Autism Biomedical Experience
5/6/2002
1:11:02 AM Eastern Daylight Time
My
name is Julie Duffield. I hold a degree in Math and Chemistry
from Brigham Young University, and I have 2 children with Autism.
We have had incredible experiences working with our children
through biomedical treatment, and we hope for a full recovery.
At this point, many educators and psychiatric evaluators comment
on our children's improvement socially, but we don't feel like
our children are out of the fog yet. This is a short version
of our story. Even though I can only tell one item at a time,
some events and treatments overlap.
Let
me start with my oldest boy, Michael. He was a the happiest
child we'd ever seen. He was plump and all smiles. He was learning
how to sing, talk and dance. He loved to lead music as it played,
and I was convinced that he would be a drummer or have something
to do with music.
I
found out that I was pregnant with my second child. We were
so excited, since Michael was such a joy. Relatives and friends
would warn us that the next one could not possibly be as easy
to deal with as our wonderchild Michael. We often had people
offer and even beg to babysit little Michael. If it weren't
for his frequent ear infections and antibiotics, he would have
been the perfect child.
Then,
we brought in Michael to his 18 month well baby appt. We gave
him Tylenol before going to the doctor's, since he had high
fevers following his previous vaccines. He received 4 vaccines
on that day. He started screaming, and straightened out his
whole body stiff, and jerked in my arms as they administered
the rest of the shots. They were prepared to give a 5th shot
of chickenpox, but I declined.
I
had never seen my boy react like this to pain. The convulsive
type motion was blown off by the doctors as my son's anger
at my allowing him to have the injections. I thought that might
be a possibility, so I shrugged my shoulders as I took my screaming
child out of the office.
Michael
had a fever within 4 hours of the shots. It got up to 104,
but we knew this was normal, so we kept giving Tylenol as the
doctor had recommended. On the third day of the fever, I called
the doctors office. The nurse said that if it was still there
on the 4th day, we should come in. We came in on the fourth
day, where we were told that it was most likely a viral infection,
and there was nothing they could do. If it got worse, we should
come back. "Worse than 104?" -- was to be my question over
the next 3 months solid of fevers. Instacares, Nightime pediatrics
and even emergency rooms were no help either. The high was
105.7 under the arm, and Tylenol would bring it down to 101
or 102 temporarily. The average remained around 104. We were
told that the vaccines could have nothing to do with the sickness,
since the pharmaceutical pamphlet said that the fever would
only last 1-3 days. It had to be something else.
During
this three month period, Michael lost all of his social skills.
His speech was replaced by angry grunting. He didn't understand
what we were saying. He was scared of most sounds, and no longer
liked music. He was inconsolable during the 4th of July fireworks.
He would cry all of the time. It was absolute Hell to watch
his regression, which we associated with his being ill. An
ear infection developed at the end of the three months, treated
with a round of antibiotics, finally stopped the fever.
The
misery we experienced while he was ill, was nothing compared
to the horrors that began when the fever finally stopped. He
began to deteriorate into a stick figure child. He lost weight,
and wore the same clothes size for over a year and a half.
Growing babies are not supposed to stay the same size, and
we became quite concerned. Michael wouldn't sleep. He would
nap at about 6AM, and wake up 2 hours later. Sleep meds only
seemed to make him more wild. I was sick from being pregnant,
and needed to wake at 6AM for my science teaching position.
My husband often had to work late with his job, so I would
be up with Michael till one or two in the morning, while Joe
would stay up the rest of the night with Michael. Our house
was a constant nightmare. My husband and I were at our wits
end. We never saw each other, since he needed to sleep whenever
we were both home at the same time, to make up for lost sleep
taking care of Michael.
The
most disturbing behavior from Michael, was his willingness
to slam his head against walls. He would zone out, and laugh
as though he were drunk. He would often get on all fours and
slam his head downward on the hardwood. Another thing that
bothered me, is that he'd slowly push his eyeballs backward
into his sockets. We would have to restrain him often, to avoid
serious damage.
When
we went back to the family practitioner who had given the shots,
he Family practitioner treated my visits as though I were an
overconcerned mother. He thought Michael was going through
a phase, and injuring himself to get attention. He did offer
to give me anti-depressants. I didn't think that drugging mom
would solve the problem, so we never returned to that doctor.
It took us 5 months to find a new doctor who would work with
my public education insurance. We were on multiple waiting
lists to get Michael evaluated for a developmental assessment.
During
that time, we dealt with all of the glaring eyes, with neighbors
and relatives thinking we were the worst parents in the world.
Everyone had advice. ...If you would sing to him more...If
you would only read books to him!... If you just would forbid
TV...If you would stay home instead of working...If you would
just get his sleep on schedule...Maybe you should get his hearing
tested... even though we knew he could hear an ambulance approaching
before the rest of us. No one really understood, and we couldn't
explain it either. It wasn't much fun to visit others, and
fewer people came to visit us.
Michael
was diagnosed with Autism, 2 weeks before Jessica was born.
We were told such things as, you will have to institutionalize
him when he gets strong enough to hurt you. Therapy is the
only option. He might learn to use the bathroom by himself
by the time he's 18. Ritalin and other psychotic drugs are
the only way to improve your life at home. Autism can't be
treated, it is lifelong.
We
were essentially written over to the mental health department,
with no recommendation for testing on what was going on internally
in our boy. We were told we would have to wait 6 months before
Michael would be able to go to the autism school. This was
his only hope of improving.
Ear
infections and other illnesses continued, and Michael was often
in need of stronger antibiotics. We worried that our options
of antibiotic treatment might run out. He seemed to develop
resistance to them quickly.
Friends
began to bring us literature on biomedical treatment for autism.
We put Michael on the GFCF diet. After 3 days, he started to
make eye contact, and began sleeping through the night. We
were quite encouraged, and began to search for biomedical factors
in autism. We also were worried about Michael's weak immune
system and possible IgA deficiency, so we looked for what might
help the immune system.
It
was this point in time that we ran into the Mothers Milk Club
of Utah. They had organized a supply of Mothers Milk to give
to children with weak immune systems. The university hospital
provided the bulk of the donations. You must understand, that
the use of the breastmilk was intended to treat immune function,
not autism. As we gave Michael breastmilk from myself, friends
and the hospital, not only did the ear infections stop for
good, his autism started to go away.
Michael
began hugging me. He became quite social and sought attention
from others. He started babbling more. He seemed to snap out
of his little world. We were so pleased. We found that we weren't
the only ones benefiting from the breastmilk with autism. There
was a growing group in the Mothers Milk Club who were having
similar success stories. I found it fascinating that children
with autism often have altered immunity.
Since
then, Michael has been diagnosed with a low IgA level, heavy
metal toxicity from mercury, aluminum, lead, cadmium, arsenic
and antimony (similar to that of an Alzheimers patient), Autoantibodies
that attack his own brain protein (Myelin Basic Protein and
NeuroAxon Filament protein), abnormal EEG, Irritable Bowel
Syndrome, seizure disorder, elevated measles titer, nutritional
deficiencies, inability to properly digest food, Magnesium
deficiency and Zinc deficiency -- among other diagnosis.
For
those who may not know, having autoantibodies to the brain
indicate that the body is attacking it's own brain protein.
The
breastmilk seemed to keep most of his symptoms at bay. We had
people raving that he didn't behave as though he were autistic
anymore. You can tell he has symptoms if you work with him
directly, but his play and happiness appeared quite normal.
Then,
we lost the breastmilk donations through the university hospital.
The head nurse didn't want to use up their freezer shelf space
for the program, and didn't want to be hassled with any inconvenience.
The other nurses would still try to collect milk for us for
a time there, but pretty soon the pressure from superiors and
the inconvenience stopped the donations completely.
We
kept up with the breastmilk for awhile through my pumping milk
and through donations from friends, but some weeks we'd have
plenty, and other weeks we'd go without. The worst part, was
to watch Michael regress into old behaviors when we didn't
have enough breastmilk.
This
is when we discovered Transfer Factor. A woman who was using
this to keep her diabetes at bay called me about it. We started
using the TF whenever we didn't have breastmilk. We'd use up
to 9 a day. As far as we could tell, the TF had the same effect
as the breastmilk. We just made sure we supplemented with Vitamin
A, taurine and fish oils - to make sure he was getting the
nutrients he used to receive from the breastmilk.
We
have since used secretin, chelation for heavy metals, liquid
magnesium, zinc, calcium, molybdenum, Selenium and other supplements.
We try our best to keep up to date on nutritional deficiencies
found in Autism, so that we may find other helpful treatments
for our son. We are also paying more than what we make on ABA
therapy, which goes well when we get the right supplements
into him. Our son is improving quickly. He is now 3 1/2, and
is well on the road to recovery. His language is coming the
slowest, but he is now imitating sounds, and is starting to
understand basic commands. He improves each time we chelate
the heavy metals. We really feel like the Transfer Factor sustains
him through the chelation process.
As
for my daughter, well, her story is completely different. She
reacted to her first Hepatitis B shot as a newborn. She developed
lesions in her mouth and rectum, and it was suggested that
the lesions may be running all of they way through the digestional
tract. After that shot, we decided that we'd never give her
another. They say the serious reactions are one in a million,
but we have seen two of our own children react. Interestingly
enough, no doctor reported our children's reactions to their
vaccines. If adverse reactions are not reported, how can we
know the true stats on reactions to vaccines?
This
is when we started studying the immunizations, to find that
they contain Mercury, Aluminum, Formaldehyde, foreign DNA and
other toxins including the mutated virus or bacteria that is
the vaccine. All of these components are capable of changing
humans genetically. Mercury and Aluminum have terrifying implications.
Mercury will build up in the bodily organs - the liver, kidney
and brain - and interfere with all of the bodily systems. One
major sign of mercury poisoning (since it will not show up
in urine, blood or hair unless the exposure is recent), is
that the individual seems to have lost their ability to detox
heavy metals and viruses. They will accumulate these toxins
with a lower exposure than others, which interferes with the
bodies ability to process necessary minerals properly.
Recent
congressional hearings lined up the symptoms of mercury poisoning
to the symptoms of Autism, and they matched perfectly. Even
though major government groups maintain that there is no proof
that mercury is a problem for babies, they are requiring the
pharmaceutical companies to get it out of the vaccines. No
recall of mercury vaccines has taken place, however, so no
financial burden would be placed on the manufacturers.
One
question, why do some kids react badly to the mercury, and
others do not? Are some vaccine lots higher in mercury that
others? When a nurse preps the vaccine, and uses it on 3 children,
is the child with the last use (where all of the settled vaccine
product accumulates), getting a higher dose of virotoxin with
the mercury? Is it purely an allergy issue? Does it depend
on how many shots the child receives in a day? Does it depend
on the child's previous exposure to toxins?
We
were glad to find out this info, so we could do better by Jessica.
We decided to avoid heavy metal exposure. We started drinking
reverse osmosis filtered water. We avoided Fluoride, which
is known to carry Lead across the blood/brain barrier. We avoided
milk, in case she had a sensitivity to it as Michael did.
So,
we stood and watched Jessica develop a bit behind schedule.
We
were highly concerned for her welfare. She was slightly behind
on milestones, but not enough to show big concern. She smiled
and made eye contact, and would imitate us. At her one year
doctors appt, she would clap her hands, do the indian yell
and do actions to children's songs. Her speech was simple babble,
but multiple consonants were included in the babble. She knew
her own name, and she loved to cuddle.
Then,
somewhere between 13 and 14 months, she started to regress.
She could no longer imitate song actions. She stopped babbling
completely. She didn't seem to know her name - and she stopped
making eye contact. She exhibited some seizure activity, in
the form of altered eye dilation and zoning. Sometimes - without
a change in light intensity - her eyes would dilate and then
the pupils would snap back to a small size. She moved strangely
in her sleep, as though she were having nightmares. Her arms
would spread out and she would have strange tics.
We
took her to her pediatrician at 16 months, who couldn't believe
what she saw. She had truly regressed. Her muscle tone had
gone down, and her walking was now a bit unsteady. Her eye
contact was rare, and she'd avoid looking at mommy. She refused
to go to anyone but mom, since mom would breastfeed her.
She
received a diagnosis of Autism by age 17 months. We started
her on Transfer Factor and chelation, and she has improved
dramatically. She is now 18 months old. We took her back to
the psychiatrist who initially evaluated her, and she says
that Jessica is a different child than she was two weeks prior.
She is not 'cured' or 'recovered', but she makes eye contact,
smiles and is gaining back her imitation. She is playing with
toys again. The great thing, is that she is so young. At 18
months, she has gained what she lost before the regression,
and we know she responds to biomedical treatment and ABA. She
should come back even faster than Michael.
As
a result of her regression and dramatic improvement, we have
had our home, soil and even my breastmilk tested. Our home
is high in Lead. Our soil had elevated lead in certain areas.
My breastmilk has arsenic and trace amounts of lead coming
through. When we tested our families immune systems, we found
that Jessica also had autoantibodies to her own brain, and
a high Human Herpes Virus 6 titer. This would explain why Transfer
Factor would help. As for me, I have an incredibly high Rubella
titer, which suggests an atypical rubella infection.
We
have to sit and wonder, did the Lead in our home set up our
kids for the vaccine reaction, or did the mercury in the vaccines
make my children more susceptible to the lead? Are my children
hypersensitive to mercury, or did my case of rubella from my
adult MMR shots set me up to weaken any children while in utero?
Some
good news, is that the removal of mercury can reverse the presence
of autoantibodies to the brain. In the meantime, Transfer Factor
can regulate the immune system from doing more damage.
Seizure
activity in autism, took a lot longer for us to figure out.
We didn't know that Michael had seizures till we had an EEG
done. Some children with autism have a normal EEG, but seizure
activity shows up on a MEG scan. Michael's EEG showed that
he has more when he's asleep than when he is awake. We have
come to recognize his staring spells and strange eye movement
linked to his seizures. In some cases, we notice a seizure
when we see his pupils dilate completely, then snap down to
size again -- with no change of light on his eyes. On occasion,
we would see more serious seizures where he would clench his
fists and shake. We previously thought these were tantrums,
since they would usually accompany stressful situations. We
didn't know that stress could trigger seizures. We didn't know
much about seizure activity at all, when you come right down
to it. We began to notice 7 to 10 seizures a day, after we
knew what to look for. I often wonder if seizures are more
prominent in autism than previously thought.
We
have been able to keep seizures at bay, with the liquid magnesium,
activated B-6 vitamin, taurine (an amino acid) and pycnogenol
(maritime tree bark). When we can sneak all of these supplements
into Michael's sipper cup, he has no more visible seizures.
If we leave even one of them out, we see 3 or 4 seizures a
day. As for pycnogenol, the highest quality product that we
can find, is Choice Prime from 4Life. We aren't sure if the
pycnogenol from grapeseed has the same effect. It might.
We
are so pleased that we have found a seizure control that works
without doing damage to the liver or interfering with other
body functions. We couldn't use standard seizure meds, since
my boy's liver was already in such bad shape.
With
as much help as the supplements can be to a child with Autism,
you can expect a different amount of time to see results. For
example... when some children have a chronic infection with
a hidden virus, they will most likely get sick on Transfer
Factor before they get better. This does not mean they are
reacting to the Transfer Factor, but that the Transfer Factor
is working. If the virus or bacteria in the child was able
to trick the child's immune system into believing that it was
not a threat, the Transfer Factor will suddenly alert the body
of the foreign presence. This is why the child might get ill
for days, or even weeks before improving. Remember, illness
after starting Transfer Factor is a good indicator that the
Transfer Factor is working.
The
more cleanup that must be done in the body, the longer it will
take to see the positive effects of the supplement. Some people
may notice an effect within days, but you shouldn't necessarily
give up if it takes months for your particular child. As in
all cases, trust your gut feeling, to decide if you should
raise or lower the amount of supplement given. The parents
are the most perceptive in knowing whether or not a supplement
is helping their child. Transfer Factor may not alleviate autism
symptoms in some children, but help them remain healthy as
the parents work with their particular child's case.
There
is so much internal repair to do in Autism, that it is necessary
to keep looking for answers for your child. Even my two children
are not alike in treatment and response. Treatments that are
perfectly safe, such as essential fatty acids, Transfer Factor
or RDA vitamin dosage are easy to jump into, while chelation
therapy or high dosage vitamins should be studied and used
under direction of a physician who is educated on biomedical
treatments for Autism. Again, you are the only one who will
have the insight to see if the treatment is helping your child.
I
suspect that most families will not receive all the diagnosis
of my children, but I hope that the biological side of Autism
will become well known for families and physicians. I must
stress that what I've written is not the only answer for these
children. Each child must be looked at as an individual.
I
hope our particular families case will help bring hope to others.
BioMedical Treatment
Options For Autism
Transfer Factor therapy is based
on the fact that an immune system dysfunction has occurred.
Most likely this dysfunction occurred from a nutritional deficiency
via a virus/vaccine leading to autoimmunity, and thus autism.
There are different types of Transfer
Factor. In 1985 Dr. Fudenburg used Transfer Factor on twenty-two
children with “classic” autism. He found that twenty of the
children had Myelin Basic Protein Antibodies (MBPA). These
children were treated for three-three and a half years, receiving
Transfer Factor three days every six weeks. After the treatment
twenty-one out of twenty two had improved. Ten were considered
normal, in that they no longer exhibited autistic symptoms
and were mainstreamed in their schools. Unfortunately, this
type of disease specific Transfer Factor is not available for
use today and is still being researched.
According to 4 Life Research, a
company that produces 4 Life Transfer Factor, “Transfer Factors
have been made from colostrums produced by cattle and are naturally
occurring immune system messengers that teach the body’s immune
system to identify infectious agents.” According to Kenneth
Bock, MD, numerous anecdotal reports have been accumulated
on the use of Transfer Factor in children with ASD and improvement
in their clinical behaviors.
Link
to products that are holding promise for the austic child
and protocol
Report:
Government knew of autism link
By Jon Brodkin
Tuesday, March 7, 2006
Autism
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