Meeting Notes January 23rd

Hello Moms!
Here are the notes from our last meeting!

Introduction to Vitamin Supplement and Nutritional Therapy:
Why?
· Children with Autism will very often eat only a narrow range of foods.
· Children are not taking in the necessary nutrients to maintain normal cell function.
· They have abnormal cell function and consequent inadequate digestion.
· Poor cell function and digestion interferes with absorption of nutrients.
· Even if a child with Autism eats ‘normally’, abnormalities in cellular biochemistry prevents proper utilization of nutrients.
Whether Autism-associated deficiencies are a cause or a result of abnormal metabolism, it is not clear, but in either case, the foundation of an appropriate treatment strategy is to re-supply the nutrients that the child’s body needs to perform more normally.
Vitamins and minerals as co-enzymes are essential to drive biochemical reactions forward in cellular metabolism.
Studies and ‘Proof’:
Typically children with Autism have long standing vitamin and mineral deficiencies, the vast majority show enormous benefits from vitamin/mineral/nutrient therapy. If they were not using supplements before, the reaction is sometimes dramatic, taking the form of greater eye contact, better behavior and sleeping patterns and improved sensory processing within a few weeks of starting a supplement program.
Testing for nutritional deficiencies includes: CBC (Complete blood count), Comprehensive Metabolic Panel, Fasting Amino Acid Analysis (plasma), Organic Acid Analysis (OAT-Urine), Fatty Acid Analysis (plasma), IgG 90 food sensitivity test (serum), Red Blood cell essential minerals (whole blood) and Metallothionein dysfunction.
DAN! Study; ‘Nutritional Status of Autistic Children’ reported by Dr. Woody McGinnis, MD, October 2001. www.autism.com/mcginnis
Dr. William Shaw, ‘Biological Treatments for Autism and PDD’. 1998
Dr. William Shaw and Dr. William Walsh completed a number of studies about maldigestion and malabsorption.
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In future discussions we will review the following:
Vitamins:
· Vitamin A
· Vitamin B1 (thiamin)
· Vitamin B2 (riboflavin)
· Vitamin B3 (niacin)
· Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine)
· Vitamin B12
· Vitamin C
· Vitamin D
· Vitamin E
· Folic Acid
· Vitamin K
Minerals:
· Zinc
· Magnesium
· Calcium
· Selenium
· Molybdenum
Omega Fatty Acids:
· EPA
· DHA
· ALA
Essential Amino Acids:
· Taurine
· Glutamine
· Arginine
Also Creatine, Carnitine and Coenzyme Q10
Lastly, we will talk about the use of digestive enzymes, probiotics and immunity enhancers TMG and DMG (trimethylglycine and dimethylglycine). Once finished with the evaluation of the vitamins and supplements we will talk about the daunting task of finding supplements that your child will tolerate, dosing and ‘tricks’ to add these vitamins and minerals to your child’s daily routine.
Resources and Reading:
Changing the Course of Autism, by Dr. Bryan Jepson, MD, 2007
Children with Starving Brains, by Dr. Jaquelyn McCandless, 2003
Enzymes for Autism and Other Neurological Conditions, by Karen DelFelice, 2003