FYI - Milk and Autism

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Milk Linked to Autism, Schizophrenia More than 500,000

Americans have some form of autism, according to the Autism Society of America.

The developmental disability typically appears during the first three years of

life and is characterized by problems interacting and communicating with others.

Many individuals exhibit repeated body movements such as hand-flapping or

rocking and may resist changes in routine. In some cases, they may display

aggressive or self-injurious behavior. Schizophrenia is noted for disturbances

in thinking, emotional reaction and behavior and is the most common form of

psychotic illness.

More than 2 million Americans suffer from it, according to the National

Institute of Mental Health. People with schizophrenia often hear internal voices

not heard by others, or believe others are reading their minds, controlling

their thoughts or plotting to harm them. In addition, their speech and behavior

can be so disorganized that they may be incomprehensible or frightening to

others.

Findings from two animal studies indicate autism and schizophrenia may be

linked to a person's inability to properly break down a protein found in milk.

The digestive problem might actually lead to the disorders' symptoms, whose

basis has long been debated. This research was done by a physiologist at the

University of Florida Dr. J. Cade.

When not broken down, the milk protein produces exorphins, morphine-like

compounds that are then taken up by areas of the brain known to be involved in

autism and schizophrenia, where they cause cells to dysfunction. The animal

findings suggest an intestinal flaw, such as a malfunctioning enzyme, is to

blame. Preliminary findings from that study -- which showed 95 percent of 81

autistic and schizophrenic children studied had 100 times the normal levels of

the milk protein in their blood and urine -- have been presented at two

international meetings in the past year but have not yet been published.

The researchers also noted that all milk products must be excluded from the

diet. This includes such things as ice cream, yogurt and whey.

Even natural flavorings in food must be avoided unless the processor can

guarantee beyond a shadow of a doubt that caseinate, the main protein in milk,

is not included. We now have proof positive that these proteins are getting into

the blood and proof positive they're getting into areas of the brain involved

with the symptoms of autism and schizophrenia.

Researchers injected rats with the protein beta-casomorphin-7, one of the key

constituents of milk and the part that coagulates to make cheese. They then

observed their behavior and later examined brain tissue to see whether the

substances accumulated there. Beta-casomorphin-7 was taken up by 32 different

areas of the brain, including sections responsible for vision, hearing and

communication.

This could explain several of the things one sees in autism and schizophrenia,

such as hallucinations. If part of the brain puts out a false signal because of

casomorphin, it could result in the person seeing something that's not really

there; either a visual or auditory hallucination could occur.

There are a whole number of behaviors that the rat has after

beta-casomorphin-7 that are basically the same as one sees in the human with

autism or schizophrenia. If we ring a bell beside a rat's cage, it normally

looks up to see where the noise is coming from. But the rats after

beta-casomorphin-7 didn't do that -- they were completely oblivious to the

bell-ringing above them. This struck the researchers as interesting because many

mothers of autistic children comment that they seem at times to be totally deaf

-- they talk to their children and they just don't seem to hear them. The

researchers suspect the process begins in the intestine, where the body absorbs

the protein when a person eats foods containing it.

They think this process is linked to the production of antibodies in the gut

when you eat something to which you're sensitive. Both schizophrenic and

autistic persons have a high incidence of certain antibodies, and a high

incidence of diarrhea, which points to an intestinal disorder. So the

investigators believe that with autism and schizophrenia, the basic disorder is

in the intestine, and these individuals are absorbing beta-casomorphin-7 that

they normally should break down in the body as amino acids, rather than peptide

chains up to 12 amino acids long.

COMMENT: Many of you know that within the past six months the treatment of

autism has become a very large part of my practice. About one out of three of my

new patients is autistic and about one out of three of these patients is coming

from out of state. The main reason for this increase is the use of the hormone

secretin for the treatment of autism. Secretin is a powerful hormone and appears

to be a major breakthrough in this illness. I have treated about 60 children to

date with over 100 doses of secretin. I would say the majority of the children

do better with this treatment. I have even observed one three year who had no

speech prior to secretin speak in full paragraphs days after the infusion. It is

rare when secretin does not help. HOWEVER, I have also noted that if one could

only chose between the diet changes that we implement or the secretin, the diet

would be the better option. Nearly ALL children seem to respond favorably to the

dietary changes when properly implemented.

Dr. Cade’s research discussed above may be a key to understanding why. Milk

restriction is an ABSOLUTE imperative to the treatment of autism. Anyone

managing this illness without restricting milk is deceiving themselves. Complete

elimination of sugar, juice, soda, french fries and wheat (pasta, bagels,

cereal, pretzels, etc) is a close second. Just like secretin, these dietary

manipulations frequently clear up the digestive disorder which most commonly

results in consistent loose stools. Dr. Cade also has a urine test that may be

the best in the country for diagnosing the gluten and casein sensitivities. I

have ordered his kits but have not yet performed the analysis on anyone.

M. Guppy - What we do for ourselves lasts only a moment; but what we

do for others ~ lasts a lifetime...

Don't tell God how big your storm is, tell the storm how big your God is!

Listowner & Facilitator of: www.TexasAutismAdvocacy.org