What’s Wrong with the Gut of Children with Autism?

At its core, autism, with all its bizarre behaviors, poor language, social isolation and delays in development, might come down to an altered intestinal ecosystem.  That possibility was expressed by Professors Finegold and Borody [below] (and others) at the GI Think Tank at the Autism One conference in Chicago last month.

I remain cautious about this perspective, but it has a fair chance of explaining some of the refractory and significant issues our children present us.  In a healthy gastrointestinal ecosystem there may be more than 5000 different species of bacteria present. That diverse ecosystem provides a stable foundation for the development of the child’s immune system (Gut immune maturation depends on colonization with a host-specific microbiota. Cell. 2012 Jun 22;149(7):1578-93. Chung H, et al. Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.). But it isn’t just the GI immune system -70% of the total human immune system is gut related.

Sadly, for most children, no probiotic or antibiotic intervention provides sustained healing of the gut ecosystem and this includes: specific carbohydrate diets, paleiodiets, raw camel milk, kefir, biofilm protocols or pounds of probiotics per year.

In contrast to a healthy gut, evidence from sophisticated DNA probes is telling us the autism ecosystem may be hanging around 300-500 species (a fraction of normal 5000 species). So it is biologically impoverished and with that species which would normal get a small piece of the metabolic impact of the gut, actually dominate the biochemistry and immunology. Therein lies the problem: altered ecosytem = altered biochemistry = altered immunology.

Now, more about probiotics and diet.  Many of you have spent $$$$ on special diets and probiotics and are largely where you started: poorly formed, foul smelling, weird colored bowel movements or stuck with chronic constipation.  After putting more thought into this, we shouldn’t be that surprised by the often poor results from both diet changes and probiotics.  The ecosystem of the gut is diverse and complex.  It is also specific to its anatomy.  Higher up in the mouth, esophagus, stomach and small intestine, species that can tolerate more oxygen in their environment are favored.  Lower down in the large bowel or colon, species that do not tolerate as much oxygen (anerobes or partial-anerobes) do better.

Probiotics are nearly exclusively aerobic (oxygen-liking) species. This simply means they would prefer to grow closer to the mouth, including the small intestines. Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) is a likely consequence of giving aerobic bacteria (probiotics) to a child, especially when we know sugars are more poorly digested in the autism gut.  (see: Impaired carbohydrate digestion and transport and mucosal dysbiosis in the intestines of children with autism and gastrointestinal disturbances. Williams BL, Hornig M, Buie T, Bauman ML, Cho Paik M, Wick I, Bennett A, Jabado O, Hirschberg DL, Lipkin WI.  PLoS One. 2011;6(9):e24585. Epub 2011 Sep 16.).

But at their best, probiotics, allow you to supplement just a few species: likely several thousand species less than the natural diversity of the human gut microbiome.  Without that broad ecological stability, the immune system gets pushed around far more than desirable.  The results are food allergies, irritable bowel (cramps, diarrhea and constipation), overgrowth of potentially toxic bacteria, and inflammation both in the gut and more widely in the body (eczema, asthma, and rhinitis). Further, the biochemistry of the gut microbiome, which is typically 50% of a person’s total metabolism, will shift dramatically.

All that is left is to explain how this ecological impoverishment of the autism microbiome, creates neurodevelopmental dysfunction. And this is where a whole bunch (nearly all) of psychologists, neurologist, and pediatricians struggle to see the connections. To be fair to their skepticism, the potential link between the gut microbiome and neuroimmune problems are just beginning to emerge in the medical literature.  (Immune and neuroimmune alterations in mood disorders and schizophrenia. Drexhage RC, Weigelt K, van Beveren N, Cohen D, Versnel MA, Nolen WA, Drexhage HA. Int Rev Neurobiol. 2011;101:169-201.) and (The mind-body-microbial continuum. Gonzalez A, Stombaugh J, Lozupone C, Turnbaugh PJ, Gordon JI, Knight R. Dialogues Clin Neurosci. 2011;13(1):55-62.).

However, even this eloquent model of human immunological development leaves out at least one critical step, which in my view separates autism from kids with food allergy, asthma and irritable bowels, but whom don’t have autism. This missing factor seems to be intrinsic immune activation in the brain of children with autism. 

The brain is very much like this castle. It has a barrier around it (the blood-brain barrier- BBB) just like the moat and drawbridge.  Each gate is design to only allow entrance to the king’s invited friends – in an ideal world that is the way our brain works – only allowing acceptable molecules access to the brain side of the BBB. 

Clearly the BBB is not as protective as it needs to be in autism, and it also appears the gate keepers (astrocytes and microglia) have even been bribed to work against the King (autoimmunity).  I still think this process of breaking down the castle/brain defenses is the work of a chronic pathogen (likely viral) residing in the endovascular compartment – which is the BBB.  This is where I think GcMAF is helping to correct the persistent issues (please see prior posts). 

But we need to get back to the gut ecosystem and explore what the medical literature is telling us about repairing that environment.

First, it is finally becoming more mainstream to think of fecal bacteriotherapy (FBT) or transplantation as the ONLY way to replace the missing good bacteria.  The shortcomings of traditional probiotics are clearly evident (ie, aerobic and few in diversity). FBT simply means giving health feces to an unhealthy person to make them healthy.  Sound ridiculous? It isn’t and it may be an inexpensive fix for a complex biological condition.

Finding a donor for providing an ideal ecosystem transplant is very challenging. Here are a few of the proposals for screening potential donors present in the medical literature.

The Australian CDD criteria:

Borody and Khoruts: Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2011 Dec 20;9(2):88-96.

Unfortunately, if you read the list of exclusion from Borody and Khoruts you will quickly realize there are few potential donors left within your family or circle of friends.  That is a a real problem.

Harvard proposed a somewhat easier protocol for screening the potential donors for acceptable criteria.

Pediatrics. Russell et al. 2010 Jul;126(1):e239-42. Epub 2010 Jun 14.

I tend to favor the Harvard protocol as it is more specific, and yet I do think we need to screen the donor’s gut history as well. 

This is the Harvard treatment protocol.

The Harvard protocol is fine if you have access to a hospital willing to work with you, or at a minimum, an out-patient center with x-ray and other equipment.  Others have suggested colonoscopy (surgical procedure), but again the risks benefits get harder to sort out.

Practically speaking – there is NO WAY this will be happening for autism: so I propose a modification of the current techniques being employed for FBT.

The Bradstreet Protocol for FBT in ASD :

1). The child’s family initiates screening of donors within the family and close friends. These individuals, if willing, will have more formal screening. First, however, the family should find donors who meet the following criteria:

a). Generally healthy with no known infectious diseases and with good bowel movements.

b). Limited use of antibiotics especially in last 6 months.

c). Stools are brown, formed and not foul.

d). No apparent abdominal pain patterns.

e). No obvious food allergies.

f). Not using heartburn medicine.

g). No significant food cravings: donor eats a diverse diet, including vegetables.

2). Once a list of potential donors is identified by the family, a short interview with the treating physician needs to take place to review history related to antibiotics, risky personal behaviors and medical issues.

3). Individual potential donors who are not excluded should then undergo medical screening to rule out:

a). Hepatitis A, B and C

b). HIV 1 and 2

c). Syphilis and Lyme disease

d). H. pylori

e). Fecal parasitology and culture or,

f). Comprehensive Stool Digestive Analysis 2.0 (Genova Disgnostics)

4). Once a healthy donor is identified, the process of preparing the child to receive the donation begins.

a). Prep the bowel just as required for colonoscopy (GoLYTELY^®, Magnesium Citrate, X-prep^®, enemas or other interventions to cleanse the bowel of existing feces.

b). Potential antibiotics (vancomycin, Xifaxan, etc), antifungals and anti-parasitics for the recipient.

c). Gather fresh feces from the donor and rapidly place 1 cup or less in plastic freezer bag with 250 -500 ml of sterile salt water (saline) and express excess air so as close to all air is removed as possible.

d). Mush the feces and water until it is a slurry or puree texture. Unlike Harvard I DO NOT RECOMMEND BLENDERS. They whip too much air into the donation and can change the microbiome.

e). Instill the slurry of fresh feces into the rectum via a retention enema and attempt to move the transplant to the right side of the colon. Massage the feces from the left lower abdomen up and to the right. Attempt to position the child in a knee chest – buttocks up – position and then after 5 minutes (if possible) move to a right down posture to gather the donor transplant to the right side.

f). Some children may require sedation. A bathtub may be a good location to attempt this. Consider a colon cleansing center for this procedure if you can get cooperation from them.

g). Leave the donor feces in place as long as possible before expulsion. 30 minutes is probably ideal but I realize this is unlikely. We can only do what we can do.

ALL of this requires physician supervision.

I Hear You: Traveling into the Mind of Autism and the Siblings Who Love Them

Recently, at the Autism One conference in Chicago, Virginia Breen, the mother of a 14 year old girl with autism introduced me to the audience. “Ginny” is an amazing mother.  Her daughter does not speak, but she does use keyboards to communicate, so she collated her daughters written poetry into a book called “I AM IN HERE”.  During my talk, now known as: “The Ruby Slipper Lecture”, I used Dorothy’s experience in the Wizard of Oz to help everyone understand what in incredibly exceptional event takes place as a child is taken into the World of Autism. In that lecture I told everyone that I have met some incredibly mean and nasty people – people who cannot think about helping children with autism – much like the Wicked Witch.

but then at the same time my journey with autism has been filled with amazing people – wondrous adventures in a way that has taught me so much about the love parents have for their children and more about medicine than I ever imagined. 

In that way, I am on the yellow brick road with dear and trusted friends.

Most of whom have no idea just how wonderful they are, nor how much they teach me about life.

Elizabeth Bonker (Ginny’s daughter) is clearly the Scare Crow, the Tin Man and the not-so-cowardly Lion all in one (with a special touch of Dorothy just trying to get out of Oz, so she can go Home). Here is an excerpt from her book in Elizabeth’s own words:

Me Revisited

I can’t sit still

What’s wrong with me?

My body is doing things

I can’t explain

My dignity I am trying to maintain.

People stare at me

When I rock and shake.

I don’t know how much

More I can take.

So much to deal with

Going on inside me.

I wish I could get better.

I want to be set free

From my silent cage.

Then she wrote this: “Some of the people at school who do not know me make me feel uncomfortable. They stare at me. I would not rock and shake if I could stop it. It just happens sometimes. I wish they could understand, but mostly I wish I could explain it to them.”

But my journey is connected to so many others that sometimes I just have to share the love that comes my way with others.  This next piece is from Ensley; a not yet 11 year old who told me she is too old for dolls.  I believe her.  Having a brother with autism has matured her is amazing ways. She read Elizabeth’s book and wrote this to her.  Her parents shared it with me and and after a few tears I asked Ensley if I could post in on my blog, thankfully she said yes.

I HEAR YOU – from Ensley

Dear Elizabeth,

I love your poetry, it is truly beautiful. I think you are amazing because even though you cannot speak with words, you find a way to express yourself in ways that mean more than words. Your poetry is special because it proves to everyone that even people who cannot speak, have a voice.

I feel I understand the struggles you write about in your poetry because I have ADHD, and my little brother has autism.

Before I knew that it was my ADHD and sensory problems that caused me to behave differently than other children my age, I always felt there was something wrong with me. I felt left out, alone, and abnormal. Some days, I feel very out of control, like I am spiraling through a dark, endless hole with nothing to grab onto, and no one to stop me from falling.

I know my little brother can understand how it feels to seem so different from other people. When he is mad or frustrated, he starts hitting his head and stomping on the ground because he cannot find the words to tell us what is wrong.

Like you, I understand what it is like to be stared at. Sometimes my brother gets mad when we are out in public, and throws a tantrum. There have been times when people will look at him like he is a circus act. I wish those people could try and understand what it’s like to be in my brother’s shoes.

Even though disabilities like autism can feel like a cage, prohibiting you from spreading your wings, you do not allow it to, and I admire that greatly.

Keep writing your wonderful poetry. You are an inspiration.

From,

Ensley

I started work at 7AM and it is now 8:30PM – I have many failings – time management must be one of them, but I cannot stand the idea of failing these incredible and beautiful children.  So each day I pray more more children get their ruby slippers and find their way out of Oz.  May they all be blessed.

Understanding GcMAF from the Mind of Autism

I need to hear as much from inside the mind of autism as I can.  I need to know what they feel, think, experience and how they process.  I helps me as a physician/researcher to bring them more of what THEY desire.  Scott has been my patient since 2005 – he is now 22 and in college. He didn’t speak until after age 31/2 when he started on Sporanox ^® a systemic antifungal medication.

Like many children with autism he had bowel disease and needed Pentasa^® a medication designed for reducing serious gut inflammation.

He also had seizure-like activity and took Depakote^® a medication which is commonly used in pediatric neurology circles despite its damaging effects on mitochondrial activity.

He struggled with prosody, that quality of speech where words flow effortlessly and meter, loudness and subtlety are natural expressions of mood and intent. He had no friends and really no desire for friends.

That was 7 years ago.  Now enter GcMAF – the latest addition to his parent’s  efforts at a FULL recovery. But this is from him directly – not his parents, and that makes it ever so much more valuable.

Dear Dr. Bradstreet,

I just wanted to let you know what improvements I have seen since taking the GCMAF:

• Hear more of conversations so asking more on topic questions and understanding the answers better
• Better comprehension all around
• More fluid speech
• Speech is slower and more enunciated. Much more understandable.
• Less cracking joints on purpose
• Used to feel urge to shake whole body, not anymore
• Stopped biting nails
• Less dizziness
• Facial and verbal emotional expressions are falling within normal ranges, esp. laughter
• Developing interest in new things
• Enjoying new foods
• It seems like the brain’s pathways are finally talking to each other. Visual and auditory are being processed together to form the whole.

In addition, I require a refill on the GCMAF.

Hope all is well where you are at.

Sincerely,

Scott

Adult with Autism Responds to Fetal Stem Cell Transplantation

One of the persistent myths about autism is that unless you fix the children by 5 years of age they just aren’t going to make progress.  Dan is here to tell you that just isn’t true. Dan is now 28 years old, and he first came to my practice in 2001, as a17 year old. Like many children of his generation of autism, he presented with chronic diarrhea and the loss of language after vaccinations.  In those days, there was a lot of mercury in vaccines.  And in a sickly child with chromic diarrhea – mercury – in any amount – is never tolerated. 

His family aggressively tried everything to recover him and with that they have been tireless. Dan has struggled with seizures, esophageal reflux and several bouts of regression. He remains extremely sensitive to anything happening with his gut. Early on we found both IgG and IgM antibodies to his brain blood vessels. His urine neopterin levels were significantly elevated, and this was consistent with a chronic viral infection.

Ultimately we also found antibodies to his folate receptors and elevated nagalase enzyme activity in his blood (another marker for likely viral persistence). GcMAF completely stopped his reflux and with that we saw some important gains, but Dan was still far from being independent or recovered from his many issues.

But that wasn’t the end of Dan’s struggles.  He was also found to have a very small deletion of the terminal end of chromosome 22 (perhaps the smallest deletion measured to date).  It is compatible with an unusual condition known as Phelan-McDermid Syndrome, but a much smaller deletion than typically seen with that disorder. 

This would never be the picture you might hope for when it comes to potential stem cell therapies. Yet his parents were undaunted and any chance was enough of a chance to get their attention and interest.

After several discussions, the parents (like I had for myself and my step-son) chose to try fetal stem cells at EmCell in Kiev, Ukraine.

So a picture is worth a 1000 words and countless blessings for Dan. 

This was the first time in 10 years Dan had been able to enjoy recreation and that is truly remarkable. His parents are seeing gains in many areas and we are all truly grateful to the expertise and experience the EmCell teams brings to the treatment of autism related problems.

If you want to know more about how to optimize the outcome of stem cell therapies, please contact me (470) 253-7445, my staff have been instructed to provide as many patients as possible with a donated 30 minutes of my time to discuss stem cells. 

Parental Feedback from Experiences at EmCell for Stem Cells

I can talk all day about stem cell related immunology and chemistry and I recently did that at the Autism One – Generation Rescue conference in Chicago.  But none of the science helps parents grasp the opportunity fetal stem cells offer as much as real-life experiences of stem cell therapy actually changing lives for children. So here are three moms talking up their kids over the last 2 months. 

“I cannot thank you enough for your consult and recommendation that I take my son to Emcell.  He and I travelled there with our friends. We  have just returned from Kiev yesterday and we had a wonderful experience. Our trip went without a hitch and the doctors, nurses and other staff were amazing.  We look forward to observing results…”  – Mother of 12 year old just treated at EmCell.

“Hey Dr. Bradstreet!  I finally have good news to report!. (finally meaning 1 week after treatment).  My son is doing very well. It’s been a little over a week since he received the stem cells, but we can definitely see some changes happening. He is SLEEPING! 10-12 hours a night! Not waking up at all, it’s a restful sleep, like the covers are still tucked in. He used to sleep 8 or 9 hours and usually woke up a few times. He is calmer and stimming is way down (I’m thinking like 75%less)! It so good to see that he has more control of his body now. He’s talking more, still hard to understand sometimes, but I can tell he’s trying hard! His stutter is now only occasional instead of frequent. Behaviors are way less, he’s more cooperative and less irritable. He’s having good days! We all are! I hope these changes are here to stay and am praying for many more to come! We’ll talk to you soon! I just wanted to share my joy with you!”  – Mother of nearly 7 year old boy treat May 21-22, 2012 at EmCell.

“My daughter is going so great and we are seeing her doing something new every week.  Before her stem cell treatment in April 2012, we had not heard her say a word since before Christmas 2011.  She would average one word every 4-5 months and it was always a word she knew before she regressed (such as cat, dog, ball).  For the past few weeks she is repeating 10-12 words a day and has even picked up new words too!!  She now repeats the new words “Up, help, open” and yesterday used the word “Up” spontaneously to be picked up.  This weekend we also took her to a petting zoo and she said cow when petting a cow.  We are thrilled that her language is developing!!! 

Her other big changes that continue include her sleeping and eating well.  Before her stem cell treatment she would self-limit her food to 5 foods (chicken nuggets, french fries, chips, etc) but since the day of her IV treatment she has continued to eat incredibly well.  Before she would never eat fruit or vegetables without it being hidden in her food, now she brings us lettuce, cucumbers, oranges and other produce so that we’ll put it on a plate for her.  For sleeping, she has continued to now sleep at appropriate times (usually 9-10 pm) where before she would be up until 1-2 am and she no longer wakes during the night crying.

Thank you so much for all of your help with her.  We are finally able to do day outings as a family now that she does not have extreme anxiety issues or self-limiting her diet (that usually led to anxiety if we ran out of her wanted foods).  We have taken her to a zoo one weekend and a petting zoo the next weekend, and she did so great. She is such a happier child already and her teachers and ABA therapist have made many comments about all of her changes.  Using a spoon has been on her therapy plan for two years and she never mastered it (they even took it off of her learning plan because she was not making any progress), a month after her treatment she is using a spoon and mastered it!!  We went from not seeing her picking up any gains for the past 3 years, to watching her make a gain almost every week.  We now have hope again for her and our life as a family is now happier and easier.  We can not wait to see what the rest of the year brings for her!!” – Mother of a 5 year girl.

What’s wrong with the US insurance–medical costing systems?

Count this post as news – not healthcare. Ok I am no longer a political reformer. And Lord knows I have learned soapboxes help very little to not at all. BUT. This is ridiculous. Outrageous. Nonsense. Offensive. Problematic, and of course I could go on.  Spend a few moments looking at this explanation of benefits (EOB) for a patient of mine insured by United Healthcare. 

Now I am not faulting UHC, but it is obvious that UHC has a great contract with the lab.  BUT what if you are uninsured?  Well – quite simply you are SOL. Scr***d!!! This ought to make us all crazy and drive us to a find better ways to fix this system which is so clearly broken. Now to make this simple, the lab wanted to get paid $2,630 for their work and the insurance contract said – no way – and they reduced the obligation ONLY to their insured clients to $245 (a 91% reduction).

WE THE PEOPLE need to fix this. No political party, President, Congress, HHS, or any governmental agency has the power to take on big insurance or this system. We got ourselves into this in the 1930’s when wage control during the Great (Horrible) Depression prevented businesses that were functional from raising wages to get the best employees.  So instead of wages they offered insurance as a “benefit” because it was a temporary loophole in the law. 

So far in front of any country in the World our employers offered their workers a benefit.  Now you see the unintended consequence of the US Congressional action during the 30s.

I have no easy solution to this mess.  Clearly the Obama plan will bring a whole new set of unintended adverse consequences.  Doing nothing clearly leaves a lot of people in a marginal place due to unreasonable cost shifting away from insurers to the uninsured/soon-to-be-bankrupt of the US. Fixing it can only start with us.

Because – the number one cause of bankruptcy is not divorce or a bad economy – its health care costs.  Small wonder – when you see bills like this without insurance.

A Real Life Changing Experience for a Child with Autism

I am in the process of preparing the data on the first several hundred children I have observed with GcMAF therapy for elevated nagalase activity.  The preliminary data is extraordinary. But not everyone who thinks they understand GcMAF therapy gets it. Many are using hugely too much and hurting children in the process. Please don’t overdose the children – if you are using the right GcMAF it takes very little to help. Our process involves homeopathic activation using classical techniques.  And when our techniques are used properly this is what we are hearing from the families so often.

Dear Dr. Bradstreet,

What has happened to my child? Could it be that it was only a few months ago that my little boy preferred sitting alone at the computer or lining up toy cars and planets in his room? It seems like it’s been a lifetime. Now, I look at my happy, interactive, responsive, 6 year-old child with amazement.

“J” began using GcMAF since 27 weeks ago and we noticed changes for the better almost out of the starting gate. Only 3 weeks in, my son asked to ride his bike. My husband and I looked at each other with dread. Unfortunately, in the recent past it took all three of us to make that bike go. My husband and I would use our hands to push his feet on the pedals while one of us attempted to steer. It was a backbreaking ordeal. Our son just couldn’t coordinate the mechanics of it. But, not this time…he jumped on that bike and rode all over the neighborhood. We couldn’t believe our eyes. Could it be the GcMAF? We just weren’t sure.

The IEP meeting was scheduled. We were just 4 weeks into the new school year and 4 weeks into using GcMAF. The teacher presented me with written work from the beginning of the year, then placed Jayden’s most recent work alongside it. Surely, it was from two different children. The earlier writing was erratic, with one letter written over top of the other, it was disproportionate, and trailed sloppily down the edge of the page. His recent work was neat, orderly, and consistently sized. It was even on the line. The teacher started gushing about his performance. He was starting to read and was learning full curriculum kindergarten academics. He was specifically excelling in math. Everyone around the conference table verbally gave each other a high-five for their achievement. “Now hold on,” I interrupted, “the success must primarily be attributed to the biomedical approach and the diet that we’ve implemented.” I gave them a brief explanation and we left the meeting feeling excited for what the future might hold.

It was not a steady climb up the staircase, however. We experienced some regression following dental surgery, but quickly got back on track (by resuming GcMAF).

Previously, I had a difficult time getting my son to respond when I called out his name. He would run out into the street without looking, if I didn’t stop him. He was able to parrot back canned answers to rehearsed questions. Now, here we are, 6 months later, and my son’s cognition has exploded. He laughs at jokes and is able to tell his own. He has started to ask and answer questions cognitively. He initiates and organizes the family during playtime activities. Recently, while in the pool, he touched his Dad’s hair and said, “Nice haircut, Dad.” At breakfast, after drinking his juice he asked, “Was that mango juice? I wanted pear juice.” The morning after I went to see a show he awoke and said, “Good morning Mommy. How was the show?” Just 2 months ago, a van from a local karate school brought children to the playground that we were at. My son was excited to play and ran over to a boy and gave him a two-handed chest shove. I apologized and quickly led him away before he got a karate chop. Just last week, we went back to that same playground. I watched nervously as “J” ran over to a group of three boys. I heard him say, “Come on guys, let’s play. Chase me!” And, you know what…they did! My boy led this group of “normal” boys all over that playground. One of the boys asked him what was his name. He told him, “My name is J***.” As I glanced around at the other parents scattered about the playground I wondered if I was the only one there who saw a miracle that day.

My son did experience some symptoms while using GcMAF. There was occasional regressive stimming, a rare fever up to 102, a few shooting head pains with sensitivity to light that lasted for only a few seconds, and he was often tired. But, those symptoms were easily lost in the shadows of the exceptional gains that we were experiencing.

The best part about GcMAF is that Jayden now frequently and spontaneously speaks those words, that for years, I’d longed to hear, “I love you, Mommy.” And, if that’s not a good enough reason to stick your kid with a needle 27 times, I don’t know what is.

Dr. Bradstreet, there are no words adequate enough to express my sincere and heartfelt appreciation for everything that you’ve done for “J”. Thank you for including us in your personal journey of discovery and healing. God bless you and your family.

Sincerely,

Dr. Bradstreet’s #1 Fan

Happy Mother’s Day

“Mother love is the fuel that enables a normal human being to do the impossible.”  ~Marion C. Garretty

“The tie which links mother and child is of such pure and immaculate strength as to be never violated.”  ~Washington Irving

I think of myself – always as a doctor first. I have not always been one, but it has overtaken me and defined me in a way I never expected. In that journey I have taken care of many mothers and their children.

There was a time I was a just a s0n and I remember many fond memoirs of my mother. All of the failing she may have had, or thought she had, are forgotten and replaced with the love I know she gave me.  My mother passed on a few years ago – succumbing to metastatic lung cancer after years of too many cigarettes. Sadly, none of my doctor skills could keep her away from the power of that addiction.

I am still a doctor (by calling) and importantly I am now a husband (and a very blessed one), a father and step-father (all journeys of love, joy and pain), but none of these descriptions of myself equal the effort of one mother.

I know a lot of mothers now, thousands in fact, yet I will never cease to be impressed at the undying love, devotion and nurture they provide their children.

To all of you moms – thanks for showing me what unconditional love is each and every day.  You demonstrate it endlessly for the child who cannot say “I love you” or the for the 12 year old who is still not potty trained. 

From Mother Teresa in her own hand.

I am blessed for knowing you all. I pray daily that we all learn better ways to help you in your quest to heal your children.

Blessings on you and yours.

Dr. Jeff

Expanding our Understanding of PANDAS and Introducing PANS: Microbe Influenced Immune-Behavior Dysfunction

For years many of use have been frustrated by a symptom cluster that looks for all intents to be PANDAS (see prior posts on this blog) and yet where there was NO streptococcus relationship. I recall a conversation with Dr. Sue Swedo, from NIMH several years ago.  Dr. Swedo was instrumental in framing our understanding of strep bacteria causing OCD behaviors.  At that meeting I asked her if they had data that other microbes caused PANDAS- like symptoms.  She was clear at that time that they had very little data to support other microbes in PANDAS. I have known Dr Swedo for a long time and always respected her willingness to buck the status quo.  She is a good clinician and a thoughtful researcher.

Clinically however, it was obvious something other than strep was causing strep-like PANDAS symptoms.  Enter now a new syndrome which fills that gap, PANS (Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome).  Just published is this article abstracted below.

Here are the accepted PANDAS criteria.

Here is what Dr. Swedo and colleagues from NIMH are proposing for PANS.

More importantly Swedo and colleagues paint a picture very similar to the historical and landmark observations of Dr. Doris Rapp.  Over a decade ago my foundation gave Doris (a longtime friend of mine) money to convert her archive of videos recording allergy reactions over to DVD to preserve her observations.  Please see: http://www.drrapp.com/ 

In Dr. Rapp’s work she observed allergies doing the same things that Dr. Swedo is now observing and calling PANS.  Let’s compare this from Swedo’s publication –

to what Doris Rapp MD presented two decades ago as reactions to a large variety of allergens and environmental exposures.

From: Is This Your Child? Doris Rapp, M.D. 1992

And furthering this parallel of observations between the two presentations evaluate these observations of allergy and PANS:

Swedo, et al 2012.

Rapp, 1992

In the Rapp example you can see food rapidly makes Andy crash and look also at the mood and behavioral changes demonstrated in his writing and drawings. Now go back and re-read the PANS category II criteria.

So I feel comfortable with the idea that in certain children, their brain is highly responsive and inappropriately reactive to minor immunological stimuli.

Think about how this influences your child and then I will talk more about this in a separate post.

Hyperbaric Oxygen and Recovery from Athletic Injuries and Surgery

I know the majority of my blog deals with immune issues and autism, however, I still enjoy helping competitive athletes recover from injuries and surgery. For years I owned a physical therapy center in Palm Bay. Florida.  I then became a regional medical director for HealthSouth.  Recently I had the pleasure of working with an Olympic gold-medalist who had just had Achilles tendon surgery.  He used a variety of therapies – all of which were contributing to his recovery. Then we added hyperbaric therapy (HBOT) with 2.2 ATA (about 40 feet of water pressure) in the clinic and 1.3 ATA (about 11 feet of water pressure) at his home. After the first treatment he observed significant increase in range of motion at the ankle and has continued to show improvements with his home HBOT chamber.

For more information about hyperbaric therapy see   http://www.hypertc.com/

That same week I treated a high school senior track star who already had a college scholarship, but she was developing debilitating shin-splints.  Again, after just one treatment with HBOT her lower leg pain resolved.

Both athletes are using their home units to maintain the recovery and to allow faster reconditioning. And in both cases I had the privilege to work with one of the best sports chiropractic physicians, Mike Hatrak.  I’ll have more to say soon about what sports rehab is teaching all of us about autism rehab, but integrating multiple approaches to any rehab scenario is often the way to facilitate recovery. And numerous professional athletes depend on HBOT to keep them both in the game and at their peak performance.

(Note: I do not receive ANY compensation for directing the hyperbaric center, I do not sell hyperbaric chambers, nor do I, or Bradstreet Wellness Center LLC own hyperbaric chambers.)