eects whose lon-tem consequences have not been establshed (AmecanAcademy o Pedatcs, 2010). Moeove, newe studes epot that SSris (selectveseotonn euptake nhbtos), whch ae commonly pescbed o obsessvebehavos, have lttle eect on autstc patents wth compulsve o epettvebehavos (Kn et al., 2009).

The bIOmeDICAl AppROACh

gven the sn numbes o chlden aected by the autsm epdemc, t comes as nosupse that paents om aound the wold have tuned to novel, unconventonal,and/o o-label teatments to help the chlden wth ASD. in a evew o thelteatue om 1943 to the pesent, rataczak (2011) outlnes evdence o homones,metaboltes, amno acds, and othe bomakes pesent n sncantly deentquanttes n autstc subects compaed to ae- and sex-matched contols. rataczaknotes that these deences can be measued n the astontestnal, mmunoloc,

neuoloc, and toxcoloc systems o the body, wth some bomakes shownwde applcaton. in addton, thee ae unyn concepts thouhout the autsmlteatue shown nceased vulneablty to oxdatve stess, mmune luta matedysuncton, and pneal land malu ncton. Ts evdence base, collected ove thepast 50 yeas, can be used n a udcous manne to develop sae and ndvdualzedteatment statees o patents suen wth autsm.

Ts appoach, oen eeed to as the bomedcal appoach, has anedmomentum and cedblty ove the past decade as moe clncal evdence satheed eadn the eal medcal ssues aced by ASD patents and the eectvemedcal teatments that ae aleady avalable to them. Paents and loved oneso someone wth autsm have come to ealze that an autsm danoss need not

epesent a devastatn le sentence no be pooly manaed by psychotopcmedcatons. Te heat o the bomedcal appoach les n the pncple that autsmamedical disorder,nota mental health dsode. Te soul o the bomedcal appoac(the local coollay to the st pncple) s the convcton that autsm s treatable.

OveRvIew Of bIOmeDICAl TReATmeNT OpTIONs

Te bomedcal appoach to autsm seeks to teat patents by analyzn the bascbody unctons, dentyn beakdowns, and usn a combnaton o vtamns,mneals, amno acds, nutaceutcals, homones, enzymes, pobotcs andpescpton dus to heal aeas that ae mbalanced (rossnol, 2009). Bomedcaclncans can ode specc laboatoy tests to check o many o the metabolc ancomobd medcal condtons that seem to exacebate autstc-lke behavos.

Many bomedcal teatments seem to wok by deceasn oxdatve stess and/

o nammaton. Oxdatve stess, whch damaes tssues and s neutalzed byantoxdants such as vtamns C, A , and E, s one o the coe medcal ssues that cabe tested and addessed thouh bomedcal teatment. Evdence has mplcatedoxdatve stess n many so-called psychatc dsodes, ncludn ASD ( jameset al., 20 04). Othe studes n ndvduals w th ASD have descbed ceebal (Let al., 2009) and astontestnal (gi) nammaton (oente et al., 2002). Usnclncal tests to denty mpaed poducton o lutathone (the bodys man

The Biomedical appRoach

To TReaTinG auTism

specTRum disoRdeRs:

an oveRview

remembeing that it is medicall impossible to have a genetic epidemic, the

conclusion that the autism epidemic has envionmental oots is inescapable.

By ANjU USMAN, MD


3/4


4/4www.autsmone.org REPRINTEDWITHPERMISSIONAUTISMSCIENCEDIGEST:THEJOURNALOFAUTISMONEISSUE01APRIL

Subscribetoday

www.autimciencediget.com

Complete the order form and send to Autism Science Digest, The Journal of AutismOne, 1816 W. Houston Avenue, Fullerton, CA 92833 ASD0

PAYMENT oPTIoNS

Quesions?Call(714) 680 -0792

CHECK ENCLOSED: CHECK #

PLEASE CHARGE MY:

special introductory yearly Us ubcription rate of $19.95*

*The special introductory annual subscription rate of $19.95 runs until after the AutismOne/Generation Rescue 2011 Conference. Offer ends June 30, 201

Autim science Digetis publishe three times per year i April, August a december.

NAME (AS IT APPEARS ON THE CARD):

ADDRESS (AS ON THE BILLING STATEMENT):

CARD NUMBER:(16 DIGIT NUMBER)

EXPIRATION DATE: 3-DIGIT SECURITY CODE:

TODAYS DATE: SIGNATURE:

1-YEAR SUBSCRIPTION TOAUTISM SCIENCE DIGESTUS

START MY SUBSCRIPTION WITH ISSUE 1 APRIL 2011

START MY SUBSCRIPTION WITH ISSUE 2 AUGUST 2011

$24.95 for a 1-year Us ubcription

YouR DETAILS

NAME: PHONE: EMAIL:

SHIPPING ADDRESS: CITY:

STATE: ZIP: COUNTRY:

PLEASE PRInT

www.autsmone.org REPRINTEDWITHPERMISSIONAUTISMSCIENCEDIGEST:THEJOURNALOFAUTISMONEISSUE01APRIL

Orders outside the US, please email: [email protected]

AMOUNT AUTHORIZED:

the biomedical approach to treating autism spectrum disorders: an overview

Documents