Can autism be cured?

You might have been told that there are no known cause and no known treatments (except for maybe some behavioural therapy) for autism…

Is that true? Can there be no other way?

But before that, is the commonly accepted definition of autism even right? Find out more below:

Autism is commonly defined as a neurodevelopmental disorder which means that it is an impairment of the growth and development of the brain or central nervous system.

However what if this wasn’t the case?

What if instead it is a systemic disorder that involves the brain, gut and immune system.

These 3 systems are very much interdependent and require one another to be in balance. Especially during the crucial developmental stage of your child’s life, these systems are very sensitive and susceptible to oxidative stress.

Based newer research and studies conducted, there are reasons to believe that autism is a genetically-influenced and environmentally-triggered disease of the brain and body that involves several vicious cycles and is potentially treatable.

What are these vicious cycles?

They represent problems in your child’s gut (with digestion, absorption, etc); problems in your child’s immune system (with allergies, inflammation, frequent infections, etc); problems in your child’s detoxification system (with an inability to remove germs, toxic chemicals, heavy metals from their systems), which results in excessive oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction.

Rather than a single cause, it’ll be much more realistic to look at a couple of factors. These are:

1. Genetic susceptibility
2. Repeated exposure to toxins (toxins from the environment and food, exposure to antibiotics, either in the womb or as an infant/child)
3. Nutritional deterioration from our modern and increasingly processed diet
4. Metabolic dysfunction which causes a decrease in your child’s ability to detoxify. Hence they’re more susceptible to toxins. This includes increased oxidative stress, glutathione depletion as well as mitochondrial dysfunction.

These factors when present together during your child’s crucial developmental years potentially manifest into autism which affects your child’s brain development, gut and immune system.

1. Heal the gut

Your digestive system is supposedly your body’s source of nourishment and nutrients. However when your child has gut/digestive problems, it instead becomes a major source of toxicity in their body.

So not only are they deprived of vital nutrients for the proper development and functioning, they are at the same time being bombarded with more toxins (leaked into the bloodstream from the gut, etc)

This primarily involves changing your child’s diet:

• Have a diet free from processed, refined foods, preservatives, additives and added sugar
• Remove gluten and other food allergens from your child’s diet
• Replenish their gut’s healthy bacteria with pre and probiotics
• Consider enzyme supplementation to help your child with his/her digestion

2. Avoid or minimise exposure to what harms

Reduce your child’s exposure to environmental toxins such as heavy metals (lead, aluminum, arsenic, cadmium, mercury), solvents (alcohol, chlorine, benzene) and industrial chemicals (PCBs, pesticides, herbicides). Click HERE for tips on detoxing your house.

Go for organic produce and meat as much as possible (especially when eating these).

3. Replace missing nutrients so healing can begin.

Here are some that you might want to consider:

• Omega 3 fatty acids to support brain health
• Vitamin B6 and magnesium
• Glutathione supplementation to help with detoxification, oxidative stress, optimising immune system and mitochondrial health
• Antioxidants (Vitamins A, C, D, E)
• CoQ10 to support mitochondrial function

Best is to do a blood or urine test for any nutritional deficiency. That way, you can customise the supplementation to suit your child’s needs.