How Vitamins and Minerals Can Affect Autism
For over a decade, claims have been made that vitamin and mineral supplements may improve the symptoms of autism in a natural way. While not all researchers agree about whether these therapies are scientifically proven, many parents and an increasing number of physicians report improvement in people with ASD when using individual or combined nutritional supplements.
Malabsorption problems and nutritional deficiencies have been addressed in several as-of-yet unreplicated studies. A few studies suggest that intestinal disorders and chronic gastrointestinal inflammation may reduce the absorption of essential nutrients and cause disruptions in immune and general metabolic functions that are dependent upon these essential vitamins.
Other studies have shown that some children on the autism spectrum may have low levels of vitamins A, B1, B3, and B5, as well as biotin, selenium, zinc, and magnesium; while others may have an elevated serum copper to plasma zinc ratio, suggesting that they may benefit by avoiding copper and taking extra zinc to boost their immune system. Other studies have indicated a need for more calcium. There are several laboratories that test for nutritional deficiencies, but many insurance companies will not pay for these tests.
Perhaps the most common vitamin supplement used for individuals with ASD is vitamin B, which plays an important role in creating enzymes needed by the brain. In several studies on the use of vitamin B and magnesium (which is needed to make vitamin B effective), almost half of the individuals with autism showed improvement. The benefits include decreased behavioral problems, improved eye contact, better attention span, and improvements in learning.
Other research studies have shown that other supplements may help symptoms as well. Cod liver oil supplements (rich in vitamins A and D) have resulted in improved eye contact and behavior of children with autism. Vitamin C helps in brain function and deficiency symptoms like depression and confusion. Increasing vitamin C has been shown in a clinical trial to improve symptom severity in children with ASD.
If you are considering the addition of vitamins or minerals to your child's diet, a laboratory and clinical assessment of nutritional status is highly recommended. The most accurate method for measuring vitamin and mineral levels is through a blood test. It is also important to work with someone knowledgeable in nutritional therapy. While large doses of some vitamins and minerals may not be harmful, others can be toxic. Once supplements are chosen, they should be phased in slowly (over several weeks) and then the effects should be observed for one to two months.
www.autism-society.org
Sign up for the OV Daily Newsletter
OV Social
Autism--genetic. My family, for example: Mother, autistic. Father, autistic. Two out of three children, also autistic. The youngest one has had no vaccinations at all, and she's got the strongest traits out of all of us.
Not to say that environment can't change how it affects you, or how well you cope.
Here's the actual point. OK, you know how autism causes sensory processing to filter out too little, and leave the brain with overwhelming sensation to deal with? Same thing happens with taste and food texture. That's why you see so many autistic people with extremely restricted diets--they simply can't tolerate the taste or texture of anything that isn't completely familiar and utterly predictable. I knew one young lady who survived on soy milk, apples, and chicken nuggets for quite a while until she began trying to figure out how to learn to tolerate new foods.
The problem that comes from this sensitivity, obviously, is that it's easy to end up deficient in something or other if you are eating the same things all the time. Fortified foods can only go so far, and it's pretty much impossible to force someone with a taste/texture sensitivity to eat something they can't tolerate--most likely, it will simply induce them to vomit. Overwhelming taste/texture sensations tend to do that... imagine trying to drink from a fire hose, or chug Tabasco sauce. Same feeling.
Introducing new things slowly is another story, and a lot more possible. One lady introduced her three year old son to new items by, at first, just putting the new items near his plate so that he could see and smell them, and only moving on to touch and taste and--miraculously--swallowing--once her boy knew exactly what to expect from the new item.
So yes, analyzing the diet to be sure it's balanced and all nutrients are there and usable is important, more important than it is for most people, because when you've got ten foods to work with, deficiency is ever so much more likely.
Being the mom of a now 11 year son who has reacted to his vaccines (a.k.a. autism ) in a very negative way, I can attest to the benefits of supplements. My son like most of his generation was diagnosed with "autism" at the age of 3 (the year 2000). When he was diagnosed he was diagnosed as severely autistic. For the past 6 years we have been doing supplements consistently. Between the supplements and the PROPER school placement he has gone from severely autistic 6 years ago to mildly autistic.
I believe that in order to help our children then we as parents/caregivers must understand that a 2 prong approach must be implemented. Educational setting can't be the only criteria. In order for education programming to work we must address the PHYSICAL issues associated with the results of vaccine reactions. ABA and CLM work great provided the brain can function to its full capacity.
So yes, supplements do work but it requires a great deal of research on the part of the parents. It requires a great deal of insight as well on the part of the parents and the medical professionals that aid our children. My son's supplement list has been an ongoing research project for 6 years now. We have added, removed, and changed dosing as he's aging and get bigger. The process doesn't end I don't think either but seeing the results in our son has made the research and effort well worth the time.
DEB
Thank you for your review of the basic vitamin and mineral studies with respect to those with autism .
In our practice we have found that children with developmental problems tend to be hypersensitive and this often includes intolerance to some of the vitamins, minerals, and other supplements their nutrition practitioner was asking them to take. In these cases, their reactions to these substances tended to make them have additional symptoms. For some of these cases the sensitivity was to the substance and in other cases the sensitivity was to a particular brand of that substance.
It might be interesting research to determine the relationship between sensitivities to the vitamins and minerals and their efficacy.
I come from a family with a half dozen members with mild forms of autism .
There is a stronger suspected link to genetics.
Claims can be made for anything being linked to something else or curing a condition but should only be accepted after it has been tested using standard practices such as double blind studies.
The key phrase is "not all researchers agree" which indicates that the studies were not peer reviewed and flawed in some way.
Mild cases of autism (excluding the more pronounced forms) are not be feared because it is suspected that people such as Albert Einstein may have had autism tendencies and they learned how to use it to their advantage.
As for the claim made elsewhere by some people about a possible vaccine link, my dad recalls developing aspergers tendencies back in the 1920's before vaccines were as widely used as they are today despite taking cod liver oil.