auto-immune

There is a lot to be gained from suppressing inflammation, especially when it affects the brain. I saw some astonishing recoveries in the 1980s and 90s, removing inflammatory foods from the diets of kids with autism. I was one of the leading pioneers, worldwide, in treating autism holistically. Here’s a completely novel way to suppress brain inflammation is autistics! Deliberate infections with parasitic worms! Last year a case was published in The Scientist (Feb 2011) of a father’s search for a cure for his autistic son, Lawrence, which led him to the “helminth therapy”, or the deliberate infection of the patient with worms; in this case Trichuris suis, the pig whipworm. No question the patient, Lawrence Johnson, was in a bad way. By his teenage years, he had veered into the dangerous realm of self abuse. He smashed his head against the wall dozens of times a day. He bit himself until he bled. He gouged at his eyes and tore at his face. A normal school experience was virtually impossible. He couldn’t walk a single block from the family’s Brooklyn brownstone without kicking and screaming when a traffic light changed at the wrong moment or streets were crossed in an unacceptable order. Over the years, the Johnsons tried several treatments to curb Lawrence’s violent and disruptive outbreaks, including every pharmaceutical that could potentially treat his problems—antiseizure medications, serotonin-reuptake inhibitors, atypical antipsychotics, lithium, and others in various combinations. At best these heavy medications offered momentary reprieves from what the Johnsons called Lawrence’s “freak outs.” But any improvements in the boy’s behavior were usually short-lived. [http://the-scientist.com/2011/02/01/opening-a-can-of-worms/ accessed 1/22/2012 2.38 pm PST]

There is a lot to be gained from suppressing inflammation, especially when it affects the brain. I saw some astonishing recoveries in the 1980s and 90s, removing inflammatory foods from the diets of kids with autism. I was one of the leading pioneers, worldwide, in treating autism holistically. Here’s a completely novel way to suppress brain inflammation is autistics! Deliberate infections with parasitic worms! Last year a case was published in The Scientist (Feb 2011) of a father’s search for a cure for his autistic son, Lawrence, which led him to the “helminth therapy”, or the deliberate infection of the patient with worms; in this case Trichuris suis, the pig whipworm. No question the patient, Lawrence Johnson, was in a bad way. By his teenage years, he had veered into the dangerous realm of self abuse. He smashed his head against the wall dozens of times a day. He bit himself until he bled. He gouged at his eyes and tore at his face. A normal school experience was virtually impossible. He couldn’t walk a single block from the family’s Brooklyn brownstone without kicking and screaming when a traffic light changed at the wrong moment or streets were crossed in an unacceptable order. Over the years, the Johnsons tried several treatments to curb Lawrence’s violent and disruptive outbreaks, including every pharmaceutical that could potentially treat his problems—antiseizure medications, serotonin-reuptake inhibitors, atypical antipsychotics, lithium, and others in various combinations. At best these heavy medications offered momentary reprieves from what the Johnsons called Lawrence’s “freak outs.” But any improvements in the boy’s behavior were usually short-lived. [http://the-scientist.com/2011/02/01/opening-a-can-of-worms/ accessed 1/22/2012 2.38 pm PST]