Having a son with a developmental delay was very hard on me. He didn’t walk until he was 20 months old.
This was extremely hard for me because he didn’t walk until 3 weeks before his little brother was born, and I was having to carry him everywhere.
I suppose the bright side is that he didn’t weigh a whole lot, given that he was also a failure-to-thrive baby. Read More→
When my younger son was born, he, too, was “fussy” and “colicky”. He had an outright problem with nursing: he refused to.
When he would, he would shriek in pain or fill up so much (probably because he was starving) that he would throw it right back up. Read More→
Some of the first red flags I had from my older son were his failure to eat solid foods, his projectile vomiting any food or breast milk he did eat, and, later, his failure to thrive.
It was so sad to watch my baby dwindle from being born at the 40th percentile for weight down to the 3rd percentile at the age of 18 months.
He crossed three percentile curves on the way down; crossing two of them constitutes “failure to thrive”, but he also fit that definition by dropping below the 5th percentile curve. Read More→
Gut dysbiosis — this topic is the motherlode. It’s one of the two core (in my opinion) reasons for the explosion of chronic childhood illnesses we see today.
First, let’s discuss the numbers behind this epidemic: How many kids did you know when you were growing up that had autism, ADHD, acid reflux, allergies, asthma, developmental delays and/or mental health issues?
I knew of only ONE child with any one of these in the whole time I went to school from elementary school to high school. Now that I am a mom, I can tell you that it’s the rare child who does NOT have any chronic illnesses. The statistics for today’s kids are staggering: Read More→
Maria Rickert Hong is a Certified Holistic Health Counselor who received her training from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She specializes in recovery from symptoms of autoimmune, neurological, behavioral and digestive disorders, as she has recovered her own sons from Sensory Processing Disorder, asthma and acid reflux. She is also a board member, social media director and blogger for Epidemic Answers, a non-profit whose goal is to let parents know recovery is possible from autism, ADHD, SPD, allergies, asthma, autoimmune, Lyme and more.
If I were to tell you that both of my sons have Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD), you might: a) ask, what is that? b) ask, how did you know that they have it? or c) not believe me unless you had met them — especially my older son — a few years ago.
I believe that they are mostly recovered because of occupational therapy (OT) interventions over the course of a year and a half and because of ongoing naturopathic medicine and dietary changes. Read More→
Maria Rickert Hong‘s Children: Recovered from Sensory Processing Disorder, Acid Reflux, Asthma and Eczema, and getting healthier everyday!I have recovered my sons from sensory processing disorder (SPD), acid reflux, asthma and eczema.
I used to wonder a long time ago if these issues were related to each other and to their developmental delays, anxiety, failure to thrive and mitochondrial dysfunction, and now I know that they are.
All of these issues are related to gut dysbiosis (in their case, a system Candida infection) and toxicity. They are both full of heavy metals (mercury, lead, arsenic, cadmium).
My older son is at the 97th percentile for heavy-metal toxicity; my younger one at the 90th.
They both got it from me when I was pregnant with them. I didn’t find out until after my older son was over 4 years old that we were all full of heavy metals.
My concerns about my sons’ problems were dismissed by all of their doctors (except for the current one) and chalked up to “they’ll grow out of it”.
A mother knows when there is something wrong with her children, so I was left to research these issues myself.
I found the book “Healing the New Childhood Disorders: Autism, ADHD, Allergies and Asthma” by Dr. Kenneth Bock to be the most helpful at tying these issues back to the immune dysregulation and nutritional deficiencies caused by their gut dysbiosis and toxicity.
Understanding what the root causes are helped me to know what to do to recover them. I changed their diet (GF/CF at first to alleviate sensory issues; GAPS later to eliminate the gut dysbiosis).
We began going to a naturopath to help us with detoxifying safely. I eliminated all toxic household and personal-care products from the house by looking up the safety of their individual ingredients (EWG’s Skin Deep cosmetics database was a huge help here).
They have both been through occupational therapy (OT) and craniosacral therapy.
However, there are always residual issues.
It would take a lot more out-of-pocket money for OT that would help my sons overcome their developmental delays and retained reflexes, both of which come from the neurological damage caused by their exorbitant amounts of heavy metals.
It’s also going to cost more money to deal with the psychological damage from this toxicity, which is showing up as extreme anxiety and anger in my older son and anger in my younger son.
In addition, both sons are considered “failure to thrive”, for which they’ll need additional services provided by a nutritionist, an oral-motor OT and a craniosacral therapist.
Both the nutritionist and the naturopath will continue to be needed for their help in overcoming mitochondrial dysfunction and toxicity. And there are always more lab tests to be ordered.
It’s a lot of work and a lot of money to do these interventions, but I know they’re getting better.
What’s frustrating to me is how little most pediatricians and, thus, moms know about these issues.
It’s still considered almost heresy to say that a child can be recovered from autism, SPD, allergies, ADHD, asthma, etc., but that’s probably because a pharmaceutical can’t cure these issues; it would only mask the symptoms.
Read more about Maria’s journey here
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This document is not a substitute for medical advice, treatment, diagnosis, or consultation with a medical professional. It is intended for general informational purposes only and should not be relied on to make determinations related to treatment of a medical condition. Epidemic Answers has not verified and does not guaranty the accuracy of the information provided in this document.
Scan through the list below. If your child exhibits any of the symptoms below with persistence, they may have underlying dysfunctions in their gastrointestinal and immune systems. Click on the symptom to learn more.
There are perfectly normal and healthy children that exhibit a few of these symptoms occasionally. This is not a concern.
All children exhibit occasional temper tantrums, hoarding of toys, constipation, hyperactivity, and many more of the aforementioned symptoms.
However, it is not normal when children exhibit these symptoms chronically or with particular intensity and severity, despite conventional treatment approaches (e.g., diet and behavioral modifications).
These symptoms stem from some underlying biological dysfunctions that are typically not recognized by most physicians.
Although some of these symptoms may be strongly correlated with one particular underlying medical problem (e.g. red cheeks after eating is often associated with food allergies), many of these symptoms are “red flags” that there are multiple complex underlying biological disorders (such as gut dysbiosis, immune dysregulation, mitochondrial dysfunction, autoimmunity, malabsorption, etc.).
In other words, a child who experiences chronic constipation may have a food allergy, but may also be experiencing gut dysbiosis and mitochondrial dysfunction.
In another example, a child who experiences chronic constipation may have food allergies, mitochondrial dysfunction, immune dysregulation, malabsorption, and a developing autoimmune condition (such as colitis or Crohn’s disease).
It is of critical importance that a child with chronic symptoms be seen by an integrative or holistic medical practitioner who can help get to the underlying causes of the symptoms.
Sign up for our newsletter and find out why this epidemic of children’s chronic illnesses is occurring and what you can do about it.
This document is not a substitute for medical advice, treatment, diagnosis, or consultation with a medical professional. It is intended for general informational purposes only and should not be relied on to make determinations related to treatment of a medical condition. Epidemic Answers has not verified and does not guaranty the accuracy of the information provided in this document.
Below is a brief list of some of the irregular symptoms exhibited by many American children today. It is a catalog compiled by vigilant parents who see these signs in their children and their children’s friends on a daily basis. Although they are common, they are not normal when exhibited chronically.
Scan through the list. Do your children, or children that you know, exhibit any of these symptoms with persistence?
There are perfectly normal and healthy children that exhibit a few of these symptoms occasionally. This is not a concern. All children exhibit occasional temper tantrums, hoarding of toys, constipation, hyperactivity, and many more of the aforementioned symptoms. However, it is not normal when children exhibit these symptoms chronically or with particular intensity and severity, despite conventional treatment approaches (e.g., diet and behavioral modifications).
These symptoms stem from some underlying biological dysfunctions that are typically not recognized by most physicians.
Although some of these symptoms may be strongly correlated with one particular underlying medical problem (e.g. red cheeks after eating is often associated with food allergies), many of these symptoms are “red flags” that there are multiple complex underlying biological disorders (such as gut dysbiosis, immune dysregulation, mitochondrial dysfunction, autoimmunity, malabsorption, etc.).
In other words, a child who experiences chronic constipation may have a food allergy, but may also be experiencing gut dysbiosis and mitochondrial dysfunction. In another example, a child who experiences chronic constipation may have food allergies, mitochondrial dysfunction, immune dysregulation, malabsorption, and a developing autoimmune condition (such as colitis or Crohn’s disease).
It is of critical importance that a child with chronic symptoms be seen by an integrative or holistic medical practitioner who can help get to the underlying causes of the symptoms.
Sign up for our newsletter and find out why this epidemic of children’s chronic illnesses is occurring and what you can do about it.
This document is not a substitute for medical advice, treatment, diagnosis, or consultation with a medical professional. It is intended for general informational purposes only and should not be relied on to make determinations related to treatment of a medical condition. Epidemic Answers has not verified and does not guaranty the accuracy of the information provided in this document.
The following symptoms may indicate that your child has mitochondrial dysfunction or a problem in energy production.
Even if your child does not display any of the “classic” symptoms of mitochondrial dysfunction (listed above), your child may still be affected. Read More→
EPIDEMIC ANSWERS
The rates of chronic illnesses like autism, ADHD, allergies and asthma in American children are skyrocketing.There are no upcoming events.
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