A week ago on Friday, Richard came in with his usual bags of Friday rubbish (that we all look forward to) and whilst scoffing away on all the yummy things he bought (none of which can be classed as food) I noticed Ed had developed a nasty red rash round his mouth and cheek. It was still raised red and hot when he went to bed, so in the morning I managed to book a slot with Ann the NAET lady. In the morning the rash had gone down thankfully, and in Anns office I listed all the rubbish he had been eating prior. 'Sounds like MSG allergy' so she tested him and sure enough, he showed a week muscle response in contact with her MSG sample. That day was a 'lets not wear any clothes day' for Ed, so he lay there being treated in his pants and vest. As soon as the MSG sample came in contact with him, his entire body burst out in goose bumps, it was an obvious reaction. He lay there and was treated like a little angle, and sang all the way back home.
The following Friday, none of the crap he ate caused him any bother at all. On Saturday, after Saturday club, in him came. Went straight to the fridge and climbed up the inside shelves to get at the cheese and chowed down on great lumps of cheese and cranberry and kefir water. Well, blow me down if the very same rash didn't appear. Thankfully, Ann had a half hour that was un-booked, so off we went for another treatment. This time, I had an idea of what it was and took samples of the three suspects. It was obviously the cheese, weak muscle response to my cheese sample and strong for the cranberry and kefir. Ann thought it was probably the cultures and moulds they use to make cheese, I said 'But you already treated him for moulds!' but apparently there are loads of them and cheese has a separate list of them. So he lay there and was treated like a little angle again, this time in clothes so no idea if he went all goosey, and happy all the way home.
Well the past week has been reasonable, nothing out of our ordinary. On Sunday, I got the day off to spend it with my niece on her 21st. To add to the days delight, I got to drive down to Wiltshire with my lovely sister, and my Mum and Dad were there too, what could be better. We had a great day together, and I was so glad to get the time off to spend it with my loved ones without the constant distraction of my ginger ninja. However, when I got home (and here dear reader Ed should have been in bed - albeit bouncing) all the lights were blazing. In I go and find a very cross Richard complaining about the products I buy. To cut a long story short, my husband (bless him) takes no notice at all with the interventions I have with Ed. He has no clue what we do, because in his down time, he shuts the door and its him, a Carlsberg and catch up TV or Rome Total War. Instead of Epsom Salts and lavender oil, he poured in about half a bottle of imperial leather citrus burst shower gel, and Ed looked like his body was covered in bubble wrap he was so bumpy. Thankfully, he was in a good mood, and apart from trying to remove his skin, was fine. I had some cream for nettle rashes and stings, so I rubbed that all over him and eventually gone midnight the little fella managed to fall asleep - sorry to all his teacher for that Monday morning! Well, the following day when I clean out the bath, there are still bubbles in the bottom of the bath, and where there was water remaining in his toys, bubbles! No wonder he had such a reaction - so, no prizes for guessing where we are going this weekend!
Here my point is you need to be on alert all the time. You need to know what they are eating and drinking and rubbing up against, and you need to be alert to any change in their mental or physical state. As the list grows of things that he has been treated for, it is getting easier to see the things he reacts to, so at the moment it looks like he is more allergic than he was before. However, before we started this process, its a bit like daylight. During the day, the bright light of the sun blocks out everything else, but once it's night time, the light of the stars are visible - they have been there all the time. (Thank you Ben and Holly for that analogy) So now all the major players have been eliminated, all their little friends are visible playing havoc with my boy. I have them in my sights x
Tuesday, 19 November 2013
Friday, 15 November 2013
A dog for Edward
A few weeks ago, Richards Uncle came to stay for a night. With him he bought 'Clooney" - named so because he is so gorgeous - a working cocker spaniel. Well, you should have seen Ed. Imagine the most excited boy in the world x 1000 and you are about there. "dog! dog! dog!' Poor Clooney was pestered to within an inch of his life, and what a lovely dog, not once did he do anything other than get up and try and get away.
In the morning, Ed woke up in our bed instantly in a bad mood. He sat up, made his 'I am in a really bad mood' noise, was about to kick off when he stopped himself, 'dog!' says he, and down he goes in the best of moods. Here a little glimmer of light shone in his mothers life, because for over a year now, I have been on the waiting list to get on the waiting list for a dog from Dogs for the disabled. A wonderful charity that trains dogs for disabled children and children with autism. In two weeks time, I was almost at the top of the list, which meant a visit from them with a dog, to see how a much bang for their buck they could get placing a dog with us. Clooney showed us at least, there would be a lot of bang! Finally, after a full day of pestering, when Ed trod on his tail, the dog finally growled at him, and Ed kept a better distance.
So when the happy day came for the people from Dogs for the disabled to assess us, it was lovely again to see how Ed reacted. Well, I was told that it could take 6 weeks for them to make up their mind whether they thought one of their dogs would help us, but yesterday, after just a few of weeks, I got a letter saying we had been accepted onto the waiting list - Yeah!! So now, I am just waiting to be 'matched' to a dog, what an amazing difference it will make to our lives, I just can't wait. Through out the assessment, things happened and things were said that I kept apologising for, "Don't worry Mrs Oke, we have seen it all" "Don't worry Mrs Oke, we have heard it all" they were so nice. Finally it came to questions from me.
"We all dress up in fancy dress on Christmas day, as its your dog, would you mind if I dressed the dog up to?"- the pair of them looked at each other,
"We haven't heard that one before!" Oh, how I laughed, but the good news is, as the dog will already be used to wearing a jacket, I would be allowed to dress it up, but just for Christmas.
What will this dog mean for us? Well, as I said, it comes with a jacket. I hold it on the lead, and Ed holds onto a handle on the dogs jacket, so it feels like he is walking it, but in case he runs off (a behaviour know as bolting) there is a belt round his waist that clips to the dog. As the dog has been trained, it means it has the same right of way as a blind dog, so I would be able to take it anywhere, with Ed. This means, that if they find a dog they think matches us, our whole lives are about to make a quantum leap in possibilities. And, as its a rather large dog, (because it needs to put up with a bouncy autistic child), it means I will have no excuse but to walk it and walk off my big belly that has appeared along with my third son.
So all in all, things in our mad household are moving forward. Since I started Ed on the Iodine, he has started coming out with more words ( only at school ) and is slightly more calm. His business end has improved also with the introduction of the kefir water, and touch wood, we haven't touch cloth for a while. The other night as I was rubbing him with coconut oil after his bath, I really looked at him, and noticed fully how has he changed. A year ago, I started him on NAET, at that time he had alopecia (loosing his hair from stress) was pulling his hair out as well, I think from pain, was so skinny you could see his kidneys (not really but you know what I mean) scratched himself till he bled, had dry eczema skin, could s**t through the eye of needle and then would spread it, would bang his head against the floor, would scream and shout randomly, would hardly eat anything, and would bounce all night long if given the chance. Now, most of that has changed. He has thick, glossy hair, beautiful soft skin, has even grown a wee tummy to match his mum, the head banging which is most distressing has stopped, his bum whilst still a work in progress is so much better, and now by about 10-11pm he is all bounced out. He is still as mad as a hatter, but his physical condition gives me hope that as that improves, his brain will start to clear as well, which hopefully, with the new words he is coming out with at school, is already happening. As I have said in previous posts, it has been noted by his short break workers, that he is the only autistic child improving - the others just add more layers to their onion. So to all those warrior mums out there, who have swallowed the party line that they will be like that forever, take heart. It doesn't need to be that way, even if we can't recover them completely from the fog of autism, we can make improvements in their lives and our own x
In the morning, Ed woke up in our bed instantly in a bad mood. He sat up, made his 'I am in a really bad mood' noise, was about to kick off when he stopped himself, 'dog!' says he, and down he goes in the best of moods. Here a little glimmer of light shone in his mothers life, because for over a year now, I have been on the waiting list to get on the waiting list for a dog from Dogs for the disabled. A wonderful charity that trains dogs for disabled children and children with autism. In two weeks time, I was almost at the top of the list, which meant a visit from them with a dog, to see how a much bang for their buck they could get placing a dog with us. Clooney showed us at least, there would be a lot of bang! Finally, after a full day of pestering, when Ed trod on his tail, the dog finally growled at him, and Ed kept a better distance.
So when the happy day came for the people from Dogs for the disabled to assess us, it was lovely again to see how Ed reacted. Well, I was told that it could take 6 weeks for them to make up their mind whether they thought one of their dogs would help us, but yesterday, after just a few of weeks, I got a letter saying we had been accepted onto the waiting list - Yeah!! So now, I am just waiting to be 'matched' to a dog, what an amazing difference it will make to our lives, I just can't wait. Through out the assessment, things happened and things were said that I kept apologising for, "Don't worry Mrs Oke, we have seen it all" "Don't worry Mrs Oke, we have heard it all" they were so nice. Finally it came to questions from me.
"We all dress up in fancy dress on Christmas day, as its your dog, would you mind if I dressed the dog up to?"- the pair of them looked at each other,
"We haven't heard that one before!" Oh, how I laughed, but the good news is, as the dog will already be used to wearing a jacket, I would be allowed to dress it up, but just for Christmas.
What will this dog mean for us? Well, as I said, it comes with a jacket. I hold it on the lead, and Ed holds onto a handle on the dogs jacket, so it feels like he is walking it, but in case he runs off (a behaviour know as bolting) there is a belt round his waist that clips to the dog. As the dog has been trained, it means it has the same right of way as a blind dog, so I would be able to take it anywhere, with Ed. This means, that if they find a dog they think matches us, our whole lives are about to make a quantum leap in possibilities. And, as its a rather large dog, (because it needs to put up with a bouncy autistic child), it means I will have no excuse but to walk it and walk off my big belly that has appeared along with my third son.
So all in all, things in our mad household are moving forward. Since I started Ed on the Iodine, he has started coming out with more words ( only at school ) and is slightly more calm. His business end has improved also with the introduction of the kefir water, and touch wood, we haven't touch cloth for a while. The other night as I was rubbing him with coconut oil after his bath, I really looked at him, and noticed fully how has he changed. A year ago, I started him on NAET, at that time he had alopecia (loosing his hair from stress) was pulling his hair out as well, I think from pain, was so skinny you could see his kidneys (not really but you know what I mean) scratched himself till he bled, had dry eczema skin, could s**t through the eye of needle and then would spread it, would bang his head against the floor, would scream and shout randomly, would hardly eat anything, and would bounce all night long if given the chance. Now, most of that has changed. He has thick, glossy hair, beautiful soft skin, has even grown a wee tummy to match his mum, the head banging which is most distressing has stopped, his bum whilst still a work in progress is so much better, and now by about 10-11pm he is all bounced out. He is still as mad as a hatter, but his physical condition gives me hope that as that improves, his brain will start to clear as well, which hopefully, with the new words he is coming out with at school, is already happening. As I have said in previous posts, it has been noted by his short break workers, that he is the only autistic child improving - the others just add more layers to their onion. So to all those warrior mums out there, who have swallowed the party line that they will be like that forever, take heart. It doesn't need to be that way, even if we can't recover them completely from the fog of autism, we can make improvements in their lives and our own x
Thursday, 7 November 2013
ABA
Sorry I haven't written for a while, been living my life! The good news is that the lady a mutual friend mentioned (its in an earlier post) who has a wee boy newly diagnosed - got in touch, and from now on she will be know as 'my new friend'. So I have been quite busy with my new friend who I just think is amazing. She used to work in a special school, so she recognised the signs and managed to get her son diagnosed at two and a half. She instantly set about doing what she could, and put him on a GAPS diet, and has also managed to bully her GP into action to do some tests on him so she knows where to target her attention. Its been about 4 months since his diagnosis and her interventions, and on re-meeting her Psychologist, this professional said that she was doubting her diagnosis the change in him was so great! I put this in just to illustrate how important early diagnosis and intervention is, as opposed to our NHS policy of "lets leave it as long as possible in case they grow out of it so we don't have to spend any money." This wee lad has - as most ASD children have - bowel problems. She described a particularly nasty pooh to me, saying her Dr's response was that this was normal for her son if thats what was normal for him. I mention this, because our ASD children seem to get the rough end of the stick. Things go for them that wouldn't otherwise go for anyone else. What comes out of the backside of most of our kids is not normal and points to part of their problem, but because this condition is so little understood, it seems like professionals like to sweep these things aside to concentrate on areas that they do know about ( though I doubt they know much at all). This brings me to my topic today of ABA, applied behavioural analysis.
My sister asked me to write my opinion on a programme the BBC ran this week. I had come across ABA in my search to help Ed, but to be honest, it was so labour intensive and didn't seem to answer the question why he was like he was, that I never took it up. But recently I heard a couple of things that made me feel better about this, the first was from our new head at Eds special school. I took him some literature that the charity Treating Autism had produced, and some of my own ideas! I got such a nice feeling from this man, he is really knowledgeable, forward thinking and kind. As we chatted, before I could mention ABA - he brought it up and dismissed it. His reason were basically the brutality of it. The other thing I heard about it was from a talk given by a man with ASD, who referred to it as torture, and the two things combined made me feel ok that my natural laziness hadn't pursued it further. But you know, none of that prepared me for the programme.
My first thoughts were, why are they rewarding them with such rubbish (sweets), and why are they feeding them such rubbish, a burger and fries isn't food! If these children have bad eating habits, why don't they do something useful and introduce them to the joys of real nutritious food, because these children are like the carrot tops you can put in a dish of water - they will only grow so much before they die. The fact that they have such problems with food point to part of the problem. Given a zinc supplement, the sensitivity in the mouth settles down to a point where they are happy to eat. It all brought me back to breaking Eds beige diet, and zinc was one of the things I gave him. Why didn't they try addressing the why, before pushing forward with the ABA agenda.
I can feel a rant coming on, so do forgive my writing. There was a Swedish couple with their teenage son who they had treated with ABA. He appeared quite normal, you would never have thought that he was anything other than an atypical child. When shown the footage of him receiving his ABA training, with him in tears and the trainer just keeping on till he complied, the boy couldn't watch and asked for it to stop. He said he couldn't remember any of it, and his family and trainer used this to justify what they had done. They had the result they wanted and the boy couldn't remember any of it - but you know, I kind of think that he could, it was more the fact he decided to not remember it than it was forgotten. Watching the children on the end of ABA, the thought really went through my mind that for any other child this would be child abuse. Bullying of the worse kind. An adult in power, and with trust, bullying a younger powerless person. All with the best intent, although you would have to be a special kind of person to do it - I couldn't. And that brings me to another point, the type of person that this therapy attracts to practice it, is there any test they go through to make sure that they aren't sadists because I would think that if you were that way inclined, this would be a top job for you.
There is ample medical evidence to show that ASD children undergo a ton of stress at a cellular level, and that this is part of the vicious cycle that needs breaking in order to re balance their damaged biology. ABA just looks like something that piles on the stress. Head banging is a common feature with ASD children, there again is plenty of evidence that head banging comes from actual pain, seizures are common in ASD, but because a lot of them do it - the 'professional' see it as normal. For any other group of people it would be investigated as a symptom and treated, however for our children its ignored and seen by ABA as unpleasant for us to look at, and so one of the things it seeks to stop like the stims that our ASD children have. These stims are funny physical things they do, like jumping on the spot, hand flapping, spinning - weird odd behaviours that make them look really strange. ABA completely misses the point that our children don't do anything for without a reason. This are self calming measures our children have discovered for themselves to make themselves feel better. There seems to be lot of information out there backing the idea that some people with ASD have no idea of themselves in space, that their senses are out of whack. The hand flapping or what ever movement they make gives them an indication of where their body actually is, so stopping it doesn't make sense. ABA just seemed to mask behaviour, I see behaviour as a clue to what is going on. ABA demands that children look at the 'therapist' - research indicates that some ASD children senses are so overloaded that they can't look and hear at the same time - hence they don't look at you in order to hear you, or they look at you and read your lips because they can't hear you if you get my drift. My heart just bled for the parent and the children. The parents are doing the best they can, they just want their children to be normal and happy - no one who hasn't lived with an ASD child has the right to judge them, and those of us that do know they are just doing the best they can. I watched this program and thought that it typified our western approach to health. Completely ignoring the fact that underlying ASD is the fact that western medicine and industry has poisoned our children, that their little bodies need nourishing with nutrients and love. Not the love that wants something out of the deal, but unconditional accepting love. That they need to be rid of whats causing their systems to malfunction, and rid of the stress of trying to be something they can't be (something which is relevant to all of us.)
You know I have been treating Ed with pro-biotics and iodine, well the other week I put back in earth. Yes, medical clay, I give him about a teaspoon a day hidden in his cranberry juice. Yesterday, he came in so happy from school, he went straight to his pepper pig computer and played with it without stripping off his school uniform for at least an hour. I gave him some organic grapes (organic because grapes are one of the dirty dozen, and grapes because of the reversatol in the skins) which he ate - first time in a long time! He sang, he laughed, he played with hoover - what ever makes him happy, he ate his dinner, we went for a drive, he wanted a bowl of porridge which he had before his bath and up he went happy. This morning he woke happy, ate a bit of ham for breakfast, and whilst we were waiting for his taxi he was playing with his pepper pig ABC thing. It took me a bit to notice, but pepper kept saying 'look for the letter C as in candy cat' at that point the child is supposed to push the button with the C on it ( and the picture of candy cat) and Ed kept getting it right! Pepper would ask for another letter and Ed would get it right again - even if the thing was upside down. I know its not splitting the atom, but its a sign that Ed is in there, fully functioning and fully present. Its our job to help tear down the biological barriers to him being fully himself, and not our job to make him what we want him to be. To sum up ABA I will quote from my new friend 'Its brutal - but it works.' As far as I am concerned, anything that's brutal and involves children isn't right, and anything that is brutal that involves vulnerable children is wrong. I think that in the future we will look back on ABA a bit like the electric shock treatment given out for depression, as something to be ashamed of, but like I said earlier, don't judge the parents who don't know any better. Judge our professional - who should. x
My sister asked me to write my opinion on a programme the BBC ran this week. I had come across ABA in my search to help Ed, but to be honest, it was so labour intensive and didn't seem to answer the question why he was like he was, that I never took it up. But recently I heard a couple of things that made me feel better about this, the first was from our new head at Eds special school. I took him some literature that the charity Treating Autism had produced, and some of my own ideas! I got such a nice feeling from this man, he is really knowledgeable, forward thinking and kind. As we chatted, before I could mention ABA - he brought it up and dismissed it. His reason were basically the brutality of it. The other thing I heard about it was from a talk given by a man with ASD, who referred to it as torture, and the two things combined made me feel ok that my natural laziness hadn't pursued it further. But you know, none of that prepared me for the programme.
My first thoughts were, why are they rewarding them with such rubbish (sweets), and why are they feeding them such rubbish, a burger and fries isn't food! If these children have bad eating habits, why don't they do something useful and introduce them to the joys of real nutritious food, because these children are like the carrot tops you can put in a dish of water - they will only grow so much before they die. The fact that they have such problems with food point to part of the problem. Given a zinc supplement, the sensitivity in the mouth settles down to a point where they are happy to eat. It all brought me back to breaking Eds beige diet, and zinc was one of the things I gave him. Why didn't they try addressing the why, before pushing forward with the ABA agenda.
I can feel a rant coming on, so do forgive my writing. There was a Swedish couple with their teenage son who they had treated with ABA. He appeared quite normal, you would never have thought that he was anything other than an atypical child. When shown the footage of him receiving his ABA training, with him in tears and the trainer just keeping on till he complied, the boy couldn't watch and asked for it to stop. He said he couldn't remember any of it, and his family and trainer used this to justify what they had done. They had the result they wanted and the boy couldn't remember any of it - but you know, I kind of think that he could, it was more the fact he decided to not remember it than it was forgotten. Watching the children on the end of ABA, the thought really went through my mind that for any other child this would be child abuse. Bullying of the worse kind. An adult in power, and with trust, bullying a younger powerless person. All with the best intent, although you would have to be a special kind of person to do it - I couldn't. And that brings me to another point, the type of person that this therapy attracts to practice it, is there any test they go through to make sure that they aren't sadists because I would think that if you were that way inclined, this would be a top job for you.
There is ample medical evidence to show that ASD children undergo a ton of stress at a cellular level, and that this is part of the vicious cycle that needs breaking in order to re balance their damaged biology. ABA just looks like something that piles on the stress. Head banging is a common feature with ASD children, there again is plenty of evidence that head banging comes from actual pain, seizures are common in ASD, but because a lot of them do it - the 'professional' see it as normal. For any other group of people it would be investigated as a symptom and treated, however for our children its ignored and seen by ABA as unpleasant for us to look at, and so one of the things it seeks to stop like the stims that our ASD children have. These stims are funny physical things they do, like jumping on the spot, hand flapping, spinning - weird odd behaviours that make them look really strange. ABA completely misses the point that our children don't do anything for without a reason. This are self calming measures our children have discovered for themselves to make themselves feel better. There seems to be lot of information out there backing the idea that some people with ASD have no idea of themselves in space, that their senses are out of whack. The hand flapping or what ever movement they make gives them an indication of where their body actually is, so stopping it doesn't make sense. ABA just seemed to mask behaviour, I see behaviour as a clue to what is going on. ABA demands that children look at the 'therapist' - research indicates that some ASD children senses are so overloaded that they can't look and hear at the same time - hence they don't look at you in order to hear you, or they look at you and read your lips because they can't hear you if you get my drift. My heart just bled for the parent and the children. The parents are doing the best they can, they just want their children to be normal and happy - no one who hasn't lived with an ASD child has the right to judge them, and those of us that do know they are just doing the best they can. I watched this program and thought that it typified our western approach to health. Completely ignoring the fact that underlying ASD is the fact that western medicine and industry has poisoned our children, that their little bodies need nourishing with nutrients and love. Not the love that wants something out of the deal, but unconditional accepting love. That they need to be rid of whats causing their systems to malfunction, and rid of the stress of trying to be something they can't be (something which is relevant to all of us.)
You know I have been treating Ed with pro-biotics and iodine, well the other week I put back in earth. Yes, medical clay, I give him about a teaspoon a day hidden in his cranberry juice. Yesterday, he came in so happy from school, he went straight to his pepper pig computer and played with it without stripping off his school uniform for at least an hour. I gave him some organic grapes (organic because grapes are one of the dirty dozen, and grapes because of the reversatol in the skins) which he ate - first time in a long time! He sang, he laughed, he played with hoover - what ever makes him happy, he ate his dinner, we went for a drive, he wanted a bowl of porridge which he had before his bath and up he went happy. This morning he woke happy, ate a bit of ham for breakfast, and whilst we were waiting for his taxi he was playing with his pepper pig ABC thing. It took me a bit to notice, but pepper kept saying 'look for the letter C as in candy cat' at that point the child is supposed to push the button with the C on it ( and the picture of candy cat) and Ed kept getting it right! Pepper would ask for another letter and Ed would get it right again - even if the thing was upside down. I know its not splitting the atom, but its a sign that Ed is in there, fully functioning and fully present. Its our job to help tear down the biological barriers to him being fully himself, and not our job to make him what we want him to be. To sum up ABA I will quote from my new friend 'Its brutal - but it works.' As far as I am concerned, anything that's brutal and involves children isn't right, and anything that is brutal that involves vulnerable children is wrong. I think that in the future we will look back on ABA a bit like the electric shock treatment given out for depression, as something to be ashamed of, but like I said earlier, don't judge the parents who don't know any better. Judge our professional - who should. x
Friday, 11 October 2013
can't live with him - can't live without him
Recently, Ed has been a joy. Much, much harder work than a neuro typical child, but for him a joy. The other day I mentioned it to my mum, inside cursing myself incase I jinx it (I am sure that child is psychic) and sure enough, yesterday he flew in a rage from the school taxi. The front door had to be open, all the appliances had to be unplug, books had to be thrown out the door, and he keep going in to Tom and hitting him, in the end I just had to put him in his room. Its amazing how your emotions can turn on a dime. When he is like that, God I wish I hadn't had him! Hate perhaps is too strong a word but my feeling are instantly on that spectrum.
Anyway, he came down a few minutes latter a little calmer and I jumped in the eye of the hurricane and did a bit of hoovering whist playing Mr Men on the Virgin+. Ahhhh! Calm. Latter that night whilst getting his bath ready, I went in his room and found his mattress on the floor. I knew I needed to make his bed because he had brought his duvet down and had the hoover tucked under it in the kitchen and had been loving it for the past hour. On putting his mattress back on the bed I found a very small patch of vomit - great. Maybe though that's why he was so upset, perhaps he had car sickness, or maybe his anger just made him sick - at any rate it needed cleaning and his bed needed changing. So I changed it from the spotty duvet to the green one with dinosaurs on it. And here I come to the reason for this particular post. On getting him out of the bath and on his bed to dry him and give him his coconut rub down, he saw the new duvet and his facial expression just melted my heart. His face was so open, so joyous. His little mouth was open in wonder and his little gappy teeth were showing (lost his two bottom teeth recently) imagine the happiest child in the world with the most open, innocent, angelic face and you come close. He got in bed so happy, and I lay down to read with him. And as I looked at him I thought what other 7 year old would have been so happy for so little, and I was just so overwhelmed with love for him that I think I am becoming bi-polar. x
Anyway, he came down a few minutes latter a little calmer and I jumped in the eye of the hurricane and did a bit of hoovering whist playing Mr Men on the Virgin+. Ahhhh! Calm. Latter that night whilst getting his bath ready, I went in his room and found his mattress on the floor. I knew I needed to make his bed because he had brought his duvet down and had the hoover tucked under it in the kitchen and had been loving it for the past hour. On putting his mattress back on the bed I found a very small patch of vomit - great. Maybe though that's why he was so upset, perhaps he had car sickness, or maybe his anger just made him sick - at any rate it needed cleaning and his bed needed changing. So I changed it from the spotty duvet to the green one with dinosaurs on it. And here I come to the reason for this particular post. On getting him out of the bath and on his bed to dry him and give him his coconut rub down, he saw the new duvet and his facial expression just melted my heart. His face was so open, so joyous. His little mouth was open in wonder and his little gappy teeth were showing (lost his two bottom teeth recently) imagine the happiest child in the world with the most open, innocent, angelic face and you come close. He got in bed so happy, and I lay down to read with him. And as I looked at him I thought what other 7 year old would have been so happy for so little, and I was just so overwhelmed with love for him that I think I am becoming bi-polar. x
Thursday, 10 October 2013
this is what has gone wrong with wheat
As a mother starting out with bio-medical interventions one of the first things you come across is keep clear of gluten (wheat et al) and casein (milk), and unless you've just landed from some far flung planet, you must have heard the obesity and diabetic problems sweeping the 'modern' world. Today I want to show you how they are linked through the consumption of a new breed of 'super' wheat.
It all started in Mexico 1942, when a man called Norman Borlaug started working with the Rockefeller foundation pioneering technical assistant program in Mexico. Borlaug was the chief scientist in charge of wheat production. He intensively crossbred wheat and produced a new high yield dwarf variety. By 1963, Mexico had become the net exporter of wheat, and between 1965 to 1970, wheat yields nearly doubled in India and Pakistan. This wheat was created to prevent catastrophic mass starvation, and in 1970, he was rewarded for his services to humanity with the Noble prize. He is know as 'The father of the green revolution' and 'The man who saved a billion lives.' Now to be fair to him, he was charged with creating a high yield plant, this he did. But I don't think that it occurred to him at the time, that this plant produces grain which is quite toxic to human health. Now there are two problems. First, its not good for us at all, and secondly and very quickly - its the main wheat crop grown around the world. Its a plant highly dependant on fertilisers and pesticides ( many derived from oil) and because its the main wheat crop, a total failure of the wheat crop is possible. This would in an ironic twist, lead again to mass starvation.
So why is it so bad for us? Well its a three fold whammy. It now contains very high levels of a starch called AmylopectinA - this is the starch that makes our modern breads so light and fluffy. However, just two slices of wholemeal bread (not even the white stuff most of us eat) will raise your blood sugar more than amount 2 desert spoons of sugar (english) or 2 table spoons of sugar (USA)!! This high glycemic food makes you store fat round your belly, triggers inflammation (that means screwing up your bodies cells) gives you a fatty liver and starts the process of becoming diabetic. In the USA, 1 in 3 medicare dollars is apparently spent on diabetes. So basically it makes us fat.
It has many more chromosomes than more ancient varieties, which code for new odd proteins (because they are new to our digestive and biological systems). When digested they produce shorter proteins polypeptides called exorphins, which are like the endorphins you get from a runners high. They bind to the opioid receptors in your brain giving you a high and making you addicted just like a heroin addict. They get absorbed directly in the blood, and cross the brain / blood barrier. They are called 'Gluteomorphins,' and that is why you want to binge on cakes, biscuits, bread etc and not on say - carrots. So basically its addictive, making you want to eat more of it than you would normally, which again, makes us fat.
Dwarf wheat also has a different gluten peptide know as glia-a9. Gluten is what makes it sticky, and this type of gluten is what most people react negatively to, i.e. celiacs. Whilst celiacs have obvious symptom, most of us will react negatively, but in a hidden way, like inflammation. So it makes us feel ill with symptoms of unknown cause.
Now if if you do your own reading on this subject these are the main three topics about what is wrong with this new variety, but there is another area that needs mentioning and that is phytic acid. Phytic acid is the principle storage system for phosphorus in most plants - particularly the bran portion of grains, nuts and seeds. It inhibits enzymes we need to ingest food, including pepsin which helps break down protein (with out this you can develop little white fatty spots on the skin) and amylase needed to break down sugar (which we have already discussed is much higher in this variety and is a third way it makes us fat). Another problem is its structure. The phosphorus is held tight in phytic acid molecule, which looks a bit like a 6 armed snowflake. Now phytic acid is a serious issue for our health because as well as holding on tight to phosphorus, its arms hang on to other minerals such as calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc etc, making them all unavailable to the body. Because of this it has been named an anti-nutrient. Perhaps one of the reasons why this is such an issue with dwarf wheat is because it has depleted levels of minerals compared to its older varieties. We know this because since 1843, agronomists at Rotherstead Research Station in Herefordshire, England, have been conducting experiments over the last 2 centuries with multiply wheat cultivates. Experimenting with different crop rotations, fertilisers and farming techniques, all the while tracking the change in the mineral content of both grain and soil. Between 1843 to the mid 1960's, the mineral content including zinc, copper, magnesium, and iron remained constant. But after that (when planting the dwarf variety) they began to drop - as a point of interest, the mineral level in the soil actually went up slightly. The reason they think is that the dwarf variety has a much shorter root systems meaning that its uptake of nutrient is less, which, if you continue along that line, also means that it is more vulnerable to dry conditions - and we have another possible cause for total crop failure. While nutrient levels have dropped in the new grain, phytic acid levels have remained constant. I didn't read it anywhere, but joining the dots together, this means more areas in the phytic snowflake not already containing minerals are empty, giving it the ability to suck it up more minerals from your body. Research has suggested that we absorb approximately 20% more zinc and 60% more magnesium when phytic acid absent. A traditional method of dealing with phytic acid is 'soaking' or fermenting. Both these methods are used in the making of traditional sourdough bread, which shouldn't be confused with soda-bread. When it comes to bread though, there are other issues like the speed with which a loaf is made. No time for the gluten to break down in the natural process and the over use of bakers yeast, some of which is genetically modified - but that is another sad story for another time.
Now zinc and magnesium are very interesting minerals particularly for autism, and whilst they deserve a whole page each, lets just summarise. Zinc aids the saliva protein 'gustin' which has a major role in the sensation of taste. Any body got a picky eater? Its also important for cognitive function as it helps protect neurotransmitters. I have read also that it plays a role in our auditory sense, children who are hyper-sensitive to noise cope much better with zinc supplements. Magnesium plays the opposite role to calcium in the body. Calcium causes the muscle to contract, magnesium helps it relax. Magnesium deficiencies can result in disruptive behaviours like restlessness, body rocking, teeth grinding, hiccups, noise sensitivity, poor attention span, poor concentration, irritability and aggression to name a few more important ones. When magnesium levels are low, calcium starts to play mischief in our bodies. Leaching out from where it should be and lodging in places it shouldn't. When it lodges in our joints its called arthritis. It can cause bone spurs, cancer, kidney stones, hardening the arteries, hardening the heart chambers, and those concerned with their looks - wrinkled skin. Dr Carolyn Dean says "Magnesium permits calcium to enter a nerve cell to allow electrical transmission along the nerves to and from the brain. Even our thought, via the brains nervous system, are dependant on magnesium." So you can see how important these minerals are for our children.
To sum it up, the wheat we eat today is not the long stalked Einkorn wheat of our fathers, so beautifully described in one of Americas anthems as 'amber waves of corn'.
There is a saying with autism that genetics are the gun that the environment loads, so dwarf wheat is just one of the bullets.
Now if I was more computer savvy, I could pop back in and put a post-script on the article about paracetamol. Forgive me for sticking it here. I forgot to put this in. There seems to be an argument about the results regarding the ratio of autism in France. They also used paracetamol with vaccines but have lower rates than the USA. Again, this is my own conclusion, but your typical french diet is high in onions and garlic and other sulphur rich foods. Knowing the French, they also have a strong tradition for food with flavour as opposed to long shelf life, and tend to buy their fruit and veg fresh from markets, which presumably would have higher vitamin and mineral contents. Having a diet high in sulphur I think it fair to assume that the process of sulfation works pretty well for them, so their bodies don't need to resort to the cytochrome P450 pathway to eliminate the toxin, which is perhaps the nuts and bolts of why the allium family is so good for us - but I am not a scientist so what do I know. Again, this information is presented for information only, I am just a mum trying to find my way out of the autism maze, and hoping as I do to help others. x
It all started in Mexico 1942, when a man called Norman Borlaug started working with the Rockefeller foundation pioneering technical assistant program in Mexico. Borlaug was the chief scientist in charge of wheat production. He intensively crossbred wheat and produced a new high yield dwarf variety. By 1963, Mexico had become the net exporter of wheat, and between 1965 to 1970, wheat yields nearly doubled in India and Pakistan. This wheat was created to prevent catastrophic mass starvation, and in 1970, he was rewarded for his services to humanity with the Noble prize. He is know as 'The father of the green revolution' and 'The man who saved a billion lives.' Now to be fair to him, he was charged with creating a high yield plant, this he did. But I don't think that it occurred to him at the time, that this plant produces grain which is quite toxic to human health. Now there are two problems. First, its not good for us at all, and secondly and very quickly - its the main wheat crop grown around the world. Its a plant highly dependant on fertilisers and pesticides ( many derived from oil) and because its the main wheat crop, a total failure of the wheat crop is possible. This would in an ironic twist, lead again to mass starvation.
So why is it so bad for us? Well its a three fold whammy. It now contains very high levels of a starch called AmylopectinA - this is the starch that makes our modern breads so light and fluffy. However, just two slices of wholemeal bread (not even the white stuff most of us eat) will raise your blood sugar more than amount 2 desert spoons of sugar (english) or 2 table spoons of sugar (USA)!! This high glycemic food makes you store fat round your belly, triggers inflammation (that means screwing up your bodies cells) gives you a fatty liver and starts the process of becoming diabetic. In the USA, 1 in 3 medicare dollars is apparently spent on diabetes. So basically it makes us fat.
It has many more chromosomes than more ancient varieties, which code for new odd proteins (because they are new to our digestive and biological systems). When digested they produce shorter proteins polypeptides called exorphins, which are like the endorphins you get from a runners high. They bind to the opioid receptors in your brain giving you a high and making you addicted just like a heroin addict. They get absorbed directly in the blood, and cross the brain / blood barrier. They are called 'Gluteomorphins,' and that is why you want to binge on cakes, biscuits, bread etc and not on say - carrots. So basically its addictive, making you want to eat more of it than you would normally, which again, makes us fat.
Dwarf wheat also has a different gluten peptide know as glia-a9. Gluten is what makes it sticky, and this type of gluten is what most people react negatively to, i.e. celiacs. Whilst celiacs have obvious symptom, most of us will react negatively, but in a hidden way, like inflammation. So it makes us feel ill with symptoms of unknown cause.
Now if if you do your own reading on this subject these are the main three topics about what is wrong with this new variety, but there is another area that needs mentioning and that is phytic acid. Phytic acid is the principle storage system for phosphorus in most plants - particularly the bran portion of grains, nuts and seeds. It inhibits enzymes we need to ingest food, including pepsin which helps break down protein (with out this you can develop little white fatty spots on the skin) and amylase needed to break down sugar (which we have already discussed is much higher in this variety and is a third way it makes us fat). Another problem is its structure. The phosphorus is held tight in phytic acid molecule, which looks a bit like a 6 armed snowflake. Now phytic acid is a serious issue for our health because as well as holding on tight to phosphorus, its arms hang on to other minerals such as calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc etc, making them all unavailable to the body. Because of this it has been named an anti-nutrient. Perhaps one of the reasons why this is such an issue with dwarf wheat is because it has depleted levels of minerals compared to its older varieties. We know this because since 1843, agronomists at Rotherstead Research Station in Herefordshire, England, have been conducting experiments over the last 2 centuries with multiply wheat cultivates. Experimenting with different crop rotations, fertilisers and farming techniques, all the while tracking the change in the mineral content of both grain and soil. Between 1843 to the mid 1960's, the mineral content including zinc, copper, magnesium, and iron remained constant. But after that (when planting the dwarf variety) they began to drop - as a point of interest, the mineral level in the soil actually went up slightly. The reason they think is that the dwarf variety has a much shorter root systems meaning that its uptake of nutrient is less, which, if you continue along that line, also means that it is more vulnerable to dry conditions - and we have another possible cause for total crop failure. While nutrient levels have dropped in the new grain, phytic acid levels have remained constant. I didn't read it anywhere, but joining the dots together, this means more areas in the phytic snowflake not already containing minerals are empty, giving it the ability to suck it up more minerals from your body. Research has suggested that we absorb approximately 20% more zinc and 60% more magnesium when phytic acid absent. A traditional method of dealing with phytic acid is 'soaking' or fermenting. Both these methods are used in the making of traditional sourdough bread, which shouldn't be confused with soda-bread. When it comes to bread though, there are other issues like the speed with which a loaf is made. No time for the gluten to break down in the natural process and the over use of bakers yeast, some of which is genetically modified - but that is another sad story for another time.
Now zinc and magnesium are very interesting minerals particularly for autism, and whilst they deserve a whole page each, lets just summarise. Zinc aids the saliva protein 'gustin' which has a major role in the sensation of taste. Any body got a picky eater? Its also important for cognitive function as it helps protect neurotransmitters. I have read also that it plays a role in our auditory sense, children who are hyper-sensitive to noise cope much better with zinc supplements. Magnesium plays the opposite role to calcium in the body. Calcium causes the muscle to contract, magnesium helps it relax. Magnesium deficiencies can result in disruptive behaviours like restlessness, body rocking, teeth grinding, hiccups, noise sensitivity, poor attention span, poor concentration, irritability and aggression to name a few more important ones. When magnesium levels are low, calcium starts to play mischief in our bodies. Leaching out from where it should be and lodging in places it shouldn't. When it lodges in our joints its called arthritis. It can cause bone spurs, cancer, kidney stones, hardening the arteries, hardening the heart chambers, and those concerned with their looks - wrinkled skin. Dr Carolyn Dean says "Magnesium permits calcium to enter a nerve cell to allow electrical transmission along the nerves to and from the brain. Even our thought, via the brains nervous system, are dependant on magnesium." So you can see how important these minerals are for our children.
To sum it up, the wheat we eat today is not the long stalked Einkorn wheat of our fathers, so beautifully described in one of Americas anthems as 'amber waves of corn'.
There is a saying with autism that genetics are the gun that the environment loads, so dwarf wheat is just one of the bullets.
Now if I was more computer savvy, I could pop back in and put a post-script on the article about paracetamol. Forgive me for sticking it here. I forgot to put this in. There seems to be an argument about the results regarding the ratio of autism in France. They also used paracetamol with vaccines but have lower rates than the USA. Again, this is my own conclusion, but your typical french diet is high in onions and garlic and other sulphur rich foods. Knowing the French, they also have a strong tradition for food with flavour as opposed to long shelf life, and tend to buy their fruit and veg fresh from markets, which presumably would have higher vitamin and mineral contents. Having a diet high in sulphur I think it fair to assume that the process of sulfation works pretty well for them, so their bodies don't need to resort to the cytochrome P450 pathway to eliminate the toxin, which is perhaps the nuts and bolts of why the allium family is so good for us - but I am not a scientist so what do I know. Again, this information is presented for information only, I am just a mum trying to find my way out of the autism maze, and hoping as I do to help others. x
Wednesday, 9 October 2013
acetaminophen, the link to autism and asthma
There was a point during WW1 that our soldiers were ordered to walk towards the enemy line, despite being shot at with machine guns, history tells us this is what they did. I remember learning the fact and wondering how they could have been so stupid, but you see they were told to do it and they did. It was only afterward, after the deaths of millions that tactics changed. How often have we been told to do something and done it?
When my mum was pregnant with Steve, she had awful morning sickness, she toyed with the idea of taking a wonderful new drug that stopped morning sickness, but my dad said, no, let nature take its course. That wonderful new drug was called - Thalidomide.
When I was pregnant with Ed, I suffered with terrible migraines. I had them before I fell pregnant and the only thing that helped was Migraleve. I took the pack to the Dr to ask if it was safe to take during pregnancy, he looked at he pack and checked it up in his big book of medical facts and gave it the OK.
My dad said, maybe its best not to take it while your pregnant, I said I had to because I couldn't cope with the pain. Should have been stronger and listened to my dad. Read this yesterday, spent quite a bit of time in tears of remorse, I am putting it in bold because people of the world need to take note.
'It appears that the marked increase in the rate of autism throughout much of the world may be largely mediated by the marked increase in the use of acetaminophen in genetically and or metabolically susceptible children and perhaps the use of acetaminophen by pregnant women.'
Dr William Shaw
Now you may be looking at that and thinking thank god I didn't take that, but you see they don't sell it under that name. In the USA its called Tylenol, paracetamol in Europe.
OK, so what does he mean by genetically or metabolically susceptible children? Well we all have various biochemical pathways in our bodies that help remove toxins. Imagine that it's like your waste bin and the rubbish collection. Not all waste bins though are the same size, in this group of children they have little tiny waste bins and the bin men don't come weekly. Imagine this in your house, you produce the same amount of waste, have half the bin size ( or less) and the bin men come fortnightly, or monthly or worse - how much waste would you accumulate. Well imagine now the slow toxic buildup inside your body doing the same thing with your metabolic waste, that's what happens inside these children. And that's without all the man made toxins! Now this is just my theory, but those children grow up generally quite normally till the toxins start to overload their system (every year more and more man made chemicals are released into the environment and ingested or absorbed, be they in your food, your clothes, your personal care products etc) and as they get older the toxic overload manifest itself as Parkinson, Alzheimer etc, like my late father-in-law. These biochemical pathways include Sulfation and Methylation and when they are working correctly they keep you heathy. Now the picture Dr Shaw paints is very interesting because it includes intestinal bacteria, and I can't tell you how much better Ed has been this week. All I am doing at the moment is giving him about a glass a day of homemade kefir water, Iodine, and Epsom Salt baths.
Back to Dr Shaw and his findings. There can't be many people who haven't heard of a possible link to autism and vaccines, particularly the MMR. Well, Dr Shaw looked at the autism rate in Cuba which was 0.00168 as compared with the Center for Disease Control data published march 30 in the USA at a whopping rate of 1.13 (a 23% increase on the previous study in 2006) In Cuba, the vaccination rate is 99%, more that the take up in the USA of 85%, and by the age of 6, each Cuban child has received 34 shots. The major difference is in Cuba they NEVER give acetaminophen with vaccinations. The cuban medical establishment sees fever as a normal and beneficial side effect of vaccinations, proving that the immune system is working. They do not medicate unless the fever is above 104F or has lasted longer that 2 days. I have tried to bullet point the cascade effect of acetaminophen (aka paracetamol) that Dr Shaw has identified in these genetically/metabolically susceptible children (ie, tiny waste bin, long collection time.)
1 - Because sulfation is often defective in autistic children, they can't detoxify it, it therefore becomes toxic.
2 - This leads to a clostridia bacteria overgrowth. This particular bacteria causes an over production of brain dopamine and reduced brain norepinephrine.
3 - To much dopamine = obsessive, compulsive behaviour.
4 - To little norepinephrine leads to reduced exploratory behaviour.
5 - Because they can't use the sulfation process to get rid of the acetaminophen, their body uses another pathway called cytochrome P450.
6 - Use of the cytochrome P450 pathway leads to an excessive production of N-Acetyl-p-benzoquinoneimine (NAPQI) which is a toxic metabolite.
7 - NAPQI depletes glutathione which again reduces the bodies ability to detoxify a host of toxic chemicals from the bodies environment.
8 - In addition, NAPQI creates oxidative stress which leads to protein, lipid and nucleic acid damage from free radicals. It also increases the rate of damage to mitochondrial and nuclear DNA.
9 - NAPQI production has been found to increase in humans at recommended dosage of acetaminophen, and would be expected to be higher in people with diminished sulfation capacity.
Lets fill in some details and I will try to go through the subjects by their numbers above, because it a tricky interwoven cascade of events a bit like a 3D game of chess, and has ramifications outside of those concerned just with autism.
1 - Sulfation is the pathway that helps rid the body of a group of potentially harmful chemicals known as Phenols. Phenols can be found in highly coloured fruit and veg, like plums, apples , bananas, chocolate etc. The phenols are attracted to the sulfation process like a magnet, but if there is a deficiency of sulfate in the blood stream, instead they build up. A build up of phenolic compounds can interfere with neurotransmitter functions. Dr Warring (School of Bio-Sceince University Birmingham) found that autistic children have 15% of the normal level of sulfate compared to neuro typical children. Whilst not the prime cause for autism, certainly they are responsible for much of the dysregulation of the biological and physiological process. The Feingold Diet exclude phenols from the diet and can be very useful for autistic, and dyslexic people. However, I took the view that rather than excluding what is an otherwise healthy food, I needed to try and fix the problem. You can aid the sulfation pathway by Epsom Salt baths (yes, granny knew best) or by rubbing in magnesium sulfate cream. Interestingly, a side effect of a phenol problem is headaches and migraines, so looks like I need to sort myself out.
2 - Clostridium. Dr Shaw thinks that clostridium difficile is responsible for the production of HPHPA (its long medical name is so long I will just use the abbreviation) which is a tyrosine derivative. Tyrosine is an amino acid and is the raw material for the production of neurotransmitters "I suspect that this product might be very important in altering key bio-chemical pathways for neurotransmitters in the brain." Patients with values of HPHPA greater than 500 mmol/mol creatinine, almost always have sever neurological, psychiatric or gastrointestinal disorders such as autism, sever depression, psychotic behaviour, schizophrenia, muscle paralysis, colitis and sometime a combination of them. He was interested in HPHPA because, "Structurally its related to the neurotransmitter dopamine and norepinephrin. (To cut a long story short), the possibility of the formation of false neurotransmitters from the abnormal microbial products of phenylalanie, such as 3-hydroxphenylalancie and 2-hydroxyphenylalanine. both these isomes of tyrosine that would form false neurotransmitters when transported into the neurons."
HPHPA is an abnormal phenylalanine metabolite produced by gastrointestinal bacteria of the clostridia species, it produces spores which are completely resistant to drugs. Once the bacteria has been killed by anti-biotics, it re-colonises by its spores. The only way to prevent this re-colonisation is to 're-seed' with good intestinal bacteria, the one particularly mentioned was L acidophilus - perhaps this is why Ed is doing so well, Kefir water is basically a drink of good intestinal bacteria.
On an interesting side note. Richard Jaeckle Md, a psychiatrist and allergist in texas has successfully treated a number of psychotic patients using anti-fungal therapy, "Patients with psychotic behaviours may well have a gastrointestinal overgrowth of both year and clostridia.'
6 - Cytochrome P450 pathway. These enzymes play a crucial role in detoxifying xenobiotics. Xenobiotics are chemical compounds found in an organism but which is not normally produced or expected to be present in it. Compounds such as drugs, pesticides or carcinogens. Interestingly, fluoride is xenobiotic.
Glyphosate (the active ingredient in Round Up, the worlds most popular herbicide) inhibits cytochrome P450. Interference with cytochrome 450 disrupts the biosynthesis of amino acids by the 'good' intestinal bacteria, as well as impairing the sulfate transport - so glyphosates are a major player in our modern diseases of gastro-intestinal disorders, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, depression, autism, infertility, cancer, Alzheimer and Parkinsons.
7 - Glutathione is a major player in the detox system methylation. It is a series of very important bio-chemical reaction in the body responsible for overall good health. It is so important that I intended it be an article all on its own, if your interest is aroused, look it up.
8 - Oxidative stress and lipid damage. Each and every cell in your body has 2 layers of lipid fats making up the cell membrane. When toxins come in and attach to the cell membrane they cause the membrane to inflame. This causes another cascade of unfortunate events because now the cell has a decreased cellular fluidity, ie, nutrients can't get in and waste produced by the mitochondrial (your energy source) can't get out. This is the actual meaning of inflammation, when they tell you for instance that white bread is inflammatory, that's what they mean. The hormone receptor sites on the cell stop working and so the cell stops hearing what the body wants it to do. In the case of diabetes for instance, doesn't matter how much insulin is floating around if it can't attach to the cell wall, the cell can't use it. This is another big subject that I was going to cover individually, because one of the toxins that your cells don't like funnily enough is vegetable oil. Your cells actually prefer grass-fed butter, and other fats that you have been told are bad for you. If you want to investigate this yourself a really easy way is to youtube Dr Dan Pompa, who makes a complicated subject easy to understand, and he is quite easy on the eye too!
Now remember, all of this is just the reaction to the painkiller, haven't even mentioned what the vaccine does to your body. All that on top of dealing with whatever they just injected you with! So there you have it, I am sorry again for mis-spellings, poor grammar, etc. I haven't read this through as Ed is due home any moment. I present this information not as Doctor or scientist, but as a mother whose life and family has been blighted by autism. And so far, none of the 'professionals' have managed to help me at all. What has helped is my own "quackery"(ie. natural interventions like NAET, epsom salts, vitamins, minerals etc) and other like minded, blighted mums.
On a side note, Dr John McBride (a paediatric pulmonologist at Akron childrens hospital ohio) was stunned by the link between asthma and acetaminophen.
"The more acetaminophen somebody takes, the more likely it is that they have asthma. Also, theres an incredible consistency. Everybody around the world who's looked for this association has been able to find it."
Now I know there was a story in the British press a while ago about this link, which has been dismissed by the NHS. But I can't help feeling that the whole truth hasn't come out. I remember giving Ed Medised, 7 years ago, you could give it to children from 3 months onwards. Now, its for children 6 years and up! How much has really changed since they handed out thalidomide? That was something with a concrete physical manifestation. How long will it be before someone joins the dots and tells us what causing autism - or have they just done it?
Anyone really interested hop over to www.greatplainslaboratory.com and sign up for a free webinar from Dr William Shaw PhD himself, 30th October 2013
Love to the world x
When my mum was pregnant with Steve, she had awful morning sickness, she toyed with the idea of taking a wonderful new drug that stopped morning sickness, but my dad said, no, let nature take its course. That wonderful new drug was called - Thalidomide.
When I was pregnant with Ed, I suffered with terrible migraines. I had them before I fell pregnant and the only thing that helped was Migraleve. I took the pack to the Dr to ask if it was safe to take during pregnancy, he looked at he pack and checked it up in his big book of medical facts and gave it the OK.
My dad said, maybe its best not to take it while your pregnant, I said I had to because I couldn't cope with the pain. Should have been stronger and listened to my dad. Read this yesterday, spent quite a bit of time in tears of remorse, I am putting it in bold because people of the world need to take note.
'It appears that the marked increase in the rate of autism throughout much of the world may be largely mediated by the marked increase in the use of acetaminophen in genetically and or metabolically susceptible children and perhaps the use of acetaminophen by pregnant women.'
Dr William Shaw
Now you may be looking at that and thinking thank god I didn't take that, but you see they don't sell it under that name. In the USA its called Tylenol, paracetamol in Europe.
OK, so what does he mean by genetically or metabolically susceptible children? Well we all have various biochemical pathways in our bodies that help remove toxins. Imagine that it's like your waste bin and the rubbish collection. Not all waste bins though are the same size, in this group of children they have little tiny waste bins and the bin men don't come weekly. Imagine this in your house, you produce the same amount of waste, have half the bin size ( or less) and the bin men come fortnightly, or monthly or worse - how much waste would you accumulate. Well imagine now the slow toxic buildup inside your body doing the same thing with your metabolic waste, that's what happens inside these children. And that's without all the man made toxins! Now this is just my theory, but those children grow up generally quite normally till the toxins start to overload their system (every year more and more man made chemicals are released into the environment and ingested or absorbed, be they in your food, your clothes, your personal care products etc) and as they get older the toxic overload manifest itself as Parkinson, Alzheimer etc, like my late father-in-law. These biochemical pathways include Sulfation and Methylation and when they are working correctly they keep you heathy. Now the picture Dr Shaw paints is very interesting because it includes intestinal bacteria, and I can't tell you how much better Ed has been this week. All I am doing at the moment is giving him about a glass a day of homemade kefir water, Iodine, and Epsom Salt baths.
Back to Dr Shaw and his findings. There can't be many people who haven't heard of a possible link to autism and vaccines, particularly the MMR. Well, Dr Shaw looked at the autism rate in Cuba which was 0.00168 as compared with the Center for Disease Control data published march 30 in the USA at a whopping rate of 1.13 (a 23% increase on the previous study in 2006) In Cuba, the vaccination rate is 99%, more that the take up in the USA of 85%, and by the age of 6, each Cuban child has received 34 shots. The major difference is in Cuba they NEVER give acetaminophen with vaccinations. The cuban medical establishment sees fever as a normal and beneficial side effect of vaccinations, proving that the immune system is working. They do not medicate unless the fever is above 104F or has lasted longer that 2 days. I have tried to bullet point the cascade effect of acetaminophen (aka paracetamol) that Dr Shaw has identified in these genetically/metabolically susceptible children (ie, tiny waste bin, long collection time.)
1 - Because sulfation is often defective in autistic children, they can't detoxify it, it therefore becomes toxic.
2 - This leads to a clostridia bacteria overgrowth. This particular bacteria causes an over production of brain dopamine and reduced brain norepinephrine.
3 - To much dopamine = obsessive, compulsive behaviour.
4 - To little norepinephrine leads to reduced exploratory behaviour.
5 - Because they can't use the sulfation process to get rid of the acetaminophen, their body uses another pathway called cytochrome P450.
6 - Use of the cytochrome P450 pathway leads to an excessive production of N-Acetyl-p-benzoquinoneimine (NAPQI) which is a toxic metabolite.
7 - NAPQI depletes glutathione which again reduces the bodies ability to detoxify a host of toxic chemicals from the bodies environment.
8 - In addition, NAPQI creates oxidative stress which leads to protein, lipid and nucleic acid damage from free radicals. It also increases the rate of damage to mitochondrial and nuclear DNA.
9 - NAPQI production has been found to increase in humans at recommended dosage of acetaminophen, and would be expected to be higher in people with diminished sulfation capacity.
Lets fill in some details and I will try to go through the subjects by their numbers above, because it a tricky interwoven cascade of events a bit like a 3D game of chess, and has ramifications outside of those concerned just with autism.
1 - Sulfation is the pathway that helps rid the body of a group of potentially harmful chemicals known as Phenols. Phenols can be found in highly coloured fruit and veg, like plums, apples , bananas, chocolate etc. The phenols are attracted to the sulfation process like a magnet, but if there is a deficiency of sulfate in the blood stream, instead they build up. A build up of phenolic compounds can interfere with neurotransmitter functions. Dr Warring (School of Bio-Sceince University Birmingham) found that autistic children have 15% of the normal level of sulfate compared to neuro typical children. Whilst not the prime cause for autism, certainly they are responsible for much of the dysregulation of the biological and physiological process. The Feingold Diet exclude phenols from the diet and can be very useful for autistic, and dyslexic people. However, I took the view that rather than excluding what is an otherwise healthy food, I needed to try and fix the problem. You can aid the sulfation pathway by Epsom Salt baths (yes, granny knew best) or by rubbing in magnesium sulfate cream. Interestingly, a side effect of a phenol problem is headaches and migraines, so looks like I need to sort myself out.
2 - Clostridium. Dr Shaw thinks that clostridium difficile is responsible for the production of HPHPA (its long medical name is so long I will just use the abbreviation) which is a tyrosine derivative. Tyrosine is an amino acid and is the raw material for the production of neurotransmitters "I suspect that this product might be very important in altering key bio-chemical pathways for neurotransmitters in the brain." Patients with values of HPHPA greater than 500 mmol/mol creatinine, almost always have sever neurological, psychiatric or gastrointestinal disorders such as autism, sever depression, psychotic behaviour, schizophrenia, muscle paralysis, colitis and sometime a combination of them. He was interested in HPHPA because, "Structurally its related to the neurotransmitter dopamine and norepinephrin. (To cut a long story short), the possibility of the formation of false neurotransmitters from the abnormal microbial products of phenylalanie, such as 3-hydroxphenylalancie and 2-hydroxyphenylalanine. both these isomes of tyrosine that would form false neurotransmitters when transported into the neurons."
HPHPA is an abnormal phenylalanine metabolite produced by gastrointestinal bacteria of the clostridia species, it produces spores which are completely resistant to drugs. Once the bacteria has been killed by anti-biotics, it re-colonises by its spores. The only way to prevent this re-colonisation is to 're-seed' with good intestinal bacteria, the one particularly mentioned was L acidophilus - perhaps this is why Ed is doing so well, Kefir water is basically a drink of good intestinal bacteria.
On an interesting side note. Richard Jaeckle Md, a psychiatrist and allergist in texas has successfully treated a number of psychotic patients using anti-fungal therapy, "Patients with psychotic behaviours may well have a gastrointestinal overgrowth of both year and clostridia.'
6 - Cytochrome P450 pathway. These enzymes play a crucial role in detoxifying xenobiotics. Xenobiotics are chemical compounds found in an organism but which is not normally produced or expected to be present in it. Compounds such as drugs, pesticides or carcinogens. Interestingly, fluoride is xenobiotic.
Glyphosate (the active ingredient in Round Up, the worlds most popular herbicide) inhibits cytochrome P450. Interference with cytochrome 450 disrupts the biosynthesis of amino acids by the 'good' intestinal bacteria, as well as impairing the sulfate transport - so glyphosates are a major player in our modern diseases of gastro-intestinal disorders, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, depression, autism, infertility, cancer, Alzheimer and Parkinsons.
7 - Glutathione is a major player in the detox system methylation. It is a series of very important bio-chemical reaction in the body responsible for overall good health. It is so important that I intended it be an article all on its own, if your interest is aroused, look it up.
8 - Oxidative stress and lipid damage. Each and every cell in your body has 2 layers of lipid fats making up the cell membrane. When toxins come in and attach to the cell membrane they cause the membrane to inflame. This causes another cascade of unfortunate events because now the cell has a decreased cellular fluidity, ie, nutrients can't get in and waste produced by the mitochondrial (your energy source) can't get out. This is the actual meaning of inflammation, when they tell you for instance that white bread is inflammatory, that's what they mean. The hormone receptor sites on the cell stop working and so the cell stops hearing what the body wants it to do. In the case of diabetes for instance, doesn't matter how much insulin is floating around if it can't attach to the cell wall, the cell can't use it. This is another big subject that I was going to cover individually, because one of the toxins that your cells don't like funnily enough is vegetable oil. Your cells actually prefer grass-fed butter, and other fats that you have been told are bad for you. If you want to investigate this yourself a really easy way is to youtube Dr Dan Pompa, who makes a complicated subject easy to understand, and he is quite easy on the eye too!
Now remember, all of this is just the reaction to the painkiller, haven't even mentioned what the vaccine does to your body. All that on top of dealing with whatever they just injected you with! So there you have it, I am sorry again for mis-spellings, poor grammar, etc. I haven't read this through as Ed is due home any moment. I present this information not as Doctor or scientist, but as a mother whose life and family has been blighted by autism. And so far, none of the 'professionals' have managed to help me at all. What has helped is my own "quackery"(ie. natural interventions like NAET, epsom salts, vitamins, minerals etc) and other like minded, blighted mums.
On a side note, Dr John McBride (a paediatric pulmonologist at Akron childrens hospital ohio) was stunned by the link between asthma and acetaminophen.
"The more acetaminophen somebody takes, the more likely it is that they have asthma. Also, theres an incredible consistency. Everybody around the world who's looked for this association has been able to find it."
Now I know there was a story in the British press a while ago about this link, which has been dismissed by the NHS. But I can't help feeling that the whole truth hasn't come out. I remember giving Ed Medised, 7 years ago, you could give it to children from 3 months onwards. Now, its for children 6 years and up! How much has really changed since they handed out thalidomide? That was something with a concrete physical manifestation. How long will it be before someone joins the dots and tells us what causing autism - or have they just done it?
Anyone really interested hop over to www.greatplainslaboratory.com and sign up for a free webinar from Dr William Shaw PhD himself, 30th October 2013
Love to the world x
Thursday, 3 October 2013
the ups and downs of detox
Sorry for not posting earlier. What a week last week was! Ed was off the chart, and I was so tired that I took myself off to bed for a couple of hours nap after the boys were off to school. So we achieved nothing at all and this one has been all about catching up.
On Thursday last week, Ed came out of the taxi hot and sweaty, screaming, no shoes, he had already thrown them in the car, and in he came like a whirl wind. The plugs were pulled from their socket, the TV was turned round and all the wires pulled out, things were thrown, things were thrown out of the window... What the hell had gone wrong? On Friday morning I wrote in his school book 'What the F happened, he was a nightmare!' By nightmare I mean he screamed and thrashed till I went to bed about midnight, when he came in bed with me and settled - sort of. I spent all Friday trying to figure out what was wrong when a light bulb went off. Both he and I have been having regular iodine doses. I give Ed some on his wrist before he goes to school and by the time he comes home its gone. So I give him another lot which has gone by bed time and if I remember to, I give him another lot. Mine tends to have disappeared by the morning. You know sometimes you are so close to a problem its invisible, our problem I am sure was we were both detoxing. Mine resulted in tiredness, his unleashed the yeast beast, because of course the iodine will be killing all those nasty pathogens and their remains are poisoning his system till they are excreted.
He was seven on Sunday and we had a lovely weekend spent in the company of my sister and nanny and baba. I had told him on Friday night that his birthday was coming and he really seemed to understand, and trust me, you would have to travel far to find another child who enjoys the song 'Happy Birthday' more. When we were all up, I asked Ed if he would like to open his presents. "Yes" he said getting up and going to the other room without prompting, and boy does he like a bit of wrapping paper, not so much the birthday card!
This week we have been much better, my energy level is back to normal, and Ed is more settled. It only takes him a few minutes bashing with the hoover and throwing something out the door to settle. We have even managed to have a couple of walks before tea round the village to feed the ducks and home. His is babbling more than before, and using words such as 'more', and initiating contact. The other day he gave Richard a 'eskimo kiss' where you rub noses - very sweet, and lovely for Rich to have some nice contact with his son.
Trying to rid the house of toxic items, I bought some fluoride free toothpaste from the health food shop. It tastes surprisingly nice. Ed does have a tendency to eat toothpaste, and the relief that its not harming him now is enormous. In fact, since the iodine experiment, he hasn't eaten toothpaste really at all, whether is coincidence or not I am not sure. Also he has managed to get to the toilet without an accident this week, so despite his violent behaviour, there have been some steps forward. I haven't found time this week to back up with quotes, names and dates what I know about conventional toothpaste and tooth care, but intend to post something next week. It will also cover good and bad fats, and you may be surprised to find out which are which, and, the fact they have a direct relationship to how strong your teeth are. Till then xx
On Thursday last week, Ed came out of the taxi hot and sweaty, screaming, no shoes, he had already thrown them in the car, and in he came like a whirl wind. The plugs were pulled from their socket, the TV was turned round and all the wires pulled out, things were thrown, things were thrown out of the window... What the hell had gone wrong? On Friday morning I wrote in his school book 'What the F happened, he was a nightmare!' By nightmare I mean he screamed and thrashed till I went to bed about midnight, when he came in bed with me and settled - sort of. I spent all Friday trying to figure out what was wrong when a light bulb went off. Both he and I have been having regular iodine doses. I give Ed some on his wrist before he goes to school and by the time he comes home its gone. So I give him another lot which has gone by bed time and if I remember to, I give him another lot. Mine tends to have disappeared by the morning. You know sometimes you are so close to a problem its invisible, our problem I am sure was we were both detoxing. Mine resulted in tiredness, his unleashed the yeast beast, because of course the iodine will be killing all those nasty pathogens and their remains are poisoning his system till they are excreted.
He was seven on Sunday and we had a lovely weekend spent in the company of my sister and nanny and baba. I had told him on Friday night that his birthday was coming and he really seemed to understand, and trust me, you would have to travel far to find another child who enjoys the song 'Happy Birthday' more. When we were all up, I asked Ed if he would like to open his presents. "Yes" he said getting up and going to the other room without prompting, and boy does he like a bit of wrapping paper, not so much the birthday card!
This week we have been much better, my energy level is back to normal, and Ed is more settled. It only takes him a few minutes bashing with the hoover and throwing something out the door to settle. We have even managed to have a couple of walks before tea round the village to feed the ducks and home. His is babbling more than before, and using words such as 'more', and initiating contact. The other day he gave Richard a 'eskimo kiss' where you rub noses - very sweet, and lovely for Rich to have some nice contact with his son.
Trying to rid the house of toxic items, I bought some fluoride free toothpaste from the health food shop. It tastes surprisingly nice. Ed does have a tendency to eat toothpaste, and the relief that its not harming him now is enormous. In fact, since the iodine experiment, he hasn't eaten toothpaste really at all, whether is coincidence or not I am not sure. Also he has managed to get to the toilet without an accident this week, so despite his violent behaviour, there have been some steps forward. I haven't found time this week to back up with quotes, names and dates what I know about conventional toothpaste and tooth care, but intend to post something next week. It will also cover good and bad fats, and you may be surprised to find out which are which, and, the fact they have a direct relationship to how strong your teeth are. Till then xx
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