Wednesday, August 28, 2024

MORE SUNSHINE LESS AUTISM?



LINK to online version

According to the Centers for Disease Control, 1 in 36 children in the U.S. are diagnosed with autism, an increase of 317% since 2000, with boys 4 times more likely to be diagnosed than girls.

The CDC notes a variety of possible causes including better detection, more screening, and the expansion of the diagnosis to include a “spectrum” of behaviors. But the cause that stands out to me is: “Environmental factors, such as air pollution, viral infections, vitamin D deficiencies, gut inflammation, and exposure to toxic chemicals.”

I know that I am out of my lane writing about this issue since I am not a medical or mental health authority. However, I am a father of two sons, both of whom are now adults, and both of whom have been living with autism since their childhoods. So I’ve been researching causes and cures for most of their lives.

Certainly, better detection has led to an increase in diagnoses, but 1 in 36 and an increase that gets exponentially steeper every year? No. Something else is going on, and I choose to believe it’s environmental. If nothing else, it’s the one thing I can do something about, at least for my own children.

As an aside, I’m not going to go down the vaccine rabbit hole, however, I believe no stone should be left unturned, and vaccines, or at least the increase in the number of vaccines (now more than 50 by age 18) as well as the increase in the number of shots per visit, should be studied as environmental factors.

It would seem to me if we are going to “follow the science,” then we should examine environmental factors apart from other factors and look for things which demonstrate a similar rate of increase and at least begin with a correlation.

Two environmental factors which caught my attention - probably because they are two things I can do something about - are Vitamin D deficiencies and gut inflammation.

As we know, Vitamin D, the best kind, is made in our skin via sunlight. And there is no question that children today, especially in the United States where autism rates are the highest in the world, have, for a couple of decades now, become an increasingly indoor population. In fact, we all have.

We can attribute much of our children’s preference for indoors to video games and the like, however, there is also the fact that sunlight has been demonized.

An initial google of the words “children” and “sunlight” and you will see the words “harmful UV rays” and “protect” in almost every first sentence. However, a deeper dive will turn up advice like this from Medical News Today:

“Of all the health benefits of sunlight, initiating the process of producing vitamin D in the body may be the best known. When UVB rays hit human skin, they interact with the 7-DHC protein there to produce vitamin D3.”

And there’s this for us older folks:

“Researchers have noted a link between exposure to the sun and lower blood pressure levels, with reduced death rates from cardiovascular issues.”

Moving on to “gut inflammation,” this is the one which most interests me since one of my sons also suffers with Crohn’s disease.

In researching my son’s conditions, I discovered that it is not uncommon for persons who suffer with autism, ADHD, and other “brain” conditions to also suffer gut issues, a fact which has given rise to the growing literature relative to the “gut-brain connection."

Recently, I came across articles about how low-carb, high (animal) fat diets showed promise in treating autism. Here’s some excerpts from “Ketogenic Diet for Autism: Is It Effective?” as posted at RainbowTherapy.org:

- A recent meta-analysis that considered both animal and human studies found promising evidence supporting the use of the ketogenic diet as a therapeutic option for autism spectrum disorder.

- The ketogenic diet has been found to have neuroprotective effects and may impact the core symptoms of autism through multiple mechanisms. One of these mechanisms is its anti-inflammatory effects.

- Emerging research suggests a connection between gut health and autism, and the ketogenic diet has shown potential in modulating the microbiota and promoting a healthier gut environment.

- The diet’s potential to positively impact cognitive function, inflammation levels, and behavioral regulation in individuals with ASD presents an exciting avenue for further exploration. 

I may explore this more in future columns. Meanwhile, let’s get our kids more sunshine and cut the carbs.

Tim Rohr has resided in Guam since 1987. He has raised a family of 11 children, owned several businesses, and is active in local issues via his blog, JungleWatch.info, letters to local publications, and occasional public appearances. He may be contacted at timrohr.guam@gmail.com   

3 comments:

  1. Or maybe autism in USA has to do with the over 70 vaccines babies get in their first years of life.
    I don't believe God intended the human body to be injected with synthetic chemicals.

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    1. You are correct. I noted the outrageous number of injections a kid has to get by the time he or she is 18. I also noted the number of injections per doctor visit a kid will get now. In 2002 I had a perfectly normal and lovely 4 year old son. At a doctor visit he got 6 injections. 2 in each leg and one in each arm. I had never seen that before and was alarmed. My wife was the one who usually took the kids for the medical stuff and when I expressed alarm she told me that's just what they do now. I knew something was very wrong. Within a few weeks my son stopped speaking and started spinning in circles. He continued to go downhill from there.

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    2. I am sorry to hear that, it is thanks to people like you who have shared their experiences that made me decide not to get any of my children vaccinated!

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