Autism: The Roots of Comorbidity
By Teresa Conrick
The recent Chicago Tribune hit-and-run piece on autism treatments and those who support them was such an injustice to the true medical issues that our children have that it spurred me into an investigation about the recurring theme that many media outlets employ -- ignore the true medical issues of autism and just discuss treatment of the symptoms (and bash those who disobey). Those treatments, for symptoms only, often include powerful, sedating and off-label psychiatric drugs that have many dangerous side effects.
So again, a look back in time often uncovers some striking parallels and possibly sheds some light about the illness of autism and its behavioral symptoms. Investigating the incidence of medical issues in that population brought me to an AUG. 27, 1949 BMJ study called INCIDENCE OF PHYSICAL DISORDERS AMONG PSYCHIATRIC IN-PATIENTS A STUDY OF 175 CASES by H. E. S. MARSHALL , at Psychiatric Unit, St. George's Hospital in London. (HERE)
The conclusion:
The number of patients studied was 175, comprising 124 women and 51 men ."All were in need of psychiatric attention, and no purely physical criterion entered into their selection. But in no fewer than 77 patients (44%) ... some physical condition needing attention was found." And this was equally interesting -- "In 39 patients (22%) the physical condition was considered to contribute to the development of the psychological illness."
That's an interesting conclusion - that a physical condition contributed to the development of a psychiatric condition.
In 1996, while my Megan was sick with mysterious viral illnesses, rashes, chronic ear infections, GI pain, diarrhea and vomiting, she received a diagnosis of "autism" which then began the detour of true medical help. Ironically, this journal article appeared that same year in "Health and Social Work, Vol. 21", "STUDIES ON MENTAL HEALTH AND PHYSICAL ILLNESS." (HERE)
"Since the 1930s there has been an increased interest in understanding the relationship between physical disease and mental illness." (I must insert here again, Dr. Leo Kanner, child psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins, unfortunately did not share this interest when he was reporting on the first 11 autism patients born in the 1930's and written in his landmark paper in 1943.) "This interest has taken two directions: Some research has sought to identify the extent to which a relationship exists between mental illness and excessive mortality rates (Allebeck & Wistedt, 1986; Eastwood, Stiasny, & Meier, 1982; Kendler, 1986; Malzberg, 1934), and other research has taken a similar approach to the presumed relationship between mental illness and excessive rates of disease (Herridge, 1960; Koranyi, 1979; Maguire & Granville-Grossman, 1968; Marshall, 1949). At least 13 studies completed during the past 60 years have confirmed that individuals with various forms of mental illness have rates of physical illness far in excess of the expected frequency of such illnesses in the general population (for example, Davies, 1965; Koran, 1989; McCarrick & Manderscheid, 1986). In 1936, Comroe conducted one of the earliest studies and noted that in a sample of 100 individuals diagnosed with neurosis, 24 percent developed a significant physical illness over the eight months of the study. Koranyi's (1979) work was among the first to use large samples of patients. In a study of over 2,000 psychiatric patients, he found that 43 percent had at least one medical illness. Nearly 46 percent of these illnesses had previously gone unrecognized by the physicians who made the referral for psychiatric examination and treatment. Koranyi also noted that in 20 percent of the patients, the physical illness was the only identifiable cause of the psychiatric symptoms that formed the basis of the initial referral. He observed that the failure to recognize illness was highest (84 percent) when the patient was self-referred, second highest (83 percent) when the patient was referred by a social services agency, and third highest (48 percent) when the patient was referred by a psychiatrist."
What was that? Referred by a psychiatrist, the failure to recognize illness was 48%! On that note, let's go back to Kanner and those first autism patients. I have mentioned that I have a keen interest in Dan Olmsted and Mark Blaxill's investigations of the original eleven Kanner patients as well as their exploration of the natural history of autism. As a result, I have read many correlations with those first eleven and our children today. Leo Kanner described each in really two papers, the original in 1943, "Autistic Disturbances of Affective Contact" and then a follow up report in 1971, where he added on bits of new information over those twenty-nine years. So what did Kanner miss? What "failure to recognize illness" did he demonstrate as he painted his picture of "Autistic Disturbances of Affective Contact"?
Knowing what we see in our children today through medical tests and labs, the Kanner Eleven show similar manifestations:
Donald T.: "Eating," the report said, "has always been a problem with him. He has never shown a normal appetite. He gained weight but developed the habit of shaking his head from side to side. He continued spinning objects and jumped up and down in ecstasy as he watched them spin. He wandered about smiling, making stereotyped movements with his fingers, crossing them about in the air. He shook his head from side, whispering or humming the same three-note tune. He spun with great pleasure anything he could seize upon to spin. Most of his actions were repetitions carried out in exactly the same way in which they had been performed originally." He had an acute attack of rheumatoid arthritis in 1955.
Frederick W: He doesn't want me to touch him or put my arm around him, but he'll come and touch me. His occiput and frontal region was markedly prominent. There was a supernumerary nipple in the left axilla. Reflexes were sluggish but present. All other findings, including laboratory examinations and X-ray of his skull, were normal, except for large and ragged tonsils.
Richard M.: Following smallpox vaccination at 12 months, he had an attack of diarrhea and fever, from which he recovered in somewhat less than a week. Richard was found to be healthy except for large tonsils and adenoids, which were removed on February 8, 1941.
Paul G.: He was born normally. He vomited a great deal during his first year, and feeding of formulas were changed frequently with little success. He had measles, chickenpox, and pertussis without complications. His tonsils were removed when he was 3 years old.
Barbara K.: She nursed poorly and was put on bottle after a week. She quit taking any nourishment at 3 months. She was tube-fed five times daily up to 1 rear of age.
Virginia S. : Not one medical fact. A big question mark about her health.
Herbert B.: ...he vomited all food from birth through the third month.
Alfred L.: For the first two months, "the feeding formula caused considerable concern ...had been kept in bed often because of colds, bronchitis, chickenpox, streptococcus infection, impetigo, and a vaguely described condition which the mother insisted was "rheumatic fever". While in the hospital, he is said to have behaved "like a manic patient."
Charles N.: As a baby, he was "slow and phlegmatic." He would lie in his crib "almost as if hypnotized." Thyroid extract medication had no effect.
John F.: There is a long story of trying to get food down. The anterior fontanelle did not close until he was 2 ½ years of age. He suffered from repeated colds and otitis media, which necessitated bilateral myringotomy. In December 1942, and January 1943, he had two series of predominantly right-sided convuIsions, with conjugate deviation of the eyes to the right and transient paresis of the right arm. Neurologic examination showed no abnormalities. His eyegrounds were normal. An EEG indicated "focal disturbances in the left occipital region." John died suddenly in 1966 at 29 years of age.
Elaine C. : Because of a febrile illness at 13 months, her increasing difficulties were interpreted as possible postencephalitic behavior disorder. For 18 months, she was given anterior pituitary and thyroid preparations. "Some doctors thought she was a normal child and said that she would outgrow this." A report, dated September 25,1970, says: "She has epileptic seizures occasionally of grand mal type and is receiving antiepileptics and tranquilizers."
What really stands out with the Kanner Eleven and children with an autism diagnosis today are some eerily familiar medical disturbances:
Bacterial infections, especially what appears to be streptococcus --- "large and ragged tonsils;" "streptococcus infection;" "rheumatoid arthritis"; "large tonsils and adenoids;" "tonsils were removed when he was 3 years old;" "rheumatic fever;" "otitis media, which necessitated bilateral myringotomy;" "bronchitis;" "impetigo."
Gastrointestinal issues, which can also be bacteria-related -- see HERE: --- "Eating," the report said, "has always been a problem with him;" "attack of diarrhea and fever;" "tube-fed five times daily up to 1 year of age;" "vomited all food from birth through the third month;" "For the first two months, the feeding formula caused considerable concern;" "a long story of trying to get food down."
Viral illness: --- "smallpox vaccination at 12 months--attack of diarrhea and fever;" " He had measles, chickenpox ;" "in bed often because of colds, bronchitis, chickenpox;" " He suffered from repeated colds;" "a febrile illness at 13 months, her increasing difficulties were interpreted as possible postencephalitic behavior disorder."
Kanner missed seeing these as an etiological connection. Instead he has included them as part of the picture, as "comorbid" pieces to the children. I think we can acknowledge that he didn't have the retrospective view that we have now, that many of these children with an autism diagnosis have more bacterial, viral, and fungal infections than their neurotypical peers. Is it because of a dysfunctional immune system and if so, why? Was it fragile or did something make it that way, like vaccines and/or mercury-thimerosal for example, altering it and the consequences of that showing up in behaviors?
Example- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50bQtkfiHvs
This would be a good time to describe that word, "comorbid" because it's a word that has more than one meaning and purpose especially with regards to autism:
Dorland's Medical Dictionary for Health Consumers.
comorbid - adj. Coexisting or with an unrelated pathological or disease process.
So this means a separate entity. He has autism but he has a seizure disorder- unrelated and thus he has at least one "comorbid" condition to his autism....but is that correct?
Here's another definition:
"The term "comorbid" currently has two definitions: 1) to indicate a medical condition existing simultaneously but independently with another condition in a patient (this is the older and more "correct" definition) 2) to indicate a medical condition in a patient that causes, is caused by, or is otherwise related to another condition in the same patient"....now check out the comment here on Wikipedia, while not a fact but a telling opinion........... "(this is a newer, nonstandard definition and less well-accepted)". Interesting...."less well-accepted" and I sense that this might be indicative of the resistance of looking at the "core" issues of any of these chronic illnesses so we see the birth of "comorbid" and its ugly cousin "concomitant" popping up in more and more studies as an attempt to dismiss the true roots of autism.
If bacterial, viral, and fungal infections occur more often in children with an autism diagnosis, the question remains as to why that is? If the behaviors associated with autism, those core issues -- language, repetitive movements, poor social skills -- are the body's reactions to these medical issues, then that is a significant paradigm shift. It is very possible that comorbid in autism really means the cause of the disorder.
It has been 66 year since Dr. Kanner wrote about those eleven children who had a great deal of illness and infection inside their bodies and we are still seeing that today. Kanner did not see it but it is very obvious that we are dealing with a medical illness with roots from these infections. It’s very likely that the recipe for autism has not changed but sadly instead, the ingredients have just increased.
Teresa Conrick has two beautiful daughters. When she is not teaching, she is researching the biomedical implications of autism, both past and present.
Natasha, Thanks for the link, I spent a couple of hours looking at this and trying to look up other information associated with it.
I have been trying to get a grip on what ever one means with when they refer to calcium channels and glutamate/aspartate carrier rates.
Know a little more, but still well - I bet I know more than the average doctor right now.
Thanks again
Posted by: Benedetta | December 05, 2009 at 11:40 AM
Phenomenally great article and insightful comments!
Posted by: michael framson | December 05, 2009 at 01:42 AM
Great words, Roger- thank you!
"It is time once and for all to say that what we have is not "autism".It is neither a psychiatric illness,nor is it solely a disability.It is a serious medical disease, just as surely as muscular dystrophy or cerebral palsy is.It is not going to be taken seriously as such until we break up this silly idea of an autism spectrum,and get our mulisystemic medical illness out of the DSM."
Posted by: Teresa Conrick | December 04, 2009 at 08:02 PM
summary of abnormal biomedical findings in autism (few of the most recent ones not included)
http://www.autismcalciumchannelopathy.com/Abnormal_biomed_findings.html
Posted by: Natasa | December 04, 2009 at 07:30 AM
Teresa
Great job organizing this information into such a readable format!
It is articles like this that help educate the disbelievers.
Many thanks to you
Posted by: Just another mom in IL | December 03, 2009 at 12:02 AM
I read Saving Sammy. Very good read. She did not mention any vaccine connection but I can't help but wonder.
I've always intuitively connected "immune problems" with autism. Whenever my daughter's behaviors worsened exponentially, she was coming down with a cold. When spring rolled around every year, she was "worse" for months -- seasonal allergies without sneezing. I wonder if her "brain was allergic." Good ole inflamation.
Has anyone ever connected this and experimented with homeopathy, as in Zicam, as a relief to escalated behaviors during cold season? Good ole immune system boost to help with autism.
Posted by: Cynthia Cournoyer | December 02, 2009 at 10:08 PM
All of these comments are fascinating! Thanks to you all and Barry, I really appreciate your practitioner opinion.
Benedetta,
I think there are many diagnoses that are incorrect names--even autism. What they all have in common is a toxic insult. About 1987 seemed to be the fist blips of this idiopathic disorder....so what toxin might be new or increased in that time...?
Posted by: Teresa Conrick | December 02, 2009 at 05:59 PM
Thank you for those studies, Teresa. Terrific sleuthing. My brain is on fire, all these "pieces of the puzzle" keep spinning around in my head and it sure would be great to have a local book club to "wonk out" in over some of these things. I hope you'll take a look at that book when you get a break in research.
Could it all be metals combined with viruses + mito toxins for schizophrenia and other "pre-mass-vax era" disorders as well? I keep remembering that truism that epidemics are ultimately simple. Mercury is hardly off the table in any case as you say. 80 years ago, it seemed to take people until adolescence to amass enough of a body burden for their brains, nervous systems and general health to collapse with certain recognizable cognitive conditions. Fifty years ago, the youngest person ever documented with "non unipolar depression" was fourteen. Now it's fast and easy and starts on day of birth.
Posted by: Gatogorra | December 02, 2009 at 01:58 PM
Thank you, Teresa, for this article. People wonder why all these psychiatric drugs cease to work effectively after a short period of time - well, because they do not get to the root of the problem.
Posted by: Chris | December 02, 2009 at 01:28 PM
Tereasa;
Thanks for being so good to me and taking the time to look at it. You are very good at this and it is not wasted on me how much time this took.
My feeling is that it comes close but they did not connect the dots. It is more of the same of - well there is a periodic fever and illness but everything turns out alright in the end, no harm done with just a little fever of 104 to 106!!!!
Did you get that feeling too?
Do you think that this might be the medical community's first attempt at describing symptoms of autism ?
Posted by: Benedetta | December 02, 2009 at 01:27 PM
The saddest part of our entire medical system's so called "treatments" for any health disorder, whether physical or "mental", is toxic drug concoctions that at best, can temporarily improve only the symptoms because the actual causes of the problems are never addressed or remedied. The worst case scenario which continually occurs is that these toxic drugs then produce more damages in the body, which in the case of autism is the worst possible "solution". Here we have children with severely limited capacity for detoxification pathways which then cannot possibly handle the toxicity of these drugs, so more damage is added on top of that which was already created, primarily by vaccine toxic overloads. No wonder Glutathione and Methyl B12 produce such amazing results in our children because these enable them to detoxify. (I am also now learning about the role that Magnesium plays in the detoxification process amongst many other metabolic pathways from Dr. Mark Sircus: http://magnesiumforlife.com)
The age old theories in Psychiatry which separate the brain from the body and refuses to recognize that the brain is a physical organ which interacts with the entire physical body has produced so much grief and suffering. Ask Dr. John Domisseee, a Psychiatrist, who learned by his research many years ago that he was never going to achieve any actual success with his psychiatric patients unless he discovered the PHYSICAL CAUSES, thus he utilizes lab testing for nutrient deficiencies, hormone imbalances, and other physical problems. He successfully treats everything from Manic Depression to Alzheimers with nutritional therapies, especially Methyl B-12. But what happens when he tries to share his research and amazing results with his own medical profession? He gets attacked and has to spend a fortune to defend himself, just like so many other alternative medicine doctors who end up listed on "Quackwatch", which by the way is a comprehensive listing of many of the most qualified doctors, including Dr.Linus Pauling who won the nobel prize for his research regarding Vitamin C. Actually Quackwatch is a great place to start for anyone seeking real solutions for serious health issues, especially cancer because it's virtually a "Who's Who" of the most experienced doctors who have actually gotten results, so in my book Quackwatch is actually a great "Physician Referral Service"!!! Included in the many listed are of course "quacks" who practice chelation therapies, so I expect that alot of the D.A.N. doctors are going to end up listed here, but in reality this is a Badge of Honor for all doctors who buck the system by recognizing and treating health disorders with therapies that actually WORK instead of manmade chemical drug concoctions that eventually make all of the patients sicker instead of better.
I discovered Dr. Dommissee while researching Methyl B12 regarding my grandson, and although he does not list Autism as one of the many disorders that he treats I learned a lot from his website, and our family will be seeking his assistance regarding my niece who is suffering from Manic Depression with Psychosis and Paranoia. My mother has noticed that her grandaughter has only gotten worse with the psychiatric medications, and this combined with the fact that her great grandson has responded so well to "alternative medicine" for his autism has opened her eyes to the reality of nutritional and alternative natural medicine therapies. Here is a revealing statement by Dr. Dommissee from an interview:
"Kids are being put on drugs also, especially for AD(H)D, Attention-Deficit (Hyperactivity) Disorder, another condition that can often be corrected with nutritional or anti-toxicity approaches."
["What You Don’t Know about Vitamin B12 CAN Hurt You"
http://the-moneychanger.com/articles_files/health/vitamin_B12.phtml]
Dr. Dommissee quotes the following on his website:
http://www.johndommissemd.com/
"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."
Robert Frost: 'The Road Not Taken'
"I will not follow where the path may lead,
but I will go where there is no path,
and I will leave a trail."
Muriel Strade
Posted by: Autism Grandma | December 02, 2009 at 11:21 AM
Teresa, this may be one of the most interesting articles I have read in the past year! As a father and practitioner in the Autism field, I applaud your research capabilities and thoroughness (is that a word?) Keep up the good work.
Roger, your acronym (MINDDS) is AWESOME! Do you mind if I use that to explain to patients?
Thank you all for what you do.
Posted by: Barry S. | December 02, 2009 at 09:00 AM
Silly people, why on earth would you think that there is any relationship between the brain and the body? The brain is not living tissue; it is made of plastic and metal parts which aren't dependent on those messy things like hormones and blood that are contained in our bodies. Didn't you know that autism is caused by “mis-wiring” of the brain? Yes, the brain contains wires. If properly constructed by strong genes without defects, all the brain needs is a bit of electricity to keep running smoothly. How on earth could brains, which are (as previously mentioned) made of plastic and metal, be affected by microbes or inflammation? Haven’t you heard of the “blood/brain barrier”? The brain is the seat of the soul and intellect while the body is the seat of all that physical stuff.
There, glad we got that straightened out.
Posted by: autism expert | December 02, 2009 at 02:27 AM
Benedetta-
Just looking at this-
http://padeh.net/new_files/PFAPA.pdf
here are some highlights-
FEVER ACCOMPANIED BY APHTHOUS STOMATITIS, PHARYNGITIS, AND
CERVICAL ADENITIS SYNDROME (PFAPA SYNDROME)
The PFAPA syndrome is a chronic disease of unknown etiology characterized by Periodic episodes
of high Fever accompanied by Aphthous stomatitis, Pharyngitis, and cervical Adenitis, often associated
with headache and/or abdominal or joint pain. This syndrome belongs to the group of recurrent fever
syndromes, which includes systemic onset juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, cyclic neutropenia, and the
group of hereditary fevers. PFAPA however differs from these hereditary autoimmune fevers as it is a
sporadic syndrome and second cases in siblings are not found.
looks like it first came to be about 1987.....and the clinical picture-
Attacks recur every 4-6
weeks, with temperature up to 40.5° C. The affected children had no long-term sequelae. Episodes of
fevers begin at the age of 4.2 ± 2.7 years. Fever, chills, sweats, headache, muscle and bone pain are
common. General malaise, resembling streptococcal pharyngitis, tonsillitis with negative throat cultures,
and cervical adenopathy are typical of the syndrome. Less common are aphthae, abdominal pain, and
arthralgia. Mild hepatosplenomegaly was observed in some patients. There is complete resolution
between episodes, appetite and energy return to normal and lost weight is regained. Affected children
grew and developed normally, had no associated diseases, and no long-term sequelae.
Rapid response to a single dose of
corticosteroids.,,,,Unexplained episodic fever can be the early manifestation of Crohn’s disease for months
to years.....Modestly elevated serum concentrations of IgD and
minimally to modestly elevated IgE levels have been reported. Whether findings reflect normal
variations in immunoglobulins, are results or markers of another abnormality, or represent one or more
immunologic dysregulations, as the cause of PFAPA syndrome remains unclear.
Posted by: Teresa Conrick | December 02, 2009 at 12:07 AM
Thank you, Teresa. What jumps out at me in all this is the damage that has been caused by the fields of psychiatry/psychology in general. It seems from Freud on we just took a nose dive in the advancement of biological science and the brain. How many millions or billions of research dollars over the years have been spent on just identifying behavior and trying to associate it with experiential causes? All the while ignoring and disregarding what was physically and biologically going on. Even the establishment of the term and the original definition of comorbid is a sad testament to the scientific ignorance in the mental health field. Keep up the great work, we all appreciate it!
Posted by: mlinn | December 02, 2009 at 12:02 AM
Gatogorra and everyone who has posted- thanks! (where is the book club-? sounds fun)
Yes, I am obsessed as this is all fascinating to me- ever since I first started hearing Mark and Dan write and present this, I have to remind myself to come up for air.
All roads lead to vaccines..and ultimately for some..mercury (yes- thimerosal is still a culprit,,,, for any ND who deny the damage done- all your wishing and sarcasm cannot make it go away) in them and from the community we live...speaking of lipid metabolism....
Chem Biol Interact. 1993 Jul;88(1):71-87.
Interaction of inorganic mercury salts with model and red cell membranes: importance of lipid binding sites.
Delnomdedieu M, Allis JW.
Health Effects Research Laboratory, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27711.
The effect of two mercury salts, HgCl2 and Hg(NO3)2, on the thermotropic properties of phosphatidylserine (PS) model membranes and sonicated rat red cell membranes was investigated by fluorescence polarization. Both Hg(II) salts abolished the phase transition and decreased the membrane fluidity by interacting with PS. Maximal effect was observed at a Hg/PS ratio of 2.5-5 for mercuric chloride and at 1.5 for the nitrate salt. For both mercury compounds, 10 mM NaCl protected model membranes from the effects of Hg(II). HgCl2 and Hg(NO3)2 also decreased the fluidity of rat red cell membranes. Maximal effect was observed for 0.4 mM HgCl2 and 0.6 mM Hg(NO3)2, with 0.0125 mg protein/ml. Addition of NaCl to the Hg(II)-red cell system decreased the Hg(II)-induced perturbation of the thermotropic properties. For both membrane systems, the effects observed with Hg(NO3)2 were greater than those with HgCl2, which can be accounted for by the absence of competition with chloride ions in samples containing Hg(NO3)2.[Cl-] governs the availability of Hg(II) by determining its chemical speciation: increasing [Cl-] generates HgCl3- and HgCl4(2-), which do not interact with lipid binding sites. These results indicate that besides protein thiol groups, Hg(II)-lipid binding sites play an important role in the interaction of Hg(II) with red cell membranes that is qualitatively different from Hg(II) binding to protein thiol groups.
Journal of Research in Medical Sciences, Vol 5, No 4 (2000)
STUDY OF THE CHANGES IN SERUM LIPIDS FOLLOWING MERCURY INTOXIFICATION
M TAHER, H OROUJI, D MOKHTARIAN
Abstract
Background. The toxicity of mercury which is used as mercury chloride in different parts of living world has been reported in literature. In our knowledge, however, these reports are on the effects of mercury on serum blood parameters.
As lipids have important role in cell metabolism, we decided to study the effects of mercury on blood parameters which are related to lipid metabolism as well as its effect on hepatocyte triglycerides.
Methods. Each group of 5 rats were treated with daily IP injections of either 10 mg/kg (Body Weight) for 5 and 10 days or 5 mg/kg B.W. for 30 and 60 days, before determination of serum levels of triglycerides, cholesterol and lipoprotein fractions.
Results. The results obtained are as follows. Daily intraperitoneal injection of 10 mg/kg B.W of mercury for 5 and 10 days elevated serum triglycerides by (10.9, 19.3) LDLc (16.5, 22.5) VLDLc (10.9, ,19.3) and hepatocytes containing triglycerides (105.1, 136.3) percent respectively. HDLc was decreased by (13.4, 17.3) percent. Daily intraperitoneal injection of 5 mg/kg body weight of mercury for 30 and 60 days elevated serum triglycerides by (34.7, 47.4). LDLc (28.9, 33.3), VLDLc (34.7, 47.4) and hepatocytes containing triglycerides (177.3, 213.4) percent respectively. HDLc was lowered by (22.9, 27.7) percent.
Discussion. The results showed that mercury could affect lipid metabolism in a dose and time dependent manner. This effect might be considered as a possible cause of hyperlipidemia in those who are intoxified with this element.
Posted by: Teresa Conrick | December 01, 2009 at 11:01 PM
Well at least Roger it spells out something, so it can be easily remembered. Fine by me.
But has anyone ever heard of the PFAPA?
Posted by: Benedetta | December 01, 2009 at 09:42 PM
Teresa-- fascinating, thank you. Story Landis gave the game away with the note she left on the floor, didn't she? Showing autism to be a multisystem disorder -- rather than an inherited cognitive disability that might happen coincidentally to come with a lot of other ailments (most of which are denied anyway as neuros refuse to believe reports of seizures they don't witness; as mainstream GI docs won't even do tests for IBD if a child has autism, etc.)-- would ruin the game altogether.
I would add that it's getting harder and harder to distinguish between diseases which might induce cognitive disabilities and those which might be caused by the drugs used to "treat" cognitive disabilities.
Slogging my way through the latest wonky tome (God I wish you were a member of a local book club), "Drug-Induced Dementia: The Perfect Crime", I learned that there are some studies that can actually discern between "pre-drugging" physical ailments and "post-drugging" physical ailments (an endless list which includes GI disorder, diabetes, lipid metabolism disorder, demyelinization, etc.). Though, as you'd expect, that's becoming harder and harder to distinguish when 96% of schizophrenics in the US are chronically drugged with disease-inducing neuroleptics and 90% of children with developmental disorders are medicated, there are still old and foreign studies showing pre-drug markers for disease. I wonder how long it will even be possible to DO pre-drugging studies as children are medicated sooner and sooner in a similar pattern to vaccination (if the product is going to induce disease, do it soon in life so there's no baseline of normal behavior to highlight adverse event).
The most interesting thing I've run across in the book so far was a study showing that APO-D (apolipoprotein D) is elevated in the blood and CFS of people with schizophrenia and manic depression. APO-D is the main protein found in Alzheimers placques in the brains of those with dementia.
What makes this, as the author calls it, the "perfect crime", is that a) elevated APA-D is found in inherited lipid storage disorders like Niemann-Pick disease Type C; b) is present already in those with "mental" disorders and c) can be induced or worsened by the very pharmaceuticals prescribed to "treat" "mental" disorders as well as other environmental toxins.
Apparently neuroleptics grossly elevated the already elevated levels of APO-D in indivuals with schizophrenia, strongly indicating that those who were chronically drugged would go galluping faster towards early dementia and reducing any chance of recovery. The author shows that psychiatry is obviously not addressing the real evidence of possible cause of disease-- certain markers like APO-D-- if they're prescribing drugs that make these markers for damage worse; and the drugs are making it more and more difficult to prove that some cognitive disabilities could be entirely induced by environmental factors.
APO-D is also found in elevated levels in autism. It's also, I think, a component of Adrenoleukodystrophy or ALD-- the "Lorenzo's Oil" disease. Apparently Dr. Deth is currently researching a lipid metabolism fault in autism, possibibly induced by...vaccines.
Funny how all roads lead to "Rome" (vaccines).
Posted by: Gatogorra | December 01, 2009 at 09:29 PM
Note to self, and already duley noted...never put a diagnosis code of autism, else, thou shalt never get treatment for very serious afflications ASSOCIATED with autism disorder...seizures, cancers, thyroid disease, metabolic syndrome, wasting diseases, ataxia, liver dysfunction, neuropathy, lyme diseases, HIV like immune quality, etc etc...
Posted by: Kathy Blanco | December 01, 2009 at 08:44 PM
Excellent piece Teresa! It would be laughable if it wasn't so incredibly sad the way the medical community misses the boat on autism. "Bumbling idiots" cannot begin to describe their capabilities in caring for our kids, with the the exception of a few brave souls such as those in the DAN! group. And those who dare scratch the surface of our childrens medical issues get dragged through the mud at the Chicago Trib for their troubles. Meanwhile kids endure unbelievable pain and suffering. That is just criminal.
Our kids are routinely denied care. That IS criminal, no doubt about it.
The American Acadmey of Pediatrics is a JOKE. They are incompetent to the degree of gross negligence. I just wish someone would demand that they be held accountable.
Posted by: Sylvia | December 01, 2009 at 06:28 PM
As an autistic who has lived for 49 years with every possible immune,and gastrointestinal disease you could possibly imagine associated with this horrible disease,who has been near death,more than once from acute bacterial pneumonia,and meningitis,from rheumatic fever,and again from "idiopathic" heart failure,in my twenties.Who has had lung disease so severe they were once thought to have cystic fibrosis,and who has recently been found,thanks to a great DAN! doctor,to have EVERY SINGLE metabolic error,genetic methylation defect,high porphyrin and severe mitochondrial damage someone with an autism diagnosis could have ,I say enough is enough.
It is time once and for all to say that what we have is not "autism".It is neither a psychiatric illness,nor is it solely a disability.It is a serious medical disease, just as surely as muscular dystrophy or cerebral palsy is.It is not going to be taken seriously as such until we break up this silly idea of an autism spectrum,and get our mulisystemic medical illness out of the DSM.
There is now pretty much a recognized clinical picture that most of us with "autism",and this particular medical syndrome have.I would argue,that there is enough of a picture,that it deserves its own name,and classification.To that end,I suggest the following new name change:
Metabolic
Immunne
Neurodevelopmental
Digestive (Disorder)
Syndrome
MINDS.
Leave the autism diagnosis to the neurodiverse with their questionable,and mild diagnoses to revel in being autistic.Just like they are already doing.We need our own disease,and our own diagnosis.
Posted by: Roger Kulp | December 01, 2009 at 06:07 PM
Great piece and truly fascinating information.
It's not hard to understand your interest in this. Thanks for passing it on to all of us.
I, too, am truly amazed at the continued stupidity of the majority of the medical community, at their lack of insight into what our childrens' needs are, and the stubborness of so many who won't admit they have been wrong for so long.
Posted by: Maurine Meleck | December 01, 2009 at 03:56 PM
I don't understand this notion that true Autism is just high functioning, verbal, healthy individuals and anything Autistic that falls outside that range is a comorbid. Really? Is being non-verbal a comorbid then?
Posted by: AnaB | December 01, 2009 at 03:36 PM
It's enough to make me want to weep, reading those stories from the past that could be the same for any of our kids. When I think back to my son's symptoms that went untreated, unrecognized by our ignorant pediatrician who told us first time parents it was normal for a baby to upchuck most of its feeding because some babies are just spitty, and we should give prune juice for the constipation that required we use a rectal thermometer to help get it out, and all that gas was because we just weren't burping him correctly, it makes me want to scream. He'd had his first ear infection (and amoxycillin) just after his first vaccines. By the time we got to a DAN doctor 3 years and umpteen ear infections and antibiotics later, he had zero good bacteria in his gut and a host of bad ones.
Posted by: Garbo | December 01, 2009 at 02:56 PM
Thanks for pointing this out, as usual: spot on.
That is what is so infuriating about the “Neuro-Diverse” groups. It’s not as if our kids are just “different” and we should learn to accept them as they are, they are in PAIN!!
These “co-morbid” conditions cause mental AND mainly physical pain.
There’s nothing “neuro-diverse” about asthma, arthritis, allergies, reflux, enterocolitis, a compromised immune system, fungal infections, plus much much more.
I think that perhaps the ND community is really a community in denial.
Posted by: Casey | December 01, 2009 at 01:54 PM
Thank you for this!! Sending it out far and wide to everyone I know, plus some. :) Thanks Teresa!
Posted by: Jeanne | December 01, 2009 at 10:56 AM
Talked with a mother on another site whose child had Kawasaki's. She said her child was dignosed with PFAPA. I looked it up. Big old names of medical issues.
She shortened it to periodic fever syndrome. They have high fevers in a regular time period. Like every six weeks or 8 weeks. It sounds like Marshall's but she said it was not. Marshalls is genetic and the PFAPA was as far as she knew - not??
The mother says that one cause was said to be vaccines. Tonsils are a problem, sometime removing the tonsils help, and of course fever. That this will be outgrown.
She said that when she was told that she thought it was something that the medical people made up as a catch all dignosis. Frankly I did too. It is a new disease (like Kawasaki's and autism) 1987 I think?
Has anyone heard of this?
Maggie; Back in the 1960's our family lost a six year old cousin (double cousin - my grandmother and her sister married brothers) due to a pencillium shot given for scarlett fever. To induce Kawasaki's in mice they give them extract of yeast/candidsis.
It maybe that it is all just to complicated to be understood. Except that I allowed my two children between them to receive 8 whooping cough shots and with every last one of them, both kids had over the top reactions that only increased with each shot.
When things get to confussing that is one fact I hold on to.
Posted by: Benedetta | December 01, 2009 at 09:57 AM
Excellent Teresa! Yes, our children are more sick than the general population. The ignorance of this fact from the psychiatric community is astounding, it has gone on for decades and all coexisting/underlying illnesses of these kids are written off as "just because he/she has autism"....What a monumental mistake by the medical community as a whole. These children suffer physically everyday, it is well past time the medical community wakes up and starts justly treating them for their medical maladies.
Posted by: Allison | December 01, 2009 at 09:50 AM
http://mamaedge.blogspot.com/2009/12/judge-not.html
And moms like this will continue being brainwashed by doctors who want to do nothing but use heavy doses of psych. drugs on kids. I truly wonder what is wrong with parents who continue to fall for the crap Offit and Snyderman type doctors dish to them. The stupid runs deep!
Posted by: Sheer Ignorance | December 01, 2009 at 09:00 AM
before us doctors had the rpr test, asylums were full of patients with neurosyphilis. we didn't know it. it was called generalized paresis of the insane (GPI). the MEDICAL condition is now cured with penicillin. when will autism emerge from the dark sciences of Insel et al!!!!!!!!! he's useless and must go. i'd rather have story landis back.
Posted by: autismpop | December 01, 2009 at 08:26 AM
I wonder if these kids got shots of penicillin every time they got sick. This was very common place and doctors use to shoot penicillin for every sniffle. Injecting a mold exotoxins is bad news.
It would be interesting to see the anitbiotic and vaccine records for these kids. My guess is lots of penicillin to damage the kidneys and some thimerosal to finish off the job.
Posted by: Maggie | December 01, 2009 at 06:28 AM