Sunday, April 27, 2008

How Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy's Son Recovered From Autism


In this CNN op-ed piece, actors Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy reflect on their son’s recovery from autism in light of the recent federal court decision which conceded that vaccines could have contributed to another child’s autistic condition.

Carrey and McCarthy’s son, Evan, has been healed thanks to breakthroughs that may not be scientifically proven, but have definitely helped, such as a gluten-free, casein-free diet, vitamin supplementation, detox of metals, and anti-fungals for the yeast overgrowths that plagued his intestines. Once his neurological function was recovered through these medical treatments, speech therapy and applied behavior analysis helped him learn the skills he could not learn while he was frozen in autism.

When Evan was re-evaluated after these treatments, state workers were amazed by his improvement. But although Evan is now 5, not a single member of the CDC, the American Academy of Pediatrics, or any other health authority has asked to evaluate and understand how Evan recovered from autism. Instead, they simply posit that he was misdiagnosed and never had autism to begin with.

Carrey and McCarthy believe that autism is an environmental illness, and that while vaccines are not the only environmental trigger, they do play a major role. Even if the CDC is not convinced of a link between vaccines and autism, changing the vaccine schedule should be seriously considered as a precautionary measure.



Dr. Mercola's Comments:
Rates of autism have increased nearly 60-fold since the late 1970s, with the most significant increases occurring in the past decade. The latest numbers for the U.S. shows it affects about one in 150 American children.

However, according to an article in the Daily Mail (July 9, 2007) the rate of autism in Great Britain may now be as high as 1 in 58!

This shocking number was the outcome of a study performed by Cambridge Professor Baron-Cohen and his team. They looked at the incidence of autism among 12,000 children at Cambridgeshire primary schools between 2001 and 2004.

Professor Baron-Cohen believes a combination of genetics and environmental factors such as pesticides and exposure to excessive hormones in the womb are potential culprits for the rise.

Genetics (the so-called “Fragile X syndrome” being the most common) was recently hailed as “the cause,” especially in U.S. media, where most failed to underscore the fact that genetics account for no more than 1 percent of the cases of autism.

Meanwhile the other 99 percent are still unaccounted for.

Dr. Blaylock has written extensively on the subject of vaccine-induced autism, but despite sound scientific evidence of how toxins like mercury and aluminum damage your brain, especially when introduced at such an early age, Big Pharma-backed proponents of vaccines are still unwilling to even look at the issue.

Environmental triggers that cannot be ignored include:

Mercury –It is already an established fact that exposure to mercury can cause immune, sensory, neurological, motor, and behavioral dysfunctions -- all similar to traits defining, or associated with autism. Thimerosal, which is added to many vaccines, has become a major source of mercury in children who, within their first two years, may have received a quantity of mercury that clearly exceeds safety guidelines.


Vaccine Virus’ – Vaccines contain numerous active agents, including live viruses, killed bacteria and toxic chemicals including aluminum, mercury and formaldehyde. Whereas many focus solely on mercury in the vaccines as the culprit in causing autism, the virus link is equally compelling.
In this case, an abnormal immune reaction primes your immune system to react against your body’s organs, as it creates “organ-specific” autoantibodies against itself. In the case of autistic autoimmune reactions, the organ in question is mainly your brain. However, gastrointestinal problems, such as “leaky gut” are also a common organ-specific ailment.

The strongest link exists between the measles virus antibodies (from the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine) and anti-myelin basic protein (MBP), suggesting that exposure to the measles virus may trigger an autoimmune response that interferes with the development of myelin. If myelin in your brain doesn't develop properly, nerve fibers won't work as they should, giving rise to the brain abnormalities associated with autism.

Pasteurized Milk – Other studies indicate that both autism and schizophrenia may be linked to your inability to properly break down a protein found in milk. Personally I believe this is related to pasteurized milk and have seen many autistic children thrive on raw milk products, especially fermented ones like kefir or yogurt.
When not broken down, the milk protein caseinate produces exorphins -- morphine-like compounds -- that become absorbed by areas of your brain where they cause cells to dysfunction. The findings suggest that an intestinal flaw, such as a malfunctioning enzyme, is to blame for your inability to break down this milk protein.

Researchers have discovered that the protein is absorbed by 32 different areas of your brain, including sections responsible for vision, hearing and communication, which could account for many behavioral symptoms of both diseases.

Wireless Technology – A much more recent, groundbreaking theory has been suggested by a study published in the Journal of the Australasian College of Nutritional & Environmental Medicine: Electromagnetic radiation (EMR) from cell phones, cell towers, Wi-Fi devices and other similar wireless technologies may work in conjunction with genetic and environmental factors, becoming an accelerating factor in autism.
After more than five years of research on children with autism they found that EMR negatively affects cell membranes, allowing heavy metal toxins, which are associated with autism, to build up in your body.

EMR can trap heavy metals inside of nerve cells, which could accelerate the onset of symptoms of heavy metal toxicity, and hinder your body’s natural clearance of the toxins.

How Can You Tell if Your Child has Autism?

On October 29, 2007, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) sent out a news release with new evaluation guidelines and treatment recommendations, including their 34-page clinical report, “Identification and Evaluation of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders.”

It provides detailed information on signs and symptoms, geared toward helping pediatricians recognize and assess autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) in their patients.

Early warning signs, prior to the age of 18 months, include:

not turning when you say your baby’s name
not turning to look when you point to something and say, “Look at…” and not pointing themselves to show you an interesting object or event
lack of back and forth babbling
smiling late
not making eye contact with people
forming attachments to hard items, such as pens, flashlights, keys or action figures, etc. rather than stuffed animals, special pillows or blankets
According to their report:

“Red Flags” that are absolute indications for immediate evaluation include: no babbling or pointing or other gesture by 12 months; no single words by 16 months; no two-word spontaneous phrases by 24 months; and loss of language or social skills at any age.

Despite the fact that the AAP goes on to say that autism “never goes away,” I am encouraged that they urge pediatricians to be open-minded to alternative treatments, to become more knowledgeable of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), and to avoid becoming defensive or dismissive when parents want to try nonstandard therapies.

That is a good start.

How Can You Help Your Child Prevent or Recover From Autism?

As Jenny McCarthy’s case has shown, there is definitely hope. Here are my best recommendations:

1. Carefully review the vaccination issue, including the conventional vaccination schedule. Know that in most U.S. states you have the right to opt out of vaccines. You may also want to review some of the recommendations for a more sensible vaccination schedule.

2. Avoid exposure to as many environmental toxins as you can, such as pesticides, herbicides, and sources of mercury, aluminum and fluoride.

3. Avoid exposure to cell phones and other wireless technology, such as Wi-Fi in your home.

4. Have your child eat a diet tailored to their nutritional type for optimal health. In my experience, nearly ALL children seem to respond favorably to the dietary changes when properly implemented

5. Pasteurized milk restriction is an ABSOLUTE imperative to the treatment of autism. Anyone managing this illness without restricting milk is deceiving themselves. This includes all milk products, such as ice cream, yogurt and whey. Even natural flavorings in food must be avoided unless the processor can guarantee, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that caseinate is not included

6. Complete elimination of sugar, juice, soda, French fries and wheat (pasta, bagels, cereal, pretzels, etc) is also highly recommended

7. Get proper sun exposure, as an additional theory that makes a whole lot of sense is the link between rampant vitamin D deficiency and the proportionate jump in autism. The vitamin D receptor appears in a wide variety of brain tissue early in the fetal development, and activated vitamin D receptors increase nerve growth in your brain

8. Use an effective intervention to address any emotional stresses as soon as possible – avoid having destructive thoughts and emotions fester. Potent energy psychology tools such as the Emotional Freedom Technique are excellent for this purpose

9. Secretin has proven effective in relieving certain symptoms of autism. It is a powerful hormone, which has the ability to reduce intestinal permeability (leaky gut). I have even observed one three-year-old who had no speech prior to secretin speak in full paragraphs just days after the infusion

10. Homeopathy may also help ameliorate symptoms

4 comments:

Tiv said...

The issues I have with Dr Mercola's comments in relation to Autism is that he seems to be jumping on trendy bandwagons, without dealing with many (any?) autistic children himself.

There is a medical doctor in the UK, Dr Campbell-McBride, who now practises as a nutritionalist. Her son was actually diagnosed with Autism some years ago. She devised her own treatment method (basically a diet called SCD I think, PLUS the use of a powerful probiotic). She now describes her son as a normal 15 year old.

At her clinic she specialises in Autism, and treats hundreds of autistic children, so I would say she probably knows a bit more about it than Dr Mercola.

You do not need to go to her clinic to try her treatment methods.

You can find some of her documents on the scribd sharing website, such as:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/2562760/GAPS-theory-for-Autism-by-Dr-Natasha-CampbellMcBride

I hope this is helpful.

Ivar T said...

I've been following the autism debates alot now, and to be honest I haven't read this post as I don't have any time, but from the top of it really looks like the author haven't realized that David Kirby's article which claimed that a court had conceded an autism vaccine link was more than misleading, which a later newsarticle clarified:

http://tinyurl.com/3xhf5f

It is important that the information given to parents of autistic children have quality - only give information to help them make a decision and DO NOT spew any unfounded claims.

Unknown said...

Gary - thank you for your comments.

Offiseren - I do not claim to be an expert on Autism. You said yourself that you did not read the post. I suggest you do so before telling me what I should and should not say on my blog. I am the mother of an autistic son, so my thoughts and opinions are as valid as any. The "clip" about Jenny's son was meant to be a glimmer of what she did to help him. The rest of the story, that you neglected to read, was about what natural ways parents can try to help their child. The natural ways are not unfounded claims, many parents have tried them and have found some measure of success with them.

Please read my posts before you comment on my blog, it'll save me the time of having to reply to you.

Taria

Sally N said...

Just wanted to comment on Fragile X, it should be noted that the percentage is low partly because many individuals don't visit a genetic counselor or have genetic testing done to rule out a genetic condition, which could be Fragile X, Angelman or even Rett Syndrome (females only).

Most statistics report 2-6% of children with autism have Fragile X, this is only an estimate, a best guess since testing for fragile X isn't always done.

For Fragile X it becomes even more complicated when many medical professionals test using only chromosome analysis (which has proven unreliable in diagnosing fragile X, estimated at only 40% accurate, this test was used prior to the discovery of the gene in 1991.)

If you've had your child tested and they didn't provide you with a CGG repeat number, it's likely they ran only a chromosome analysis test and not a Southern Blot DNA Test with PCR analysis which is 99% accurate in detecting Fragile X.

Fragile X is due to a missing protein, it's wise to at least rule it out before moving on to costly therapies, all the therapy in the world isn't going to turn that protein on, if it did there would be a cure.

There are two treatments for Fragile X that have moved to human clinical trials, in the animal model they improved cognitive ability and reversed the symptoms of Fragile X.

Bottom line – if you haven’t tested for Fragile X you should, if only to rule it out. Fragile X, like autism is a spectrum disorder, it may result in no symptoms or severe impairment.

If you want to learn more about Fragile X go to:

www.fraxa.org
www.fragilex.org

Other flags that may indicate a need for Fragile X testing:

* Premature ovarian failure in females in the family. Approximately 20-28% of female carriers of Fragile X suffer from early menopause.
* Parkinson-like symptoms and/or balance gait problems in relatives over the age of 50 (more common in male carriers but can affect female carriers as well - condition is known as FXTAS)