***Alternate Therapies for Autism (and All Mental Problems)

This article is designed to help you do research finding help and solutions to improve autism (and other mental problems.) You can use this reference article to search further on many and various therapies that have helped others. This is a very confusing subject, with lots of "expensive products" and lots of Big Pharma lies and lots of MD's who don't know as much as they should. Too much money is involved, and finding inexpensive "at home" ways to normalize an autistic child or solve other mental symptoms isn't as simple as it should be. This article tells you how and where to research information. It basically follows orthomolecular medical theory.

There are many different therapies that have helped many people with "mental problems", ranging from ADD/ADHD/Autism to depression, and even schizophrenia. The best up to recently has been Neurofeedback/EEG biofeedback. That therapy has worked to solve mental problems for nearly 50 years. Used with HEG (brain oxygen therapy), it has slowly done wonders. The problem is that it is horribly expensive, costing so much that only very wealthy families can afford it for even ADD/ADHD. (average cost for ADD/ADHD is $5000 in a NFB clinic. Compare to $147 for NT (below).

Hyperbaric Oxygen Immersion Tanks have also improved autism symptoms, but this therapy is so expensive that HEG biofeedback replaced it as less expensive some years ago. Both therapies are expensive, and generally only for the wealthy.

The newest and certainly the least expensive "brain training" method is the Neuroliminal Training (NT) system . This has now been shown to be an excellent and inexpensive alternate to both the very expensive Neurofeedback (NFB) training, and Hyperbaric Oxygen therapy. Results are very similar to the combination of those two therapies. For a fraction of the cost of those, it offers an affordable and much better alternative to those and, of course to Ritalin and other dangerous drugs. Both NFB/EEG and NT work to eliminate allergen affects causing mental problems of all types. For more info: http://drbate.com

Allergies and allergy stress are always part of all "brain problems", There's a simple and free (except for some detective work) way to detect them. Even if you use the NT or NFB Training, this is a good idea! Check out Dr Bate's FREE Caveman Diet and pulse test at: http://drbate.com/content/testing_pulse.shtml

For the ADD to Autism continuum (as well as depression and schizophrenia), there is a good possibility that mercury or other toxic minerals may be the real underlying problem. These mineral toxins MUST be gotten out of the body. There are various old and new methods of doing this:

a. Vitamin C in large doses: This has two advantages; it's relatively cheap, and it's good for overall health. In my former practice, I used it with excellent success in many schizophrenia cases. In general, it is very safe, unless the patient has an allergy to corn (not that unusual). For smaller children, I would recommend 1 gram (1000 mg) at each meal per 40 pounds per child. Overdosing only causes diarrhea, and it might be necessary to work up to this amount if such occurs. The only form of Vitamin C that takes out toxic minerals is ascorbic acid NOT any ascorBATE forms. Read labels!

b. Injecting chelating chemical: A therapy where a chelating drug (EDTA) is injected into a vein for an hour or so in a clinic office. This is also quite expensive. Not recommended.

c. Zeolite in liquid form: A newer method taken by mouth. This is actually a form of lava rock that is very porous, and this porosity attracts heavy metals (mercury, lead, copper, etc) binds to such, and carries it out via the urine/kidney pathway. You can get more details from www.Zortho.com . (If you use "Dr Bate" on the opening page, you'll get a discount.) .

d. Glutathione Supplements: There are several chemical companies that sell glutathione products at a high price. Glutathione is a natural combination of amino acids which is manufactured in the body of normal humans, but in autism and other cases, the mercury which causes brain damage also "cripples" the glutathione manufacture, so it cannot remove the mercury. Glutathione is a powerful antioxidant with several other interesting features:
- It's a major part of the immune system often overlooked by scientists.
- Glutathione detoxifies the body by taking poisons, including mercury and other toxic minerals out. (Similar to chelation, but most other toxins as well as minerals.)
- It's not absorbed well when taken as a direct supplement. This is important as there are many supplements that contain glutathione that are not generally effective.
- Low levels of glutathione are found in all autistic children, as well as many other sick or toxic persons. These low levels do not allow excretion well. This explains why hair, blood, and urine tests of mercury (and other minerals) do not show accurately what is stored in the body.
- Again not cheap, but this seems to be worth the price if you can afford it. For more details email Mary at max4metals@aol.com . Prices are coming down.

There's a new therapy (to me) that many people swear definitely helps. It has to do with alkalizing the water you drink. The theory is that this lowers "inflammation" in the body. It is relatively expensive, but in testing it has shown promise. Again, email Mary Cavanaugh at max4metals@aol.com

Most autistic infants and small kids are very "picky", and simply won't eat what they need in nutrition - thus developing "Leaky Gut Syndrome. I have a chemist friend (David Cafarelli) who has concocted a "rub-on" sort of lotion that can provide various vitamins and amino acids, but it's not cheap, and is still out of the reach of many autistic budgets. He has developed such a regimen for getting necessary nutrition into gastric bypass patients, and many surgeons use his suppositories and lotions. If you need his products or want more information, contact him by email at "Dcafarellicast.net".

There's a therapy called VibroAcoustic Therapy (VAT) that has had good success with ADD-Autism as well. This is low frequency full body vibrations at different frequencies, and the basic idea is to lose stress, which works for all disease. It clears the mind and enables effective connectivity to the subconscious. It's sort of an inner body massage that is important for cell metabolism. It is not cheap, but good if you can afford it This would be a good complimentary therapy to neuroliminal Training as both lower stress, and VAT works fairly fast, while NT is slower. I learned about it first hand from Avigail Berg-Panitz.@gmail.com . She practices in the North Palm Beach FL area.

There's a company that advocates a special "Body Ecology Diet", This has had good success with autism and virtually all other health issues. It includes many products designed to effectively make the human body work better and more efficiently. It includes some very good probiotics as well as others that help get rid of yeast overgrowth & the "Leaky Gut Syndrome". Again, not cheap, but worth it, if it is affordable for your family. For more information: http://www.bodyecology.com

What do digestive enzymes have to do with ADD/ADHD and autism? A "leaky" gut syndrome" produces more allergy/sensitivity, and enzymes with meals break down the food better lessening the need for the "leaky gut". This has helped many ADD/ADHD as well as autistic persons.

a. There is a bulletin board sponsored by Kirkman Labs that has a forum on special digestive enzymes. Join at: enzymesandautism-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

b. Another company that has an excellent line of enzymes is New Beginnings. In addition to the enzymes, they have a lot of Gluten/Casein Free Nutritional Supplements, and a "purified source" of cholesterol (see below). Info and catalogs at http://nbnus.com

At an Orlando conference, I also learned that many autistics have low cholesterol, and supplementing with two egg yolks a day may improve many symptoms. This is certainly easy and cheap to try. If the person has an allergy to eggs (not uncommon) then a "purified" cholesterol may be obtained from the New Beginnings supplier above that is non allergenic.

For autistic (and ADD/ADHD) children, there's a lot of evidence that a gluten free and dairy free diet can help considerably. Google gfcf for more info. (The Caveman Diet above includes this and many more of the commonly allergenic foods. Try it for a week or so, then switch to gfcf.)

The latest research also shows that supplementing with fish oil can dramatically improve the ADD-Autism set of problems. There have been many "phony" fish oil capsules on he market, and supplementing with Krill oil is now the recommended supplement. This also may be obtained from Zortho.com (see above).

There's a drug therapy called LDN (Low Dose Naltrexone). While it is a drug, it seems that in low doses, it can significantly decrease many disease problems (symptoms) in autism, HIV/Aids, cancers, etc. For more information http://www.lowdosenaltrexone.org Some good results for autistics have been reported.

Another new nutritional "therapy" consists of supplemental glyconutrients. A company called Mannotech is marketing these by an MLM (which I hate), and they apparently are helping with some ADD-Autism symptoms. For more details on glyconutrients - a new found essential nutrient - check out both Mannotech and glyconutrients by googling them.

There's also a therapy technique called EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) that has also shown some good results with ADD/ADHD, depression, etc. This was put together by Gary Craig, and his website containing lots of free and almost free information may be found at http://www.emofree.com

Some have had good results with NAET (Nambudripad Allergy Elimination Technique). However, results are mixed, and Dr Nambudripad has been unhappy with many practitioners who do not follow her technique carefully. There is further information at http://www.naet.com/subscribers/index_ns.html

There's a system similar to NAET called Bioset. There's a book "Food Allergy Cure" by Dr. Ellen Cutler, which explains using Bioset to remove allergies. This can also be done at home as the book explains "How To". Check your local library and see if they can order it for you, or you can probably get it from Amazon.com. Google Bioset.

Don't forget a very important way to improve all mental "diseases". one of the oldest, cheapest & effective "remedies" of all - magnesium! It's been known for years as the "calming chemical". In our culture we seldom get enough and this deficiency may worsen many mental problems. It's safe as if you overdose, like vitamin C, you only get diarrhea! Milk of Magnesia and Epsom Salts (Magnesium Sulphate) are two very old good products that are often overlooked today. For autistic and ADHD children in particular, try baths using Epsom Salts. It's helped a lot of kids and adults. I prefer Magnesium Citrate daily for supplemental use.

Last and certainly not least is my "Integrated 4 Part Therapy for Autism and other Mental Problems" at: http://drbate.com/content/integated.shtml
You can also get a free copy of the full book "The Health Revolution" by signing up for my free newsletter on that home page.

While the above article was written for Autism, virtually all above will at least help in virtually any mental disease from a headache to schizophrenia or severe depression.

Also consider joining the Discussion Group/newsletters/bulletin board moderated by Dr Bate. This very active group is devoted to Orthomolecular, Holistic and drug free Therapies. Subscribe by sending an email to: Orthomolecular-subscribe@yahoogroups. There are many "experts" in all aspects of holistic and orthomolecular therapies who will happily answer your questions free. While a minority, there are still many people that are devoted to helping others.