Mon, 05 Dec 2011 09:26:15 -0500WeeblyWed, 30 Mar 2011 11:38:18 -0500http://www.autismny.com/1/post/2011/03/post-title-click-and-type-to-edit3.htmlArtificial Colors Associated with Hyperactivity in Children
New York Times today: "Colorless Jell-O and Cheetos?  F.D.A. Is Taking a Clear Look"
After staunchly defending the safety of artificial food colorings, the federal government is for the first time publicly re-assessing whether foods like Jell-O, Lucky Charms cereal and Minute Maid Lemonade should carry warnings that the bright artificial colorings in them worsen behavior problems like hyperactivity in some children.
The article continues to describe observations of children made by parents when they consume foods with artificial colorings.  They also report that  the artificial colorings used today were approved by the F.D.A. in 1931. They were developed-as aspirin was- from coal tar, but are now made from petroleum products. 
In the 1970's, Dr. Benjamin Feingold, a pediatric allergist, treated the symptoms of hyperactivity in some children by prescribing a diet tht, among other things, eliminated artifical colorings. In 2004, our very own Dr. Marvin Boris published a paper entitled "Foods and additives are common causes of the attention deficit hyperactive disorder in children."
In 2007, The Lancet reported that artificial colorings may lead to behavioral changes even in typical children.

DO WE REALLY NEED TO HEAR MORE?   Of course those at risk of suffering financial losses by actually having to do something about their products are concerned.  Those who lobby for, or get compensated for their opinions to the contrary are up in arms once again. 
See Dr. Boris on CBS news and hear what he has to say about this subject.
OR JUST STOP GIVING YOUR KIDS THESE FOODS.
Whole Foods and Trader Joe's dont sell foods with artificial colorings any more.  ]]>Sat, 29 Jan 2011 15:09:33 -0500http://www.autismny.com/1/post/2011/01/holidays.htmlHow many of you allowed your kids to rummage their way through the holiday table of sweets and goodies?

So many of my parents have proven to themselves that their kids get sick with gas, diarrhea, rashes and bizarre behaviors when they "cheat."  Many have stopped giving the supplements.  This is one of the ways parents can prove to themselves that elimination diet and proper vitamin and mineral supplementation actually makes their kids healthier and less symptomatic of their autistic traits.

Now that the holidays are over its time to get back on track. Dont give your kids the foods they crave, give them the foods their bodies need! You'll be glad you did!]]>Sat, 29 Jan 2011 15:08:14 -0500http://www.autismny.com/1/post/2011/01/whooping-rediculous.htmlI caught a commercial on TV showing a mother cradling her infant in her arms while the voice over says "where would the safest place for your baby to be?  In mother's arms of course,  but not if she has pertussis otherwise known as whooping cough!"  I was appalled by this. 

The commercial solution is to give an adult pertussis vaccine.

Why not do preventive medicine that doesnt require a vaccine that carries its own risk.  So many coughs are just routine cold viruses, not pertussis or bacterial infections. Breast feeding, hand washing and hygiene, avoiding crowded public places with your infant is far easier and less risky in many cases than mass immunization of adults.  Let common sense be your guide to a healthy baby!]]>Thu, 06 Jan 2011 11:29:04 -0500http://www.autismny.com/1/post/2011/01/the-witch-hunt-continues.html In today’s media comes the continuing effort to discredit Dr. Andrew Wakefield's work on the autism/measles connection reporting that he fabricated his results in that some of his children in the study had autism before vaccination and some were actually never diagnosed as autistic subsequent to the MMR vaccine administration.

Once again, the medical community is being swayed by out of context information and lack of knowledge about what actually causes autism. Those of us who are working in this area know with high degree of confidence that autism is really an autoimmune disorder previously thought to be behavioral, social and developmental in origin.  The fact that we are saying that SOME children have been adversely affected by vaccines containing live viruses is being refuted by misinformation.

In my opinion, the fact that TV doctors make statements to the effect that we are pouring tons of money into autism research when most of the money is going to study the effect of drugs on the behaviors of these kids is shameful.

When will they start to address all the research that we have to support that research should be focused on the overall health and immune function of these kids??  Of course some of the Wakefield kids had autistic symptoms prior to vaccination.  Basically, most of them do. However, parents are told by pediatricians that their concerns are unfounded and they are just nervous about having a baby.  Parents of autistic children are tired of this rationale and find it offensive to their intelligence and their instincts.

Too many times have I had parents crying in my office because no one will listen to them or even try to understand what their kids' problems are.

Why must we move continue advocating the wonders of vaccination when many of these preventable diseases were on the decline before the vaccines against them were ever produced! 

We must address the mitochondrial-genetic bases for the kids’ immune systems to slowly get pushed "off track" so that the MMR vaccine or others finally push them "over the cliff!"

We doctors need to spend more than the HMO allowed 7 minutes to evaluate and discuss the issues facing these patients. If we don’t, then we are all going to fail and the coming generation will soon be known as not GEN -Xers but GEN - A's for AUTISM! 

How will they live in this world and function as productive adults if we lead parents to believe that the status quo is just fine, when it clearly isn’t.  Otherwise, how can we explain this medical epidemic called AUTISM in the first place??  Stop vilifying those who stop to ask the "WHY" questions and encourage the proper research into this medical condition.
]]>Wed, 27 Oct 2010 11:54:57 -0500http://www.autismny.com/1/post/2010/10/everyday-chemicals-may-be-harming-kids-cnn.htmlNot that this should be news to anyone but over 80,000 chemicals are on the market today. Barely 200 of them have been studied for safety.  We have more illness, more autoimmune disease, more cancer and more AUTISM than ever reported in medical history!  We also allow these chemicals to permeate our lives daily thinking they are actually safe when in reality they have NEVER BEEN TESTED FOR SAFETY!  Isn’t it time that we prove something is safe for human exposure than wait to find out that it is toxic or dangerous to our children?? 

The Senate Subcommittee on Superfund, Toxics and Environmental Health concluded that we are merely "guinea pigs in an uncontrolled experiment."  Dr. Sanjay Gupta reported these findings and his professional and personal concerns as a father on a CNN special aired in June. 

Medical research in the field of autism substantiates that our children have mitochondrial dysfunction resulting from epigenetic factors - the very toxins that pregnant mothers and their children are exposed to every day of their lives.  We know that they show toxic levels of pesticides, lead, mercury and other environmental pollutants in their blood and urine samples.  We know that these same toxins are found in the blood of newborn babies.  We know that they are chemicals found in household cleaning products, shampoos, cosmetics, plastics, clothing, and bedding.  We know that continuous exposure to electronics; TV's Cell phones, microwaves, cell towers create electromagnetic radiation that can harm us and our kids.  All this coincides with the dramatic increase in Autism Spectrum Disorders in our country and most of the world!   

More kids are on medications for ADD and other neurodevelopment disorders.  IQ's are affected inversely to the level of toxic exposure in children.  We can no longer assume that our government is watching out for our safety.  HOW MUCH MORE INFORMATION DO WE NEED TO SEE THE WRITING ON THE WALL??? 

That is why biomedical investigation as to the etiology of autism is so important since we actually look for evidence of toxicity in our patients.  Over 75% of autistic children (maybe higher) are poisoned and it’s about time we accept that fact and do something about it!]]>Tue, 05 Oct 2010 10:15:08 -0500http://www.autismny.com/1/post/2010/10/ny-times-at-risk-from-the-womb-by-nicholas-kristof.html"Some people think we're shaped primarily by genes. Others believe that the environment we grow up in is most important.  But now evidence is mounting that a third factor is also critical: our uterine environment before we're even born."  He goes on to address issues of obesity, diabetes and mental illness and how they are related in part to what happens in utero. 

He speaks of pregnant women and their exposure to chemicals and toxins, pesticides, smoking, alcohol and drugs, which are prevalent in low-income populations.  I disagree!  It's not low-income pregnant women who suffer these toxic exposures it is ALL WOMEN. 

The field of environmental toxicology stresses that we should be more careful about exposing pregnant women.  How can we do this when there are over 80,000 known toxins including lead, nickel, cadmium, aluminum, PCB's, pesticides, dry cleaning fluids, bisphenols and dioxins that need regulation. These chemicals are widely used although they have NEVER BEEN TESTED FOR SAFETY!!

As he says, "the uterus is not a diving bell that insulates its occupant from the world's perils"  I agree with Mr. Kristof that it's now high time to take a closer look at unregulated chemicals that envelop us - and may be shaping our progeny for decades to come.

This is the basis for our work; trying to unravel the biomedical, immunological epidemic that we call AUTISM. 

It is essential for any child being evaluated by medical professionals to have a complete history including how conception occurred (naturally or with hormonal intervention), what mom was doing during the pregnancy, (where she worked, lived, did she have any illnesses, medications, dental work or vaccinations?), and ultimately what were the circumstances of her labor and delivery (was she induced, was the baby delivered with vacuum extraction, forceps?)

With this information we can determine some of the toxic insults that may have affected the baby and how this could potentially lead to the diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorders later on.]]>Thu, 19 Aug 2010 12:09:56 -0500http://www.autismny.com/1/post/2010/08/ny-times-august-17-2010-a-warning-on-asthma-and-acetaminophen.htmlYoung teenagers who use acetaminophen (Tylenol) even once a month develop asthma symptoms more than twice as often as those who never take it. This reported by the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) based on data from over 322,000 children age 13 and 14 from 50 countries.   Frequent users also had more eczema, eye and sinus problems - coincidence???

Acetaminophen interferes with glutathione production, the major detoxifying amino acid in our bodies - that is a fact as well.]]>Thu, 19 Aug 2010 12:08:00 -0500http://www.autismny.com/1/post/2010/08/ny-times-august-17-2010-vaccination-is-steady-but-pertussis-is-surging.htmlThis article describes an 11 year old girl with a chronic cough ultimately diagnosed as whooping cough or "pertussis".  The real question is that in California the cases have increased 7fold from last year in a population of children who are all vaccinated with DT aP vaccines. 

My question is when are we going to stop pushing more vaccines and ask the salient question - why are all these vaccinated kids getting the very illness for which they are vaccinated for??  Why are vaccines NOT working?? They even go so far as to blame the decreasing use of antibiotics!  Reason being that we may have treated undiagnosed cases of pertussis in the past and that is why the numbers of cases are on the rise. 

Does this make sense to you??  Or is the vaccine ineffective?  Or is the patient population so adversely affected by vaccines due to underlying immune complications?]]>Thu, 19 Aug 2010 12:03:56 -0500http://www.autismny.com/1/post/2010/08/no-title.htmlDr. Philip Landrigan of the Mount Sinai Medical Center told the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee that more research needs to be conducted on potential environmental causes of autism.   

In recent years, autism, previously thought to be a genetic disorder, now seems to have environmental factors such as pesticides and other chemicals playing significant roles in the cause of autism. 

To the patients in the world with autistic children - I heartily recommend that you investigate the likelihood that your child is poisoned!  I also recommend chelation therapy to remove these toxins from their brains and bodies.  Over 75% of parents (26,000+) support this clinical observation.  ]]>Thu, 19 Aug 2010 12:01:04 -0500http://www.autismny.com/1/post/2010/08/vitamin-d-deficiency-in-our-children.htmlVitamin D functions in the body as an antioxidant/anti-inflammatory agent.  A deficiency of this vitamin can lead to increased risk of cancers, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, osteoarthritis and immune system abnormalities that lead to autoimmune disorders such as multiple sclerosis, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and AUTISM.

We usually get our vitamin D from the sun's ultraviolet-B rays absorbed through the skin. Fear of exposure to the sun’s rays and skin cancer compounded by the fact that our children rarely go outside to play, ride bikes and do the things that previous generations of children did have reduced the levels of vitamin D to sub-therapeutic.

Only recently has the American Academy of Pediatrics raised the recommended daily intake of vitamin D to 400 I.U, up from no more than 200 IU.

Slathering the children with sunblock SPF 30 reduces the UV -B rays by as much as 98%.  The new recommendation is to use sunblock on the face, but leave the remainder of the body exposed, wearing minimal clothing several times a week from 10am-3pm for at least 10 minutes. 

You cannot overdose on Vitamin D, since the skin acts as a natural barrier for its absorption.  When enough is made, further exposure to sunlight actually destroys the excess.  Oral ingestion goes to the liver for processing. There can be toxic side effects from oral ingestion such as nausea, vomiting, decreased appetite, constipation, weakness and weight loss, kidney stones, confusion and abnormal heart rhythms.

People with severe deficiency have taken up to 50,000 units per week until the problem is corrected.

I recommend supplementing the kids with 2000 units per day and follow the D3 levels regularly to assess absorption.

AAP newsletter reports that asthmatic children on steroids will have vitamin D insufficiency. The authors concluded that vitamin D supplementation might augment the anti-inflammatory function of corticosteroids in asthmatic patients, thereby improving asthma control.]]>