Autism symptom, natural treatment with nutritional supplements, and research information

Autistic disorder, or autism, is a developmental disorder resulting in social, language, or sensorimotor deficits, occurs in approximately seven of 10,000 persons. Early detection and intervention significantly improve outcome, with about one third of autistic persons achieving some degree of independent living. Indications for developmental evaluation include no babbling, pointing, or use of other gestures by 12 months of age, no single words by 16 months of age, no two-word spontaneous phrases by 24 months of age, and loss of previously learned language or social skills at any age. Autism is frequently associated with fragile X syndrome and tuberous sclerosis, and may be caused by lead poisoning and metabolic disorders. Autistic children often suffer form mental retardation, seizure disorder, and psychiatric disorders such as depression and anxiety.
   The CDC estimates that about one in every 150 children has autism or a related disorder such as Asperger's syndrome -- 560,000 people up to age 21 in the United States.

Natural options for the treatment of Autism
There is a scattering of research that indicates diet and nutrients may be of some benefit in treating autism, but  much more research is needed before we have a better understanding the role of diet and nutritional supplements in the therapy of this condition.

Children given carnosine showed statistically significant improvements on several tests including an improvement in vocabulary and recognizing a picture. You can find Carnosine here.

Autistic children may be deficient in fish oils. However, it does not appear that a small amount of fish oil supplementation has a significant influence on severe autism in young adults.

Q. I want to give my child who has autism and epilepsy fish oil supplements but dont know which is best, the Fisol fish oil soft gel tablets by Nature's way or Nordic's natural Children's DHA chewable tablets. I read that Nordic's natural Children's DHA tablets are made from algae not from fish itself. I want the purest form of the suggested fish oils for him. So please advice me on which is better to get for him according to his needs.
   A. They are both good products, so is the wild fish oil, and alternating them may be a good option.

Research that indicates that a gluten and casein-free diet may be helpful.

Supplements for autism in children
Q. What would be the appropriate dosage for the various supplements that are suggested for autism? The child is just 2 years old.
   A. Research in the area of supplement use for children at various ages with autism is quite recent and little is known about the benefits, risks, or effectiveness of these natural supplements. In consultation with your pediatrician, our best guess would be about a tenth of 500 mg capsule although we have no studies to support this dosage.

Autism study
Mercury Preservatives and Autism
A study of specially bred mice suggests that a mercury preservative in vaccines could potentially cause some of the brain changes in autism. The publication of the study gives fuel to an alliance of environmentalists, parents of children with autism, anti-vaccine advocates and politicians who say they will continue to fight to prove that vaccines can cause autism in susceptible children. But experts who issued a report last month saying there was no link between vaccines and autism said they had already seen the study and rejected it. Dr. Mady Hornig of Columbia University in New York said her study shows the possibility that a genetic predisposition could leave certain children vulnerable to a range of toxins in vaccines, including a mercury-based preservative called thimerosal. Writing in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, Hornig said specially bred mice that have deficient immune systems did show changes in behavior after getting the equivalent of the childhood vaccinations given to U.S. babies and toddlers. "I think that these findings suggest that it is very plausible that there could be a genetic factor that creates risk for some individuals with autism," Hornig said. But Dr. Marie McCormick of Harvard University's School of Public Health, said Hornig's research stretched credibility. For instance, it is not clear that children with autism have impaired immune systems. And the findings from specially bred mice can not be extended to humans. "Even though she says these behaviors are like autism, it is not clear that these behaviors are analogous to autism," McCormick added.

Carnosine Helpful in Autism
From the day she was born, Betty seemed different from other infants. At an age when most infants enjoy interacting with people and exploring their environment, Betty sat motionless in her crib and didn't respond to rattles or other toys. It wasn’t too long before Betty was diagnosed with autism. Unfortunately, modern medicine has little to offer as a cure for this condition. But supplements may be helpful. Researchers at the Autism and Epilepsy Specialty Services in Lake Bluff, Illinois, investigated 31 children with autism in an 8-week, double-blinded study to determine if carnosine would result in changes. Carnosine is a natural substance composed of 2 amino acids. It is found in relatively high concentrations in several body tissues, muscles, and nerve tissue, including the brain. The exact role of carnosine is not well understood, but studies indicate that this nutrient has antioxidant potential and may also act as a neurotransmitter (chemical messenger in the nervous system). The children received 800 mg of carnosine a day and were compared with a group of children on placebo. After 8 weeks, children given carnosine showed statistically significant improvements on several tests including an improvement in vocabulary and recognizing a picture.
     Comment: Carnosine, also known as L-carnosine, is sold in health food stores most commonly in capsules of 500 mg. It would be worthwhile to try 100 to 200 mg of this nutrient before breakfast and lunch for a few weeks under a pediatrician’s supervision.

Gluten free diet and autism
Gluten- and casein-free diets for autistic spectrum disorder.
Millward C, Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2004;(2):CD003498.
It has been suggested that peptides from gluten and casein may have a role in the origins of autism and that the physiology and psychology of autism might be explained by excessive opioid activity linked to these peptides. Research has reported abnormal levels of peptides in the urine and cerebrospinal fluid of persons with autism. If this is the case, diets free of gluten and /or casein should reduce the symptoms associated with autism. To determine the efficacy of gluten- and/or casein- free diets as an intervention to improve behaviour, cognitive and social functioning in individuals with autism. A review of published studies was done.  The one trial included reported results on four outcomes. Unsurprisingly in such a small-scale study, the results for three of these outcomes (cognitive skills, linguistic ability and motor ability) had wide confidence intervals that spanned the line of nil effect. However, the fourth outcome, reduction in autistic traits, reported a significant beneficial treatment effect for the combined gluten- and casein- free diet. This is an important area of investigation and large scale, good quality randomised controlled trials are needed.

Plasma fatty acid levels in autistic children.
Vancassel S, et al. INRA, domaine de Vilvert, 78352 Jouy-en-Josas cedex, France.
Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids. 2001 Jul;65(1):1-7.
Phospholipid fatty acids are major structural components of neuronal cell membranes, which modulate membrane fluidity and hence function. Evidence from clinical and biochemical sources have indicated changes in the metabolism of fatty acids in several psychiatric disorders. We examined the phospholipid fatty acids in the plasma of a population of autistic subjects compared to mentally retarded controls. Our results showed a marked reduction in the levels of 22: 6n-3 (23%) in the autistic subjects, resulting in significantly lower levels of total (n-3) polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) (20%), without significant reduction in the (n-6) PUFA series, and consequently a significant increase in the (n-6)/(n-3) ratio (25%). These variations are discussed in terms of potential differences in PUFA dietary intake, metabolism, or incorporation into cellular membranes between the two groups of subjects. These results open up interesting perspectives for the investigation of new biological indices in autism. Moreover, this might have new therapeutic implications in terms of child nutrition.

Autism cause and treatment questions
Q. Can Mind Power Rx be given to a child with autism? Do you have any information on that? My son is an 11 year old with profound autism and epilepsy. Also is there any natural remedies i can try for epilepsy for this same child?. Please help. I am a desperate mommy looking to give my son other alternatives than chemical drugs.
   A. Mind Power Rx can be given to an autistic child of 11 but only at half a capsule a day, any more would need to be under medical supervision. However, we don't know how Mind Power Rx influences epilepsy, and we don't have a good idea how this product would interact with medications used for epilepsy.

Q. Does the measles vaccine cause autism?
   A. No direct link between measles vaccine and autism has yet been found.

Home - nutrition articles and autism study