| | Autism: Children Who Can't Speak | |
?+3, Classic autism, once mystifying and attributed to the "refrigerator
mother," i.e. failure of maternal-neonatal relationship, is now
identified with injury to the developing brain. The diagnosis
is based on: 1) lack of language development; 2) lack of social
interaction; 3) stereotyped and repetitive behaviors. The language
impairment ranges from total lack of words to spotty use of words
and phrases. These children often respond when spoken to but are
unable to organize their thoughts well enough to answer back.
Recovered autistics have described the experience as one of confusion.
The social impairment presents as lack of eye contact, lack of
facial expression, lack of ability to play, and inability to interact
meaningfully with others. Stereotyped behaviors include rituals,
hand flapping, body movements, head banging and bizarre and selective
preoccupation with objects.
Researchers have conjectured that autism is due to brain injury;
however proof has been elusive, that is most cases do not display
cell damage and infiltrates typical of either viral disease or
immune reaction in the brain. On the other hand, viral infection
has long been recognized as a cause of encephalitis and prenatal
rubella (in the mother), post-natal measles, mumps, german measles,
chickenpox, and other viruses (in the baby) are known to cause
autism, ADHD, and a spectrum of delayed neurological and psychological
disorders, including multiple sclerosis, delinquency, criminality,
addiction, schizophrenia, and depression.
Studies of thalidomide casualties have shown us that failure of
cerebellar development occurs as a consequence of chemical and
viral damage in the third week after conception. I have observed
two such cases in my own practice, one after Zovirax for a herpes
outbreak, another following use of amoxicillin for strep throat.
It is likely that damage was caused by the virus that caused the
symptoms at the time. These are, of course, anecdotal reports
but the most credible aspect is the timing of viral and chemical
exposure: 19th to 21st day after conception.
In recent years an increasing number of cases of autism have been
linked to vaccine reactions, and chronic ear and sinus infections.
The neuro-toxic effects of pertussis vaccine are so well known
as to require little comment. Delaying immunization reduces adverse
reactions. In Japan after 1979 the public health policy was changed;
the routine first year DTP vacination was halted and all immunizations
were delayed until age 24 months. The number of cases of SIDS
(sudden infant death syndrome) was cut in half.
Autism and other developmental neurological disorders have increased
to epidemic proportions in the past ten years, running the range
of severity from pervasive developmental disorder and autism,
to the less severe categories, including ADHD and other learning
disorders. While text-books attempt to separate these various
diagnostic syndromes, the fact that all have increased at the
same time suggests the possibility that there is an environmental
factor.
A recent paper by Dr. Stephen Edelson explores the question of
environmental pollution . Twenty children (average age 6.35 years)
were studied by laboratory testing, including: 1) glucaric acid
analysis (a marker for increased detoxification), 2) blood analysis
for solvents and pesticides, and 3) liver detoxification products.
Results were significant as follows: All 20 cases had elevated
glucaric acid. All cases had abnormal liver detoxification profiles.
Elevated levels of toxic chemicals from 1.5 to 100 times normal
were found in 16 of 18 cases. Trimethylbenzene was most frequent
but it did not correlate with glucaric acid results, which therefore
must have been caused by something else. Methylpentane, xylene,
styrene, toluene, and benzene were also found in these patients.
The authors conclude that prenatal exposure to unnatural chemicals
is the most likely cause of autism, and, based on the finding
of glucaric acid abnormalities in all subjects, they also propose
genetic impairment of fetal and neonatal detoxification processes
as a mechanism whereby normally tolerable exposure to xenobiotics
causes major neurological damage in those who develop autism.
This study is important not only for its findings but because
it is more thorough in its method of testing than other studies
of autistic children. A weakness of the study, however, is the
lack of data from a group of healthy children for comparison.
The same limitations apply to my own observations of the approximately
50 autistic children in my practice. There are suggestive histories
that point to recurrent otitis or sinusitis and repeated antibiotic
treatment as risk factors for neurological problems. Are antibiotics
dangerous? Do they induce serious bowel disorders? Or do the infections,
themselves, interfere with brain development. For example, otitis
is a fairly common source of infection with tetanus! The Clostridium
tetani organisms can thrive in the anaerobic environment of the
middle ear and the toxin produced by this microbe produces is
neurotoxic. It is plausible to consider this a potential cause
of developmental brain disease. One of the most effective treatments
is external application of ozone to the ear canals and I know
of at least one case that improved dramatically after such a treatment.
Our epidemic of autism and ADHD also coincides with the introduction
of a new vaccine against measles in 1988. This vaccine contains
a weakened but live virus, a mutant strain. It is usually given
with two other live virus vaccines, mumps and rubella (german
measles), hence it is abbreviated MMR. The vaccine is now administered
to almost all children at age 15 to 18 months, with booster doses
3 months later and again upon starting school. Measles has almost
disappeared in the USA since 1900 and the credit is usually given
to vaccination. However, Dr. Leon Chaitow relates that the measles
death rate dropped from 13 per 100,000 in 1900 to 0.03 per 100,000
in 1955--before measles vaccination arrived. In 1958 there were
still about 800,000 cases per year but in 1962 this had dropped
to 300,000. The vaccine arrived in 1963. In 1978 a survey of 30
states found that half the cases of measles were found in children
that had been vaccinated. The vaccine failure rate has been reported
at 20 to 30 percent, which is to say that about one out of four
children are not protected by measles vaccine anyway.
Nevertheless, it seems almost ungrateful to suspect that vaccination,
which clearly can do much good, can also cause harm. But it is
an accepted fact that all drugs have adverse effects. So the real
question is "how much damage?" The answer is: no one knows for
sure. There have not been adequate follow-up studies and almost
no long term studies to explain possible delayed adverse effects,
such as colitis, cancer, schizophrenia and multiple sclerosis.
But there is reason to suspect that the increased incidence of
autism and ADD may be related to mass vaccination programs. If
so, it is not far-fetched to suggest that our present crisis in
education, low SAT scores, school drop-outs, and high crime and
addiction rates, might also be due to vaccine-related developmental
brain disease.
Let us consider the findings of Drs. Wakefield and Walker-Smith
of the Royal Free Hospital in London, England. They carefully
studied 40 autistic (pervasive developmental disorder) children
and reported finding live measles virus in the intestinal tract
of most of them. They also reported that the parents of these
children gave a history with a common theme: the children were
developing normally, many already speaking in short sentences,
then regressed and lost speech a week or two after vaccination
with MMR vaccine at 15-18 months. In a more recent paper they
retracted their finding of live virus; but they cannot erase the
fact that many parents have observed this sequence of events and
a number are, in fact, now engaged in a lawsuit over MMR vaccine
safety in England.
Does it seem reasonable to persist in a mass vaccination program
that is clouded by casualty reports? Is measles such a dangerous
disease that we must vaccinate regardless of the risk of autism
and learning disability? Is measles really a dangerous disease?
Yes, but only in sickly and malnourished children, such as those
living in poverty-stricken conditions and especially in 3rd world
nations. But researchers, such as Sommers and Hussey have gathered
convincing evidence that treatment with vitamin A, retinol, offers
almost complete protection from the serious, complications of
measles, i.e. pneumonia, encephalitis, and death. Results might
be even better with more complete nutritional support, including
dietary balance and supplemental zinc and antioxidants. Such research
is needed to answer such questions.
Dr. Alfred Sommers travelled extensively in Southeast Asia, visiting
villages, treating some children with vitamin A, passing over
others. Return visits just a few months later gave convincing
evidence: those who received vitamin A were alive and well, even
if they had contracted measles. There were no deaths. On the other
hand, those who were not treated with vitamin A had a death rate
of about 10 percent!
Vitamin A is crucial in prevention of autism:
It is obvious from the foregoing that vitamin A functions as an
anti-viral agent, especially against childhood viruses. But there
are other attributes of this vitamin that deserve mention. One
of the functions of vitamin A (retinol) is its role in sulfation,
one of the major detoxification steps of the body. Vitamin A is
essential for growth and repair, healing, so it is important in
recovery from illness. And vitamin A has a beneficial effect on
the brain, particularly in the auditory cortex, believed to be
impaired in autism, inasmuch as disturbance of speech and language
skills is a central feature of the disorder. A study in rats found
vitamin A deficiency increases sensitivity of the inner ear to
noise as well as susceptibility to noise-induced hearing loss.
This is reminiscent of the irritability so often reported by parents
of autistic children. In many cases the children literally cover
their ears with their hands to shut out sound. Experimental evidence
shows that the sensitivity to noise is caused by degeneration
of the tight junctions of the cells surrounding the cochlear duct.
These normally form an endolymph-perilylmph barrier that prevents
the potassium rich endolymph from entering the base of the hair
cells and unmyelinated nerve fibers. The perilymph, which surrounds
the hair cells, is low potassium, but noise exposure increases
the permeability of the barrier cells and permits influx of potassium.
This causes a threshold shift of the hair cells due to depolarization
,and the results of this intoxication can be permanent.
Vitamin A is vital to development, repair and integrity of the
the inner ear. The vitamin protects against ototoxic effects of
antibiotics of aminoglycoside type (e..g. Kanamycin, Neomycin)
but as a rule antibiotics shouldn’t be given for otitis until
vitamin A treatment has had a chance to heal and restore resistance
to infection of the affected tissues. In fact, otitis is often
a clinical sign of vitamin A deficiency in children. Hyperkeratosis,
thickening of the epithelial linings, is one of the early signs
of deficiency as the epithelial cells of the inner ear are quite
vitamin A dependent.
However vitamin A has an effect on neurons in the auditory areas
as well. The above-mentioned study in rats found that vitamin
A deficiency causes leaky membranes and altered cochlear potentials.
In humans, prolonged vitamin A deficiency was studied by Hume
and Krebs, who found a reduction in hearing after 15 months on
a vitamin A deficient diet in 3 of 5 volunteers. Hearing loss
is also reported in diseases with low vitamin A levels. Evidently
irritability is an early sign of vitamin A deficiency and nerve
damage occurs if deficiency is prolonged.
Selenium deficiency and autism
Does selenium deficiency play a role in this heart-breaking malady,
in which seemingly healthy children are ‘kidnapped’ by a mysterious
agent which causes a sudden loss of language and learning between
15 and 30 months of age. The afflicted children often lose speech
within a week of the MMR vaccination and become regressive and
withdrawn, unable to learn or even to pay attention, unable to
play normally. They are fussy, have tantrums provoked by the least
change in their accustomed routines, such as placement of objects
in the room, or time of day of events. They are unsafe, wander
about in the middle of the night, have little appreciation for
the consequences of their acts, and often don’t get much better
despite heroic attempts at therapy. Let’s qualify that: structured
learning on a behavioristic reinforcement model (Lovaas) has proven
beneficial. So has simple task learning, such as crawling, sound
training and sight training with prisms, which seem to capture
attention and give the child some cause and effect relation to
the environment. .
My own experience also suggests that the role of selenium is important.
In the first place, some of my patients have improved noticeably
upon supplementation with selenium. I have not seen a study that
actually accounts for selenium status of autistic children however.
Measurement of selenium in red blood cells and hair would be a
good place to start and additional testing of the selenium dependent
enzyme, glutathione peroxidase, would be confirmatory, one way
or the other. However we do know that:
1. Selenium deficiency is common in mothers, so even mother’s
milk can be deficient.
2. Acid foods make selenium insoluble, so babies regularly fed
fruit juices are liable to malabsorption of selenium.
3. Fluoride forms insoluble complexes with selenium. Since selenium
is strongly electropositive, it combines with fluoride preferentially,
with even greater avidity than calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc,
sodium, potassium. The total adult body content of selenium is
less than 100 mg, so little as to be vulnerable to sodium fluoride
intakes of 3 to 5 mg per day, which are usual in this country
because of fluoridation and fluoridated toothpaste. Consider that
vital trace minerals, such as selenium, chromium and molybdenum,
are ingested on average only about 50 mcg per day. Fluoride intake
is 100 times more and fluoride complexes are likely to inactivate
these trace minerals by rendering them insoluble--even in the
presence of calcium, magnesium, boron or aluminum salts, which
also bind with fluoride. Sodium fluoride, the relatively soluble
fluoride used in water fluoridation, preferentially binds to the
trace minerals, selenium and chromium.
Some viruses interact with cells to increase the production of
glutathione and other selenium-binding proteins that further deplete
selenium, thus creating a vicious circle of virulence. The more
cells are infected, the more selenium is depleted. That can be
fatal. For example: Ebola virus kills 4 out of 10 of its victims.
However in the presence of selenium supplementation the fatality
rate drops by over 80 percent. That is a persuasive demonstration
of the anti-viral power of this essential mineral. A similar phenomenon
has been recognized and reported in AIDS. It is reasonable to
say that selenium increases our resistance to viral disease. Variable
immune deficiency is a common feature in autistic children.
If mineral deficiency does factor into the autism puzzle, is it
reasonable to accept that it could elude detection in millions
of and escape detection as a cause of the remarkable increase
in autism, ADD and other forms of learning disability? I say the
answer is almost certain to be yes, and both magnesium and selenium
deficiency are suspect. The role of magnesium in autism has already
been verified by the well-known double-blind research trials conducted
by Rimland, and Callaway in the 1970s and Martineau, Garreau,
Barthelemy and Lelord in the 1980s.
Here are a few speculations to pull the various observations together.
Dietary selenium is deficient due to lack of high selenium foods,
in turn related to depletion of soils, which is caused by acid
rain which makes selenium insoluble so it washes ou of the soil
rather than being taken up by plants. Furthermore, widespread
fluoridation of water and processed foods also renders selenium
insoluble. When viral infections strike, further depletion occurs,
which can interfere with antioxidant defenses, immune mechanisms,
and energy regulation. A vicious circle of immune deficiency,
chemical sensitivity, and chronic viral infection and fatigue
is thus induced.
©2000 Richard A. Kunin, M.D.
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