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One of the most common alternative treatments offered by the biomedical community (including D.A.N. practitioners of which I am one) regarding treatment of patients on the autism spectrum involves the gluten free diet. This treatment has been known to help many patients throughout the years. This diet’s major drawback is that it is brutal (in my opinion.)Getting the appropriate food, uncontaminated products and eating out at a restaurant become difficult. Many of the products are not very tasty to put it mildly. If the entire family is on the diet (so little Sammy doesn’t feel more ostracized) you are all unhappy .There are many books and support groups as such as T.A.C.A. (Talk About Curing Autism) to help you with this diet and its difficulties. I use Hemispheric Integration Therapy in my practice as well as functional medicine but any good D.A.N (Defeat Autism Now) practitioner should be able to guide you through the gluten free diet. If you are financially able there are several lab tests that can be ordered to help you make the decision on whether to proceed with the gluten free diet. As a rule, if the patient test is positive you should do it. However if the patient test is negative that doesn’t automatically mean you shouldn’t do the diet. Again, a good doctor should be able to guide you through this process.
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Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder is associated with over weight and obesity. This relationship has been established in the scientific literature yet not well understood. We see from the studies below that children and adults with ADHD are more likely to be overweight when not medicated. We also see that ADHD children who are medicated are more likely to be underweight. This is expected as the most common medication for ADHD is methylphenidate a drug knows to have side effects indicated decrease appetite and weight loss. So much so that methylphenidate has potential and reputation for abuse. Here are two recent studies regarding to the relationship between ADHD and weight.
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Being the parent of a child with ADHD requires a lot of discipline and consistency. Our approach combines positive aspects of a sensory motor hemispheric approach with a negative aspects including removal of things known to be associated with epigenetic triggers. The sensory motor integration requires consistency in order to make progress toward long term changes. Sticking to a specific diet such as Gluten Casein Free can also be quite demanding. Our office also asks parents to do one more thing that is unpopular with children and parents trying to maintain their sanity. That is to limit screen time, meaning TV, video games and the internet. Below are two scientific articles that support our integration of this technique to our multifaceted approach.
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While most are aware that the stimulant medications prescribed for ADHD can cause side effects such as decreased appetite, weight loss, dry mouth, constipation, insomnia and nervousness. Many are not aware that there is some evidence to suggest these may stunt your child’s growth. As a Doctor who treats children with ADHD, I am always dealing with children on these medications and feel parents should be informed. Let’s look at information from Drugs.com.
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Functional neurology deals with affecting neurologic pathways or areas of the brain that are under functioning (A functional disconnect syndrome with regard to an Asperger’s child). This assumes that there are no structural problems in the anatomy and children with Asperger’s Syndrome are just this type of situation. Their neurological workup that might have included an EEG or an MRI is usually normal. Thus we are dealing with a functional lesion and not a hard lesion such as a tumor or stroke. It is the practicing functional neurologist job to localize or find out where the problem is in the nervous system. Along with a thorough neurological examination an in-depth history must be performed which includes motor development. The doctor should look for developmental delays such as delayed crawling, standing or walking which may signal when the problems began. Once the primary problem has been determined all secondary lesions and consequences of that primary lesion must be addressed. Hemispheric integration relates to the concept that usually these Asperger’s children will have an underactive hemisphere and poor communication between the hemispheres. With Asperger’s Syndrome children this tends to be the right hemisphere. Let us look at normal functions of the right hemisphere.
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It is well known that children with ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorders tend to be picky eaters. This is probably associated with the fact that they show sensory intake processing deficiencies. Sometimes they only eat food due to its texture as they often can not really taste it. This can lead to a diet that is limited to only a few items, i.e. macaroni and cheese, chicken nuggets. This limited diet can lead to vitamin deficiencies. These vitamin deficiencies may contribute to and/or exacerbate the child’s condition. Certain vitamins have been linked to ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorders and therefore it is always important to check for these deficiencies which are known to be associated with ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorders when treating a child. We consider this important especially using a sensory motor hemispheric approach to eliminate any negative factors so as to be able to get the best result. Below is a study from the scientific literature documenting a child who only ate french fries (an extreme picky eater with a very limited diet) And some support for vitamin A supplementation for these children.
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Is there one problem spot that can explain all the symptoms in ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorders? In neurology the doctor always wants to localize the lesion (where is the problem.) This can be longitudinally (up or down) or laterally (side to side). Most of these children have sensory motor issues. That is, most have difficulty with proximal muscles (posture and coordination). Most have either an increase or decrease in sensation ( touch, sound, smell, taste, light). The doctor’s must work from the outside in. Is the problem in the receptors, peripheral nerve, spinal cord, brainstem, cerebellum, basal ganglia, thalamus, or cortex? Studies show areas such as the cortex, basal ganglia, cerebellum and amygala are typically involved. In these conditions we must determine if it is a right sided or left sided brain problem. The brain usually has specialized functions in the right and left hemisphere. Typically Autism Spectrum Disorder kids have a right brain deficiency.
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ADHD and all the Autism Spectrum Disorders (ADHD, Aspergers, Tourettes, OCD, Autism) are childhood neurobehavioral disorders. Many times these disorders are so complex and can be so emotional that we lose sight of basic neurophysiology. Certainly we all agree that these disorders have a neurological component. As such, it should be remembered that all neurons (nerve cells) need fuel and activation to survive. Fuel is glucose and oxygen. Here we focus on oxygen. Neurons need oxygen. Anemia from iron deficiency causes hypoxia (lack of oxygen).
Anemia (AmE) or anæmia/anaemia (BrE) (from the Ancient Greek Ἀναιμία anaîmia, meaning “without blood”) is defined as a qualitative or quantitative deficiency of hemoglobin, a molecule found inside red blood cells (RBCs). Since hemoglobin normally carries oxygen from the lungs to the tissues, anemia leads to hypoxia (lack of oxygen) in organs. Since all human cells depend on oxygen for survival, varying degrees of anemia can have a wide range of clinical consequences. Anemia is also caused by a lack of iron in the body.
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As a physician who treats ADHD and ASD in children I am frequently asked if there are any structural changed that can be found in the brain from ADHD. Although there are some changes that are seen on an MRI, no hard lesions are usually found. Some variations such as an increase in white matter at different stages and an increase or decrease in size associated with different area are seen. I found a recent article in the scientific literature which describes physical change in the basal ganglia.
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Gluten free diets are very popular among alternative treatments to Autism Spectrum Disorder. The Autism Syndrome includes disorders such as ADHD, Aspergers, Turret’s, and Autism. The concept is that an inflammatory response to gluten is causing or contribution to the child’s Autism Spectrum Disorder symptoms. Anecdotally we all know of children that have improved on the gluten free diet. However some have and some have not. The scientific literature does not support these diets.
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