Autism Spectrum Patients: From the Frying Pan Into the Fire by:Dr. Nelson Mane DC

One of the most common alternative treatments offered by the biomedical community (including D.A.N

. practitioners of which I am one) regarding treatment of patients on the autism spectrum involves the gluten free diet. This treatment has been known to help many patients throughout the years. This diet's major drawback is that it is brutal (in my opinion.)Getting the appropriate food, uncontaminated products and eating out at a restaurant become difficult. Many of the products are not very tasty to put it mildly. If the entire family is on the diet (so little Sammy doesn't feel more ostracized) you are all unhappy .There are many books and support groups as such as T.A.C.A. (Talk About Curing Autism) to help you with this diet and its difficulties. I use Hemispheric Integration Therapy in my practice as well as functional medicine but any good D.A.N (Defeat Autism Now) practitioner should be able to guide you through the gluten free diet. If you are financially able there are several lab tests that can be ordered to help you make the decision on whether to proceed with the gluten free diet. As a rule, if the patient test is positive you should do it. However if the patient test is negative that doesn't automatically mean you shouldn't do the diet. Again, a good doctor should be able to guide you through this process.

Another common finding associated with patients on the autism spectrum is that of dysbiosis. Here we have an unhealthy digestive tract with " bad" bacterial overgrowth. Many patients on the Autism spectrum find significant improvement when this issue is dealt with appropriately. Again, these issues are something that a D.A.N doctor should be familiar with and can address with you. These issues do not require any training in Hemispheric Integration Therapy. Below find the definition of dysbiosis as per Wikepedia

Dysbiosis (also called dysbacteriosis) is the condition of having microbial imbalances on or within the body. Dysbiosis is most prominent in the digestive tract or on the skin, but can also occur on any exposed surface or mucous membrane such as the vagina, lungs, nose, sinuses, ears, nails, or eyes.

In small amounts the microbial colonies found on or in the body are benign or beneficial in most cases. These beneficial and appropriately sized microbial colonies carry out a series of helpful and necessary functions. They also protect the body from the penetration of pathogenic microbes. These beneficial microbial colonies also compete with each other keeping one another in check so no specific microbial colony dominates.

When this balance is disturbed, by such things as repeated and inappropriate antibiotic exposure, these colonies exhibit a decreased ability to check each other's growth. This can lead to an overgrowth of one or more of the disturbed colonies which then may damage some of the other smaller beneficial ones.

This type of situation often instigates a vicious cycle. As more beneficial colonies are damaged, making the imbalance more pronounced, more overgrowth issues occur since the damaged colonies are less able to check the growth of the overgrowing ones. If this goes unchecked long enough, a pervasive and chronic imbalance between colonies will set in, which ultimately minimizes the beneficial nature of these colonies as a whole.

Microbial colonies also excrete many different types of waste byproducts. Using different waste removal mechanisms, under normal circumstances the body effectively manages these byproducts with little or no trouble. Unfortunately though, over-sized and inappropriately large colonies, due to their increased numbers, excrete increased amounts of these byproducts. As the amount of microbial byproducts increases, the higher waste byproducts levels can overburden the body's waste removal mechanisms.

It is the combination of these two negative outcomes that causes many of the negative health symptoms observed when dysbiosis is present.

Here is the part about jumping from the frying pan into the fire. Below you will see a May 2009 study suggesting that a gluten free diet may contribute to creating a dysbotic gut. This study was not done on patients in the autism spectrum but those of us that treat autistic patients are familiar with the extreme sensitivities these patients seem to display. Addressing this issue may help improve the results of someone on a gluten free diet or help explain the lack of results. This was not an autism study but I feel the concepts can be applied. For this reason I thought it important to put this out to the autism community with hopes that maybe it helps one child or adult get just a little better.

Effects of a gluten-free diet on gut microbiota and immune function in healthy adult human subjects.

De Palma G, Nadal I, Collado MC, Sanz Y. 1: Br J Nutr. 2009 May 18:1-7. [Epub ahead of print]

Microbial Ecophysiology and Nutrition Group, Institute of Agrochemistry and Food Technology (IATA), Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), PO Box 73, 46100 Burjassot, Valencia, Spain.

Diet influences the composition of the gut microbiota and host's health, particularly in patients suffering from food-related diseases. Coeliac disease (CD) is a permanent intolerance to cereal gluten proteins and the only therapy for the patients is to adhere to a life-long gluten-free diet (GFD). In the present preliminary study, the effects of a GFD on the composition and immune function of the gut microbiota were analysed in ten healthy subjects (mean age 30.3 years) over 1 month. Faecal microbiota was analysed by fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) and quantitative PCR (qPCR). The ability of faecal bacteria to stimulate cytokine production by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) was determined by ELISA. No significant differences in dietary intake were found before and after the GFD except for reductions (P = 0.001) in polysaccharides. Bifidobacterium, Clostridium lituseburense and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii proportions decreased (P = 0.007, P = 0.031 and P = 0.009, respectively) as a result of the GFD analysed by FISH. Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium longum counts decreased (P = 0.020, P = 0.001 and P = 0.017, respectively), while Enterobacteriaceae and Escherichia coli counts increased (P = 0.005 and P = 0.003) after the GFD assessed by qPCR. TNF-alpha, interferon-gamma, IL-10 and IL-8 production by PBMC stimulated with faecal samples was also reduced (P = 0.021, P = 0.037, P = 0.002 and P = 0.007, respectively) after the diet. Therefore, the GFD led to reductions in beneficial gut bacteria populations and the ability of faecal samples to stimulate the host's immunity. Thus, the GFD may constitute an environmental variable to be considered in treated CD patients for its possible effects on gut health.

I always recommend that one have an experienced doctor help one navigate through the field of biomedical treatments for Autism Spectrum Disorders. However, the moral of this story is that if you have your child on a gluten free diet, they should at least be taking a good probiotic simultaneously.

Dr Nelson Mane is a chiropractic physician certified in both chiropractic orthopedics and neurology. He has sub specialty training in childhood neurobehavioral disorders as well as vestibular disorders and electro diagnostics. He was one of 11 doctors out of 60,000 chosen by the American Chiropractic Association to start the first Chiropractic neurology board back in 1989.Dr Mane is a D.A.N (Defeat Autism Now) doctor. He is considered a pioneer in the use of Hemispheric Integration Therapy for the treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorders. For more information regarding Dr. Nelson Mane and his unique approach combining functional medicine with Hemispheric Integration Therapy go to http://www.Hitautism.com.

For more information about Dr. Nelson Mane, D.C. and his treatment approach for ASD go to http://www.manecenter.com/ADHD.htm.

About the author

Our primary doctor, Dr. Nelson Ma is a chiropractor, board certified in chiropractic neurology and chiropractic orthopedics. He has additional sub-specialty training in childhood neuro-behavioral disorders, electrodiagnostics and vestibular disorders. Dr. Ma was born and raised in the state of New York. His parents are Cuban and Puerto Rican. He speaks both English and Spanish fluently. He attended Chiropractic school in St. Louis, Missouri.

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