After finding out that I had heavy-metal poisoning, I immediately thought about my sons. Was it possible that I had passed any of this on to them?
Could this be responsible for their sensory processing disorder (SPD), asthma, allergies, eczema, acid reflux, and developmental delays?
Would I finally find the common thread that I had been looking for all along that tied all of these conditions together?
Yes, unfortunately. Read More→
I have a 7 year old daughter and a 5 year old son. Our healing journey really began when they were 3 and 1 years old.
I now know that both of them had gut dysbiosis and dysregulated immune systems which presented in very different ways for each child.
Learning that they had gut dysbiosis and immune dysregulation was like finding the missing link. Learning about these conditions and how to overcome them was what really put us onto the path of healing.
Soon after Alexa was born, she developed oral thrush and was treated with Nystatin. This seemed to clear up the thrush, yet Alexa had “foamy” diarrhea and painful gas constantly.
Nursing became increasingly difficult as Alexa struggled to stay latched on as if she was choking on the milk.
My pediatrician at the time instructed me to reduce my diet to chicken, rice and a couple of vegetables. She also told me to remove dairy from my diet and put the baby on reflux medication. I tried the diet change but refused to use reflux medication.
When nursing didn’t improve, I found a new pediatrician and a lactation specialist that diagnosed oversupply of milk. With their help, the baby was able to nurse properly and seemed healthy. But then the thrush returned and a new round of Nystatin was used.
At about 8 months of age, Alexa began having periodic fevers often accompanied by an ear infection. The fever episodes lasted about 5 days, the fevers would always reach 105 and were accompanied by severe vomiting and lethargy.
The fevers started coming regularly every month and were often treated with antibiotics and high doses of acetaminophen and ibuprofen. Several times, I opted not to use antibiotics and the fevers took the same course as when they were used.
Routine vaccines were administered and the fevers began coming every 2 weeks instead of every month. Repeat blood tests showed inflammation in the body but doctors could not pinpoint where the inflammation was coming from.
We took her to specialists in genetics, gastroenterology and infectious diseases in hopes of finding the cause. All of the time spent and tests performed led nowhere as their tests could not determine anything.
After waiting over 4 hours for a scheduled appointment at a very prestigious hospital, the doctor reviewed the tests and files and actually scolded me for bringing such a healthy child into such a busy place.
The periodic fevers continued and at 18 months of age, white spots began presenting in Alexa’s tonsils. On recommendation from our pediatrician, I began bringing Alexa to an ENT. He diagnosed her with exudative tonsillitis.
At 2 ½ years old, her tonsils were removed and the fevers stopped. Although the fevers were now gone, Alexa had a severely distended belly, pale skin that wouldn’t tan and dark circles under her eyes.
She was slightly anemic and began having rashes and hives. An IgE test was done which showed her to be allergic to eggs and wheat. These were removed from the diet and the hives decreased.
Alexa also had severe reactions to spider and mosquito bites. When she got a bug bite, it would remain swollen for weeks and often become infected because the bite wouldn’t drain on its own. This resulted in more rounds of antibiotics to clear up the infection.
At that time, I thought that these remaining symptoms indicated that she just needed to “catch up” on nutrition. I had never heard of gut dysbiosis or immune dysregulation and I didn’t connect these conditions to Alexa until after my son was diagnosed with autism…
By six weeks of age, Sergio was very gassy and constipated. (This was chalked up to babies commonly having colic…) By 3 months old, he was constipated to the point of stooling only once a week and it appeared to be very painful for him.
My pediatrician advised me to add fiber and prunes to my own diet to help Sergio’s condition through breastfeeding. The constipation continued, and the baby was only sleeping for an hour at a time and had to be held, even while sleeping. He seemed uncomfortable most of the time.
He also spit up or vomited after feedings and the pediatrician suspected mild reflux. She recommended that we try introducing solid foods when Sergio was about 5 months old.
He seemed to like the food, and we were hopeful that it would help the vomiting and constipation. Sergio enjoyed eating fruits and vegetables and ate them happily. He didn’t really take to the baby cereal, and it constipated him even more.
I didn’t make the connection at the time that the dairy and wheat might be affecting him, and so I continued to feed him these foods. By the time he was twelve months, he had given up eating all fruit and vegetables.
He would only nurse and eat bagels and goldfish crackers. The constipation continued to get worse. He was stooling every 7 to 12 days. I know it was extremely painful as he would cry and shake every time. I was frightened but I didn’t know where to look for an answer.
There were other signs that something was wrong with Sergio, but I was in complete denial about it.
He did not smile or make eye contact. Sergio seemed like he was in a fog most of the time. He did not respond to our voices at all.
I almost thought he had hearing issues except that if I ran the vacuum or hair dryer he would run around screaming and banging his head.
I would put my nose to his nose and scream his name repeatedly and he wouldn’t flinch or look at me.
I felt like a bad mom because it seemed like my son had no interest in being with me. I would try to play on the floor with him and he would walk away and put his back to me. The only thing he seemed to like doing was spinning wheels on a truck. Over and over again.
We wanted to hear words from his so badly. At his 15-month check-up the only words he had were “da” and “bye”, and he didn’t use them consistently.
The pediatrician mentioned that he might have a speech delay and told me to track his words until his 18-month check-up and if he started to gain words, then we shouldn’t worry too much about it.
Well, at his 18-month check-up he no longer said “da” or “bye” or anything else. He had no words. He was flapping his arms constantly and moaning.
Sergio could not handle any transitions. Just going from the car into the house caused a complete tantrum. Waking up in the morning and from naps was an instant tantrum. He would tantrum if people came to our house or if he was anywhere crowded. Sergio was constantly miserable.
At his 18-month check-up, the pediatrician introduced us to the M-CHAT (Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers) test. It is a series of questions to determine whether a child should be evaluated for autism spectrum disorder. Sergio failed every question on the test.
I went home and called Birth to 3 to set up an evaluation. I read Jenny McCarthy’s book that night and the comparisons between her son and mine really hit home to me that we were dealing with autism.
This was my first introduction to autism. I really knew nothing about it prior to that day.
I felt completely powerless waiting for the evaluation.
The gluten-free/casein-free diet from Jenny’s book really stuck in my head. I thought I would try the diet since it couldn’t hurt, and it made me feel empowered. It was something that I could do while I waited the endless wait for an evaluation.
To ensure that Sergio was 100% gluten and casein free, I had to go on the diet myself because I was still nursing him.
When you have to do something for your child, it is easy. I would do anything for my kids. Give up gluten and dairy? No problem.
For Sergio, it was not so easy. His whole diet consisted of bagels and goldfish. I found some gf/cf alternatives and hoped he would like them.
Sergio went through terrible withdrawals for about a week. Screaming, crying, shaking and nursing constantly.
It took every ounce of my will power to not give in. After that first week, he decided to try a gluten-free pretzel.
I could have chosen to wean him slowly from gluten and casein, but once I realized that these foods were hurting him, I just couldn’t ever give him another bite.
We were very lucky in that a couple of weeks into the diet, Sergio made eye contact with me for the first time. I took that as a sign that we were on the right path.
Our pediatrician gave us the name of a registered dietician that had experience helping children on the spectrum. She walked us through the gluten free/casein free diet and how to implement it.
She also gave us an education on food sensitivities, nutrients often missing from diet and labs we could do to get a baseline of Sergio’s issues.
With the combined information from Sergio’s medical history and labs, our registered dietician was able to give us a diet plan and a supplement protocol. I tracked everything I could think of – food and supplements taken, stool and sleep patterns and behaviors.
Sergio began stooling every day and didn’t seem to be in as much discomfort. Over time, he stopped banging his head and throwing himself against walls. He consistently made eye contact and kept gaining new words.
By age 3, most of his autistic “behaviors” were gone. He developed the ability to connect emotionally and began to speak in 3 word sentences.
Implementing a healing diet along with several other healing protocols, he’s gone from a child severely affected by autism to a neurotypical, thriving child. He is now indistinguishable from other children his age.
Much of this tremendous progress is attributable to early intervention and sticking steadfast to diet and supplement protocols. It took about 18 months of intense intervention.
Now, at the age of 5, Sergio is truly healed. He has no signs of autism or gut dysbiosis. I believe in feeding him nourishing, healthy foods, but he no longer needs a restrictive diet. Sergio is an extremely bright, insightful and loving little boy living a healthy and “normal” life.
Also, Alexa is really thriving now. Thanks to all we have learned about gut dysbiosis and immune dysregulation through Sergio’s healing journey, we were able to apply similar healing protocols to Alexa with miraculous results.
Her distended belly is completely gone and she is not anemic. We have recovered her from her food allergies and she no longer reacts to bug bites.
Through testing, we learned that she had chronic Lyme disease. Using an alternative healing modality called vibrational therapy, her Lyme was completely eradicated. After applying this therapy, all of her concerning symptoms cleared up.
It has been over a year since the Lyme cleared up and now, at the age of 7, she is truly a happy, healthy little girl.
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.
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Ethan appeared to be a very healthy baby at first. Aside from a little baby acne and some toenails that looked a little misshapen, all seemed well with him.
When he was four months old he had a bad reaction to a DTaP vaccine and his doctors recommended that he no longer receive this vaccine.
He developed chronic constipation, chronic sinus congestion, and snoring that was later diagnosed as sleep apnea.
The pediatrician recommended that he go on Zyrtec daily but his mother felt more comfortable with giving him children’s Benadryl instead. He lived on Benadryl for years and his symptoms did not improve.
New symptoms developed. His constipation got so severe, that he would only go once every 5 days or so, and his stools became smelly and loose when he did go.
At age 5, he was diagnosed with asthma, allergies, and sleep apnea. He began treatments with Pulmicort, prednisone, and albuterol.
The pediatrician also suggested that he begin Singulair, but his mother refused because she had heard reports of children developing suicidal behaviors on Singulair.
His last major asthma attack was so severe that the doctor told Ethan’s mother it would take 6 months for his lungs to recover and heal. “Treat it like a broken bone,” he said.
This was the last straw for Ethan’s mother.
She looked into alternative ways to treat her son’s asthma, allergies and sleep apnea. She changed his diet when he was six years old, taking out wheat, diary, eggs, and corn, foods that an IgG food sensitivity test indicated were potentially inflammatory for Ethan.
At this point, Ethan started a gut-healing protocol developed by Russell Mariani, a nutrition counselor in Hadley, Massachusetts.
Ethan also received allergy elimination treatments, both NAET and BioSet and started to eat a more traditional diet, like that advocated by the Weston A. Price Foundation.
Six months after the diet changes and beginning the allergy elimination and gut healing, Ethan’s asthma and allergies disappeared and never returned.
He now has daily bowel movements, eats all of the foods he once eliminated from his diet, and is a talented soccer and lacrosse player.
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.
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The subject of childhood immunizations is extremely controversial, but it may be an important piece of the puzzle concerning the epidemic of chronic childhood illness.
The divide that exists between those who are vaccine advocates and those who are vaccine safety advocates is wide, but these two sides need to establish a civil dialogue so that we can assure that America’s childhood infectious disease eradication program is as safe and effective as possible.
Vaccine advocates argue that vaccines have been vindicated by scientific research, and that there is no proven link to autism or other chronic illnesses.
Vaccine safety advocates argue that many of these studies are flawed and that vaccines are either “poisoning” children (citing vaccine additives like aluminum and mercury) or that they are in some way dysregulating the immune system (e.g., causing immune responses to become altered and harmful).
Dr. Bernadine Healy, former head of both the National Institutes of Health and the American Red Cross, and a proponent of safe childhood immunization programs, has recently called for a détente between the two sides.
Healy agrees with many vaccine safety advocacy groups that a study needs to be conducted that compares the health and wellness (including mental health and cognitive function) of vaccinated to unvaccinated children.
No official studies like this have ever been performed. There are a number of anecdotal studies (non-peer reviewed) that compare completely vaccinated to completely unvaccinated children, but there are no well-designed and controlled studies like this that have come from the “established” medical community.
Dr. Healy urges public health organizations to fund this sort of study so that we can prove (or disprove), once and for all, that the current childhood immunization schedule is safe for all children.
American children are the most highly vaccinated children in the world.
In 1979, children were immunized against seven infectious diseases before 6 years of age; today, they are immunized against fifteen, most by the age of 2, and more vaccines are slotted to be added to the existing schedule.
Some parents are concerned about the number of vaccines required of children today and are asking that more research be done to establish safety and efficacy.
While much of the vaccine controversy has circled around the dangers of thimerosal, (the mercury preservative used in virtually all vaccines before 2000), its removal from most vaccines (the notable exception being the flu vaccine) has complicated the vaccine controversy.
Many parents of children with regressive-type autism (autism that was late-onset, as opposed to at birth) argue that vaccines were responsible for their child’s regression into autism.
Unaware of how vaccines work, or unsure of how vaccines could cause autism, many parents blamed the small amounts of mercury in the vaccines (which, cumulatively, is not such a small amount after all) for their children’s condition.
However, after the thimerosal was removed from most of the vaccines in 2000, rates of autism continued to climb. Could vaccines still be contributing to autism or to the larger epidemic of chronic illnesses in children?
New research is beginning to bear out the fact that vaccines may cause immune dysregulation (sometimes severe) in certain children, with or without mercury.
In particular, vaccines have been shown to stimulate immune system irregularities such as autoimmunity and excessive “T-cell skewing,” (causing repeated imbalanced immune responses that could precipitate chronic disease).
In the short history of modern vaccination, there is quite a bit of evidence demonstrating that vaccines can cause autoimmunity, autoimmune diseases (such as Guillain Barré Syndrome), “T-cell skewing,” and other dysfunctions related to the immune system.
Recent studies show that certain vaccines (containing certain components, such as live attenuated viruses or aluminum adjuvants) may indeed be responsible for causing immune dysregulation.
Vaccine manufacturers have always acknowledged the fact that certain vaccine recipients may experience adverse events.
This is why the government established an elaborate tracking and adverse event reporting system, and why there is an enormous government-sponsored vaccine injury compensation program.
However, these events have always been considered to be extremely rare, and most people believe that the risks of an adverse event do not outweigh the benefit of the protection offered by immunization.
With the rise in the number of children with autism whose parents believe that vaccines in someway played a role, researchers are beginning to examine the possibility that vaccines are causing immune dysregulation on a much wider scale.
It is no longer assumed that vaccines only cause an adverse event in one-in-a-million recipients, for instance.
Also, the possibility that vaccines may cause subtle, or sub-clinical problems in recipients is now being considered.
The hypothesis (that has yet to be proven) is that vaccines cause immune dysregulation through a variety of physiological mechanisms, and this immune dysregulation (in conjunction with other environmental factors such as heavy antibiotic use) may in fact lead to chronic illnesses such as autism, ADHD, or asthma.
Vaccines may be contributing to the epidemic of chronic childhood illnesses because they are being administered to children who could be considered “immunocompromised.”
One of the main concerns with today’s childhood immunization schedule is that a full load of vaccines is being given to children who have severe gut dysbiosis, nutritional deficiencies, and toxic overloads because of their particular environmental exposures.
Yet, no doctor is trained to look for this type of immunodeficiency.
An infant or toddler who has received four or five courses of antibiotics, eats a nutrient-poor diet, and is exposed to a variety of toxic substances (like lead, mercury, BPA, and others) in their environment may actually have a compromised immune system.
This toddler is not atypical; many American children have these sort of environmental exposures—they are truly a compromised generation.
A child with compromised immunity may not be able to “kick out” infectious agents injected into their bodies via vaccination.
Studies have shown that some autistic children have chronic infections in their guts with certain viruses such as the measles virus or the varicella (chickenpox) virus.
The inflammation that can be found in these children is off the charts. It is as if they are in a perpetual battle against some unrelenting infectious agent.
The impact that vaccines have on babies’ bodies is complex and poorly understood, especially in light of the fact that babies receive so many vaccines so early in their lives. More research is certainly warranted.
SHOULD I GIVE MY CHILD THE FLU VACCINE? CLICK BELOW TO LEARN WHY THE EVIDENCE DOES NOT SUPPORT THE POLICY.
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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.
The epidemic of chronic childhood illness in America is the product of “a perfect storm” of environmental factors including:
Together (or in varied combinations), these environmental factors can initiate a vicious cycle of biological dysfunctions in our children’s bodies.
These underlying biological dysfunctions are what cause the symptoms that we then classify as “chronic illnesses,” such as autism, ADHD, allergies, asthma, diabetes, and many others.
To be sure, genetics and genetic history play a role in the development of illness for particular children, but genetically-based explanations do not explain the widespread prevalence of biological dysfunctions among children today.
There are simply too many sick children to substantiate the theory that genetics cause their illnesses. Epidemics are not genetic.
To understand how the body begins to break down under these environmental stressors, we must first look at two systems in the body that are critical to health:
When you look at the bodies of children that are suffering from chronic symptoms, you will find that their immune systems are essentially dysfunctional, and their gastrointestinal systems (their “gut” or GI) are in a state of disrepair.
Children in this condition are said to have “Immune Dysregulation” and “Gut Dysbiosis.”
Immune dysregulation and gut dysbiosis are central biological dysfunctions that occur in children with symptoms of chronic illness.
Learn more about immune dysregulation and gut dysbiosis.
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 you will find scientific documentation for the following topics:
Gut Dysbiosis and Immune Dysregulation
Epidemic Statistics and Facts
The Impact of the Overuse of Pharmaceuticals
The Impact of Immunization
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52. Massimo Montalto et al, “Fecal Calprotectin Concentrations in Patients with Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth,” Digestive Diseases 26, no. 2 (April 2008): 183-186.
53. L. Shi et al., “Activation of the maternal immune system alters cerebellar development in the offspring,” Brain, Behavior, and Immunity 23, no. 1 (January 2009): 116-23.
54. C. Winter et al., “Dopamine and serotonin levels following prenatal viral infection in mouse—implications for psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and autism,” European Neuropsychopharmacology 18, no. 10 (October 2008): 712-6.
55. GL Nicolson et al., “Evidence for Mycoplasma ssp., Chlamydia pneumoniae, and human herpes virus-6 coinfections in the blood of patients with autistic spectrum disorders,” Journal of Neuroscience Research 85, no. 5 (April 2007): 1143-8.
56. K Lancaster et al., “Abnormal social behaviors in young and adult rats neonatally infected with Borna disease virus,” Behavioural Brain Research 176, no. 1 (January 2007): 141-8.
57. Sidney Baker, “Canaries and Miners,” Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine 14, no. 6 (2008): 24-26.
58. Hans Rediers et al., “Unraveling the Secret Lives of Bacteria: Use of In Vivo Expression Technology and Differential Fluorescence Induction Promotor Traps as Tools for Exploring Niche-Specific Gene Expression,” Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews 69, no. 2 (June 2005): 217-261.
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61. Jessica A. Clark and Craig M. Coopersmith, “Intestinal crosstalk—a new paradigm for understanding the gut as the ‘motor’ of critical illness,” Shock 28, no. 4 (October 2007): 384-393.
62. Ann M. O’Hara and Fergus Shanahan, “The gut flora as a forgotten organ,” European Molecular Biology Organization Reports 7, no. 7 (2006).
63. Paul Ashwood et al., “The immune response in autism: a new frontier for autism research,” Journal of Leukocyte Biology 80 (July 2006): 1-15.
64. M. Mary Konstantareas and Soula Homatidis, “Brief Report: Ear infections in autistic and normal children,” Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 17, no. 4 (December 1987).
65. Germana Moretti, “What every psychiatrist should know about PANDAS: a review,” Clinical Practice and Epidemiology in Mental Health 4 (May 2008): 13.
66. Harumi Jyonouchi et al., “Impact of innate immunity in a subset of children with autism spectrum disorders: a case control study,” Journal of Neuroinflammation 5 (November 2008): 52.
67. Russell C. Dale et al., “Encephalitis lethargica syndrome: 20 new cases and evidence of basal ganglia autoimmunity,” Brain 127, no. 1 (October 2003).
68. Anne M. Connolly, MD et al., “Serum autoantibodies to brain in Landau-Kleffner variant, autism, and other neurologic disorders,” The Journal of Pediatrics 134, no. 5 (May 1999): 607-13.
69. Diane L. Vargas et al., “Neuroglial activation and neuroinflammation in the brain of patients with autism,” Annals of Neurology 57, no. 1 (January 2005): 67-81.
70. Dr. Andrew Wakefield, “The Seat of the Soul; The Origins of the Autism Epidemic,” (lecture, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, November 17, 2005) http://www.thoughtfulhouse.org/awakefield_1105.pdf (accessed March 6, 2009).
71. R.E.O. Williams et al., “The influence of intestinal bacteria on the absorption and metabolism of foreign compounds,” Journal of Clinical Pathology 5 Supplement (1971): 125-129.
72. Rowland et al., “Effects of diet on mercury metabolism and excretion in mice given methylmercury: role of gut flora,” Archives of Environmental Health 39, no. 6 (1984): 401-8.
73. Center for Science in the Public Interest, “Petition to Set a Regulatory Limit for Methylmercury in Seafood that Reflects the Risk to Pregnant Women and Children From the Intake of Seafood Containing Methylmercury,” Letter to Dr. Jane Henney, Commissioner, FDA, July 17, 2000 http://www.cspinet.org/foodsafety/methylmerc_limit.html (accessed March 8, 2009).
74. David Wallinga et al., “Not So Sweet: Missing Mercury and High Fructose Corn Syrup,” Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, Minneapolis, Minnesota (January 2009).
75. James B. Adams et al., “Mercury, Lead, and Zinc in Baby Teeth of Children with Autism Versus Controls,” Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health 70 (2007).
76. James B. Adams et al., “Mercury in first-cut baby hair of children with autism versus typically-developing children,” Toxicological & Environmental Chemistry 90, no. 4 (October 2008): 739-753.
77. Amy Holmes et al., “Reduced Levels of Mercury in First Baby Haircuts of Autistic Children,” International Journal of Toxicology 22 (March 2003): 277-285.
78. Gayle C. Windham et al., “Autism Spectrum Disorders in Relation to Distribution of Hazardous Air Pollutants in the San Francisco Bay Area,” Environmental Health Perspectives 114, no. 9 (September 2006): 1438-44.
79. R.F. Palmer et al., “Proximity to point sources of environmental mercury release as a predictor of autism prevalence,” Health and Place 15, no. 1 (March 2009): 18-24.
80. Richard Lathe, “Environmental factors and limbic vulnerability in childhood autism; Clinical report,” American Journal of Biochemistry and Biotechnology 4, no. 2 (March 22, 2008).
81. S. Jill James et al., “Metabolic biomarkers of increased oxidative stress and impaired methylation capacity in children with autism,” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 80, no. 6 (December 2004 ): 1611-1617.
82. Kenneth Blum et al., “Attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder and reward deficiency syndrome,” Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment 4, no. 5 (2008) 893-917.
83. Physician’s Postgraduate Press, “Managing ADHD in Children, Adolescents, and Adults With Comorbid Anxiety in Primary Care,” The Primary Care Companion to The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 9, no. 2 (2007): 129-138.
84. Richard Mackarness, Not All in The Mind (London: Pan, 1976).
85. Dr. William H. Philpott and Dwight K. Kalita PhD, Brain Allergies: The Psychonutrient and Magnetic Connections (Los Angeles: Keats Publishing, 1980) 23.
86. Paul D. Arnold and Margaret A. Richter, “Is obsessive-compulsive disorder an autoimmune disease?” Canadian Medical Association Journal 165, no. 10 (November 2001): 1353-1358.
87. Daniel R. Hanson and Irving I. Gottesman, “Theories of schizophrenia: a genetic-inflammatory-vascular synthesis,” BMC Medical Genetics 6 (February 2005): 7.
88. Hui-Li Want et al., “Case-Control Study of Blood Lead Levels and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Chinese Children,” Environmental Health Perspectives 116, no. 10 (October 2008).
89. Braun et al., “Association of Environmental Toxicants and Conduct Disorder in U.S. Children,” NHANES 2001-2004 116, no. 7 (July 2008).
90. Carol Joinson et al., “Psychological Difference Between Children With and Without Soiling Problems,” Pediatrics 117, no. 5 (May 2006): 1575-1584.
91. M.A. Benninga et al., “Colonic transit times and behaviour profiles in children with defecation disorders,” Archives of the Diseases of Childhood 89 (2004): 13-16.
92. JM Swanson et al., “Etiologic subtypes of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: brain imaging, molecular genetic and environmental factors and the dopamine hypothesis,” Neuropsychology Review 17, no. 1 (March 2007): 39-59.
93. Bistra B Nankova, “Nicotinic Induction of Preproenkephalin and Tyrosine Hydroxylase Gene Expression in Butyrate-Differentiated Rat PC12 Cells: A Model for Adaptation to Gut-Derived Environmental Signals,” Pediatric Research 53, no. 1 (January 2003): 113-118.
94. Pradeep Mally et al., “Stereospecific Regulation of Tyrosine Hydroxylase and Proenkephalin Genes by Short-Chain Fatty Acids in Rat PC12 Cells,” Pediatric Research 55, no. 5 (May 2004): 847-854.
The Epidemiological Evidence
1. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Obesity Prevalence,” The CDC, http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/childhood/prevalence.html (accessed January 10, 2009).
2. Mary Jo Stanley, RN MS, “Assessing Prevalence of Emotional and Behavioral Problems in Suspended Middle School Students,” The Journal of School Nursing 22 (2006): 40-47
3. “Rx for Behavior Problems in Pre-K,” Preschool Matters, A publication of the National Institute for Early Education Research 5 (November/December 2007).
4. Walter S. Gilliam, PhD, “Prekindergarteners Left Behind: Expulsion Rates in State Prekindergarten Programs,” Foundation for Child Development Policy Brief, Series No. 3 (May 2005).
5. Cathy Huanqing Qi et al., “Behavior Problems of Preschool Children From Low-Income Families: Review of the Literature,” Topics in Early Childhood Special Education 162 (June 2005).
6. Kenneth Bock, M.D, Healing the New Childhood Epidemics: Autism, ADHD, Asthma, and Allergies (New York: Ballantine Books, 2007).
7. National Center for Health Statistics 2006, The CDC, http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/asthma.htm (accessed January 10, 2009).
8. American Academy of Asthma, Allergy and Immunology, www.aaai.org (accessed January 10, 2009).
9. National Center For Health Statistics, The CDC, http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/asthma.htm (accessed January 10, 2009).
10. The American College of Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology, “Asthma Uncontrolled in 85% of Inner City Students,” American College of Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology Online (July 10, 2006) http://www.acaai.org/public/linkpages/AsthmaInnerCity.htm (accessed August 15, 2009).
11. The Centers for Disease Control, NCHS Data Brief No. 10,by Amy M. Branum et al., The CDC, National Center for Health Statistics (October 2007).
12. Elizabeth Lipski, Digestive Wellness (New York: McGraw Hill, 2004) 90.
13.National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, “Food Allergy: Report of the NIH Expert Panel on Food Allergy Research,” NIH, http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/topics/foodAllergy/research/ReportFoodAllergy.htp (accessed August 3, 2009).
14. The Centers for Disease Control, NCHS Data Brief No. 10,by Amy M. Branum et al., The CDC, National Center for Health Statistics (October 2007).
15. Phil Lieberman, MD and John A. Anderson, MD, Allergic Diseases (Totowa, NJ: Human Press, 2007), 272.
16. The Centers for Disease Control, “QuickStats: Percentage of Children Aged 5-17 Years Ever Having Diagnoses of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or Learning Disability (LD) by Sex and Diagnosis,” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly 54, no. 43(November 2005): 1107, http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5443a8.htm (accessed September 9, 2009).
17. Lynn Waterhouse, “Autism Overflows: Increasing Prevalence and Proliferating Theories,” Neuropsychology Review 18 (2008) 273-286.
18. Sue Reid, “One child in 60 ‘suffers from a form of autism,’” The Daily Mail Online, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1163606/One-child-60-suffers-form-autism.html (accessed August 3, 2009).
19. Autism Research Institute, “Recently Released Data from the National Survey of Children’s Health Reports that Autism Now Affects 1% of Children and is More Common Than Children’s Cancer, Diabetes, and AIDS combined,” Reuters, August 3, 2009 (accessed August 3, 2009).
20. Autism Research Institute, ARI Calls for Immediate Federal Response to New Autism Figures – Oct. ’09 (October 2009) http://www.autism.com (accessed October 6, 2009).
21. National Institutes of Mental Health, ADHD Booklet (2003) http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder/adhd_booklet.pdf (accessed March 11, 2009); William E. Pelham PhD, et al., “The Economic Impact of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Children and Adolescents,” Ambulatory Pediatrics (January/February 2007): 1.
22. Melissa A Brotman et al., “Prevalence, clinical correlates, and longitudinal course of severe mood dysregulation in children,” Biological Psychiatry 60, no. 9 (2006): 991-997.
23. S. Sutton Hamilton et al., “Oppositional Defiant Disorder,” American Family Physician, 78, no. 7 (October 2008): 861-866.
24. Natasha Campbell McBride, “GAPS, the Gut and Psychology Syndrome” (lecture, The Weston A. Price Foundation, Wise Traditions Conference, San Francisco, CA, November 8, 2008).
25. Carlos Blanco MD et al., “Mental Health of College Students and Their Non–College-Attending Peers: Results From the National Epidemiologic Study on Alcohol and Related Conditions,” Archives of General Psychiatry 65, no. 12 (2008): 1429-1437.
26. Tanya E. Froehlich, MD et al., “Prevalence, Recognition, and Treatment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in a National Sample of US Children,” Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine 161, no. 9 (2007): 857-864.
27. William E. Pelham PhD, et al., “The Economic Impact of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Children and Adolescents,” Ambulatory Pediatrics (January/February 2007).
28. Donna Jackson Nakazawa, The Autoimmune Epidemic (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2008).
29. C. Jakobsen, “Incidence of ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease in Danish children: Still rising or leveling out?” Journal of Crohn’s & Colitis 2 (June 2008): 152-157; Johan van Limbergen et al., “A detailed investigation into epidemiological risk factors for childhood onset inflammatory bowel disease in Scotland,” Gastroenterology 134, no. 4 (2008): A189.
30. Children’s Digestive Health and Nutrition Foundation, “Pediatric Celiac Disease” www.celiachealth.org (accessed March 11, 2009).
31. MSNBC, “Celiac disease cases quadruple in the United States,” Reuters. July 10, 2009, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31852701/ns/health-diet_and_nutrition/ (accessed July 11, 2009).
32. William E. Pelham PhD, et al., “The Economic Impact of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Children and Adolescents,” Ambulatory Pediatrics (January/February 2007).
33. Michael L. Ganz, “The lifetime distribution of incremental societal costs of autism,” Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine 161 (2007): 343-349.
34. Fighting Autism, “U.S. Annual Economic Cost,” www.fightingautism.org (accessed August 30, 2009).
35. The Autism Society of America, “Facts and Statistics,” http://www.autism-society.org/site/PageServer?pagename=asa_media_home (accessed August 30, 2009).
36. The National Autistic Society, “Employment,” http://www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=1937 (accessed August 28, 2009).
37. E. Michael Foster et al., “The High Costs of Aggression: Public Expenditures Resulting From Conduct Disorder,” American Journal of Public Health 95, no. 10 (October 2005): 1767.
38. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Autism Information Center,” http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/faq_prevalence.htm (accessed March 5, 2009).
39. Chris Plauché Johnson, MD et al., “Identification and Evaluation of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders,” Pediatrics 120, no. 5 (November 2007).
40. PT Shattuck, “The Contribution of Diagnostic Substitution to the Growing Administrative Prevalence of Autism in US Special Education,” Pediatrics 117, no. 4 (April 2006): 1028-1037.
41. Jacquelyn Bertrand, “Prevalence of Autism in a United States Population: The Brick Township, New Jersey, Investigation” Pediatrics 108, no. 5 (November 2001): 1155-116;
42. Irva Hertz-Picciotto and Lora Delwiche, “The Rise in Autism and the Role of Age at Diagnosis,” Epidemiology 20, no. 1 (January 2009): 84-90.
43. Mark Blaxill, “What’s Going On? The Question of Time Trends in Autism,” Public Health Reports 119, no. 5 (November 2004): 536 -352.
44. Thoughtful House Center for Children, “Autism Diagnostic Substitution,”
45. FightingAutism, Austin, TX, http://www.fightingautism.org/idea/autism-diagnostic-substitution.php (accessed February 16, 2009).
46. The American Academy of Pediatrics, “ADHD,” http://www.aap.org/publiced/br_adhd_faq.htm (accessed February 16, 2009).
47. Bruce P. Lanphear et al., “Increasing Prevalence of Recurrent Otitis Media Among Children in the United States,” Pediatrics 99, no. 3 (March 1997): e1.
48. Dr. Robyn Cosford, “Occult Infections, Streptococcus, Biofilms, PANDAS and MINDDD in Autism,” (lecture, Defeat Autism Now Conference, San Diego, CA, October 2008).
49. The American Academy of Microbiology, “Probiotic Microbes: The Scientific Basis,” American Society for Microbiology, http://academy.asm.org/images/stories/documents/probioticmicrobesfull.pdf (accessed, March 14, 2009).
Overuse of Medication/Pharmaceuticals
1. Maggie Mahar, Money Driven Medicine (New York: Collins, 2006).
2. Jason A. Hawrelak et al., “The Causes of Intestinal Dysbiosis: A Review,” Alternative Medicine Review 9, no. 2 (2004).
3. Union of Concerned Scientists, Hogging It!: Estimates of Antimicrobial Abuse in Livestock (Cambridge, MA: Union of Concerned Scientists 2001) http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/food_and_agriculture/hog_chaps.pdf (accessed March 23, 2009).
4. Martin J. Blaser, “Who are we: Indigenous microbes and the ecology of human diseases,” European Molecular Biology Organization Report 7, no. 10 (2006).
5. Carl Erik Nord et al., “Effect of Tigecycline on Normal Oropharyngeal and Intestinal Microflora,” Antimicrobial Agents Chemotherapy 50, no. 10 (October 2006).
6. Carl Erik Nord and C Edlund, “Impact of antimicrobial agents on human intestinal microflora,” Journal of Chemotherapy 2 (1990): 218-237.
7. Williamson et al., “Consultations for middle ear disease, antibiotic prescribing and risk factors for reattendance: a case-linked cohort study,” British Journal of General Practice 56, no. 524 (March 2006): 170-175.
8. MJ Benotti et al., “Pharmaceuticals and endocrine disrupting compounds in U.S. drinking water,” Environmental Science Technology 43, no. 3 (February 2009): 597-603.
9. David L. Smith et al., “Agricultural Antibiotics and Human Health,” PLoS Medicine 2, no. 8 (August 2005).
10. Jeremy K. Nicholson et al., “Gut Microorganisms, mammalian metabolism and personalized health care,” Nature Reviews Microbiology 3 (April 2005).
11. Jack Challem, The Inflammation Syndrome (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley and Son, 2003).
12. D. Adebayo and I. Bjarnason, “Is non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) enteropathy clinically more important than NSAID gastropathy?” Postgraduate Medical Journal 82, no. 965 (March 2006): 186-191.
13. Simon Smale & Ingvar Bjarnason, “Determining small bowel integrity following drug treatment,” British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology 56 (2003): 284-291.
14. Mohammed A. S. Alem and L. Julia Douglas, “Effects of Aspirin and Other Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs on Biofilms and Planktonic Cells of Candida albicans,” Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy 48, no. 1 (January 2004).
15. JM Hassing et al., “Acetaminophen-induced glutathione depletion in diabetic rats,” Research Communications Chemical Pathology and Pharmacology 25, no. 1 (July 1979): 3-11.
16. “Autistic children’s abnormal metabolic profile findings,” Medical News Today April 3, 2005, http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/22178.php (accessed August 25, 2009)
17. James, S. Jill et al. 2004. Metabolic biomakers of increased oxidative stress and impaired methylation capacity in children with autism. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 80, no. 6 (December): 1611-1617.
18. Sidney MacDonald Baker, “Canaries and Miners,” Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine 14 no. 6 (November/December 2008): 24-26.
19. ST Schultz et al., “Acetaminophen (paracetamol) use, measles-mumps-rubella vaccination, and autistic disorder: the results of a parent survey,” Autism 12, no. 3 (May 2008): 293-307.
20. S. Maraki et al., “Ceftriaxone and dexamethasone affecting yeast gut flora in experimental mice,” Journal of Chemotherapy 11, no. 5 (October 1999): 363-6
21. L. Arruvito et al., “NK cells expressing progesterone receptor are susceptible to progesterone-induced apoptosis,” Journal of Immunology 180, no. 8 (April 2008): 5746-53.
22. Margaret J. Lesmeister et al., “17beta-estradiol suppresses TLR3-induced cytokine and chemokine production in endometrial epithelial cells,” Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology 3 (2005).
23. Spinillo., “The impact of oral contraception on vulvovaginal candidiasis,” Contraception 51, no. 5 (1995): 293-297.
24. Natasha Campbell-McBride, Gut and Psychology Syndrome (Cambridge: Medinform Publishing, 2004): 34.
25. BJ Vesper., “The effect of proton pump inhibitors on the human microbiota,” Current Drug Metabolism 10, no. 1 (January 2009): 84-9.
26. Usha Stiefel et al., “Suppression of Gastric Acid Production by Proton Pump Inhibitor Treatment Facilitates Colonization of the Large Intestine by Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococcus spp. And Klebsiella pneumoniae in Clindamycin-Treated Mice,” Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy 50, no. 11 (November 2006): 3905-3907.
27. “Children’s Aching Stomachs: New Research Finds Young Children Are Increasingly Using Medications to Treat Gastrointestinal Ailments,” PR Newswire (4 October, 2007) http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1089416/childrens_aching_stomachs_new_research_finds_young_children_are_increasingly/index.html (accessed March 26, 2009).
28. Milton Silverman and Philip R. Lee, Pills, Profits, and Politics (Berkeley: University of California Press,1974) 6.
29. Government Accounting Office, Prescription Drugs: Improvements Needed in FDA’s Oversight of Direct-to-Consumer Advertising, GAO report number GAO-07-54 http://www.gao.gov/htext/d0754.html (accessed March 26, 2009).
30. John Abramson, MD, Overdosed America: The Broken Promise of American Medicine (New York: Harpers Collins, 2004).
Immunization
1. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program Statistics Report, April 3, 2009, http://www.hrsa.gov/vaccinecompensation/statistics_report.htm (accessed April 3, 2009).
2. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program—Omnibus Autism Proceeding, http://www.hrsa.gov/vaccinecompensation/omnibusproceeding.htm (accessed April 3, 2009).
3. Alberto Eugenio Tozzi et al., “Neuropsychological Performance 10 Years After Immunization in Infancy With Thimerosal-Containing Vaccines,” Pediatrics 123, no. 2 (February 2009): 475-482.
4. “Vaccine case draws new attention to autism debate,” CNNhealth.com http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/03/06/vaccines.autism/index.html (accessed August 22, 2009).
5. Generation Rescue, “Fourteen Studies,” www.fourteenstudies.org (accessed April 14, 2009).
6. Dr. Bernadine Healy, “The Vaccines-Autism War: Détente Needed,” U.S. News and World Report http://health.usnews.com/blogs/heart-to-heart/2009/04/14/the-vaccines-autism-war-dtente-needed.html (accessed April 14, 2009).
7. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, “Recommended Childhood Immunization Schedule,” Centers for Disease Control, www.cdc.gov/nip/acip (accessed April 14, 2009).
8. Generation Rescue, “Autism and Vaccines around the World: Vaccine Schedules, Autism Rates, and Under 5 Mortality,” http://www.generationrescue.org/documents/SPECIAL%20REPORT%20AUTISM%202.pdf (accessed April 14, 2009).
9. Dr. Sherri Tenpenny, Saying No to Vaccines, (Cleveland, OH: NMA Media Press, 2008).
10. Deirdre Imus, Growing Up Green: Baby and Childcare, (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2008).
11. Daniel P. Stites et al., Medical Immunology (Stamford, CT: Appleton & Lange, 1997) 75.
12. Julie Rowe et al., “Th2-Associated Local Reactions to the Accellular Diphtheria-Tetanus-Pertussis Vaccine in 4-to 6-Year-Old Children,” Infectious Immunology 73, no. 12 (December 2005): 8130-8135.
13. Jessica Strid et al., “Epicutaneous immunization converts subsequent and established antigen-specific T helper type 1 (Th1) to Th2-type responses,” Immunology 119, no. 1 (September 2006): 27-35.
14. Mansour Mohamadzadeh et al., “Lactobacilli activate human dendritic cells that skew T cells toward T helper polarization,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 102, no. 8 (February 2005): 2880-2885.
15. Laura M’Rabet et al., “Breast-feeding and its role in early development of the immune system in infants: consequences for health later in life,” The Journal of Nutrition 138, no. 9 (September 2008).
16. Dr. Kenneth Bock, Healing the New Childhood Epidemics: Autism, ADHD, Asthma, and Allergies (New York: Ballantine Books, 2007).
17. Arthur Allen, Vaccine: The Controversial Story of Medicine’s Greatest Lifesaver (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2007).
18. E. Fuenzalida et al., “Antirabies Antibody Response in Main to Vaccine Made from Infected Suckling-Mouse Brains,” Bulletin of The World Health Organization 30 (1964): 431-436.
19. Itzchak Samina et al., “An inactivated West Nile virus vaccine for domestic geese-efficacy study and a summary of 4 years of field application,” Vaccine 23, no. 41 (September 2005): 4955-4958.
20. Neil Z. Miller, Vaccine Safety Manual: For Concerned Families and Health Practitioners (Santa Fe, NM: New Atlantean Press, 2003).
21. Marc Fischer et al., “Promise of new Japanese encephalitis vaccines,” The Lancet 370, no 9602 (December 2007): 1806.
22. Etsuo Ohtaki et al., “Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis after treatment with Japanese B encephalitis vaccine (Nakayama-Yoken and Beijing strains),” Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry 59 (September 1995): 316-317.
23. Arthur M. Silverstein, Pure Politics and Impure Science: The Swine Flu Affair (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1981): 116-123.
24. Sherri Tenpenny, “Gardasil and the History of Mandatory Vaccination,” (lecture, Integrative Healthcare Symposium, New York City, February 20, 2009).
25. Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, http://vaers.hhs.gov/ (accessed February 27, 2009).
26. Anabel Aharon-Maor and Yehuda Shoenfeld, “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Vaccination,” Israel Medical Association Journal 2 (2000): 225-227.
27. JF de Carvalho and Y. Shoenfeld, “Status epilepticus and lymphocytic pneumonitis following hepatitis B vaccination,” European Journal of Internal Medicine 19, no. 5 (July 2008): 383-5.
28. Havarinasab S et al., “Immunosuppressive and autoimmune effects of thimerosal in mice,” Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology 204 (2005): 109-12.
29. Anshu Agrawal et al., “Thimerosal induces Th2 responses via influencing cytokine secretion by human dendritic cells,” Journal of Leukocyte Biology 81 (2007): 474-482.
30. Yann Mikaeloff MD, PhD et al., “Hepatitis B Vaccine and the risk of CNS inflammatory demyelination in childhood,” Neurology 72 (March 2009): 873-880.
31. François-Jérôme Authier, MD, PhD, et al., “Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in Patients with Macrophagic Myofasciitis,” Arthritis and Rheumatism 48, no. 2 (February 2003): 569-572.
32. RK Gherardi, “Lessons from macrophagic myofasciitis: towards definition of a vaccine adjuvant-related syndrome,” Revue Neurologique (Paris) 159, no. 2 (February 2003): 162-4.
33. KL McDonald et al., “Delay in diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus vaccination is associated with a reduced risk of childhood asthma,” Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 121, no 3 (March 2008): 626-31.
34. Y Kuroda et al., “Autoimmunity induced by adjuvant hydrocarbon oil components of vaccine,” Biomedicine and Pharmacotherapy 58, no 5, (June 2004): 325-37.
35. Barbro C. Carlson et al., “The Endogenous Adjuvant Squalene Can Induce a Chronic T-Cell Mediated Arthritis in Rats,” The American Journal of Pathology 156 (2000): 22057-2065.
36. Yehuda Shoenfeld and Noel R. Rose, ed., Infection and Autoimmunity (Amsterdam: Elsevier Science, 2004): 87-105.
37. Autoimmune Technologies, “Gulf War Syndrome: Anti-Squalene Antibodies Link Gulf War Syndrome to Anthrax Vaccine,” www.autoimmune.come/GWSGen.html (accessed August 22, 2009).
38. BD Poole et al., “Lupus-like autoantibody development in rabbits and mice after immunization with EBNA-1 fragments,” Journal of Autoimmunity 31, no. 4 (December 2008): 362-71.
39. BD Poole et al., “Epstein-Barr virus and molecular mimicry in systemic lupus erythematosus,” Autoimmunity 39, no. 1 (February 2006): 63-70.
40. Carolyn Gallagher and Melody Goodman, “Hepatitis B triple series vaccine and developmental disability in US children aged 1-9 years,” Toxicological & Environmental Chemistry 90, no. 5 (September/October 2008): 997-1008.
41. Laura Hewitson et al., “Delayed acquisition of neonatal reflexes in newborn primates receiving a thimerosal-containing hepatitis B vaccine: influence of gestational age and birth weight,” NeuroToxicology 31 no. 5 (October 2009).
42. CM Gallagher et al., “Hepatitis B vaccination of male neonates and autism,” Annals of Epidemiology 19 no. 9 (September 2009) 659.
43. Generation Rescue, “Cal-Oregon Vaccinated vs. Unvaccinated Study,” http://www.generationrescue.org/survey.html (accessed May 3, 2009).
44. Dan Olmstead, “The Age of Autism: ‘A pretty big secret’” UPI (December 7, 2005) http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2005/12/07/The-Age-of-Autism-A-pretty-big-secret/UPI-68291133982531/ (accessed May 3, 2009).
45. M-M-R II (Measles, Mumps, and Rubella Virus Vaccine Live) Prescribing Information, http://www.merck.com/product/usa/pi_circulars/m/mmr_ii/mmr_ii_pi.pdf (accessed May 3, 2009).
46. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “Guide to Vaccine Contraindications and Precautions,” http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/recs/vac-admin/downloads/contraindications-guide-508.pdf (accessed May 3, 2009).
47. Paul Ashwood et al., “The immune response in autism: a new frontier for autism research,” Journal of Leukocyte Biology 80, no. 1 (July 2006): 1-15.
48. Luke Heuer et al., “Reduced Levels of Immunoglobulin in Children with Autism Correlates With Behavioral Symptoms,” Autism Research 1, no. 5 (October 2008): 275-283.
49. Bitnun et al., “Measles inclusion-body encephalitis caused by the vaccine strain of measles virus,” Clinical Infectious Diseases 29, no. 4 (1999): 855-61.
50. Andrew J. Wakefield et al., “MMR vaccination and autism,” Lancet 354, no. 9182 (September 1999): 949-50
51. Mireille T.M. Vossen et al.,“Persistent Detection of Varicella-Zoster Virus DNA in a Previously Healthy Child after Severe Chickenpox,” Journal of Clinical Microbiology 43, no. 11 (November 2005): 5614-5621.
52. Henk Van Loveren et al., “Vaccine-Induced Antibody Responses as Parameters of the Influence of Endogenous and Environmental Factors,” Environmental Health Perspectives 109 (2001): 757-764.
53. Laura M’Rabet et al., “Breast-feeding and its role in early development of the immune system in infants: consequences for health later in life,” The Journal of Nutrition 138, no. 9 (September 2008).
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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.
Although there are many environmental factors that contribute to chronic illness in children, one of the most important outcomes of all these environmental influences is a dysregulated immune system. A dysregulated immune system simply means that an individual’s immune system is not working properly. Here are some examples of what happens when an immune system malfunctions:
The immune system is how the body defends itself from harmful substances in the environment. A dysregulated (or dysfunctional) immune system is unable to protect a body from harmful environmental influences and it can unleash a cascade of harmful effects upon the body.
Many of our children live with chronic infections in their ears, sinuses, and gastrointestinal systems, yet because their immune systems are dysregulated, they are unable to effectively “kick out” these infections.
More often than not, we do not even know that they have these infections because they do not show up on any conventional medical tests, and the early signs associated with these infections can be subtle and easily confused for some other medical or mental health problem.
When a body lives in a state of chronic infection, a whole cascade of physiological problems can unfold.
For example, immune dysregulation can lead to chronic inflammation which can destroy cells and tissues in all parts of the body (including the brain, liver, pancreas, lungs, and kidneys). Chronic immune stimulation can lead to mitochondrial dysfunction.
Immune dysregulation can be caused by a number of factors including gut dysbiosis, exposure to environmental toxins and heavy metals, high levels of exposure to electromagentic radiation, or excessive or improperly administered vaccinations. Read more about the causes of immune dysregulation here.
But there is more than just immune dysregulation going on in our children’s bodies. . .
Gut dysbiosis is a serious problem for most children with chronic illness.
Learn about Gut Dysbiosis and how it can impact the body.
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.
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