Who can benefit from biomedical treatment?
Children with a diagnosis or suspected diagnosis of:
Autism Spectrum Disorder
PDD / PDD-NOS
Asperger’s Syndrome
AD/HD, ADD, AD/HD
LDs including dyslexia
Apraxia and Dyspraxia
Childhood Disintegrative Disorder
Fragile X, ACC, Rett Syndrome
Global Developmental Delay
Speech language delay
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Tourette syndrome
Anxiety and Mood disorders
Do you have more questions about biomedical treatment for your child?
Contact Dr. Doherty at info@treatautism.ca
B12 and Methylation
What is Methyl-B12 (MB12)?
B12 (cobalamin) is a vitamin “family” with five unique family members that each do different things. Out of the B12 family, only methyl-B12 has the ability to activate the methionine/homocysteine biochemical pathway directly which results in more “fuel” to the brain.
MB12 works with folic acid to make all the cells in the body. It plays a key role in METHYLATION. Methylation makes ALL of the cells in our body. It is the process of adding genetic material to cells. After conception, the cells in the womb that will later become the fetus are DEMETHYLATED. The process of development depends on methylation.
Increasing evidence is revealing the role of methylation in the interaction of environmental factors with genetic expression. Differences in maternal care during the first 6 days of life in a mammal can cause different methylation patterns in some genes. Methylation has also been shown to impact inflammation after a child leaves the womb.
Methylation is responsible for:
- RNA and DNA (genetic material responsible for every function in the body)
- Immune system regulation
- Detoxification of heavy metals and other harmful substances
- Making GLUTATHIONE (the body’s main detoxification enzyme responsible for removing mercury, lead, cadmium, arsenic, nickel, tin, aluminum and antimony)
- Production and function of proteins
- Regulating inflammation
What connects MB12, methylation, glutathione and ASD?
Short answer:
Dr. S. Jill James (who has recently received a NIH - National Institute of Health - grant for her research) has shown that children with ASD have impaired methylation and decreased levels of glutathione. Supporting and/or repairing the underlying impairment and deficiency translates into INCREASED LANGUAGE, SOCIAL AND COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT.
Long answer:
Dr. S. Jill James has also shown that children with ASD have 40% less glutathione in their cells and that 90% of children have defects in their methylation. This means that children with autism cannot effectively fuel the brain and detoxify heavy metals and other harmful substances from their system.
The brain is the only part of the body that has depends entirely on MB12 to detoxify. As the the brain is over-burdened with toxic substances, the “wheels” of methylation slow, severely impacting development.
MB12 works closely with folic acid. A precursor folic acid molecule must interact with the enzyme MTHFR (methylenetetrahydrofolic acid) to become 5-methyltetrahydrofolic acid (5-MTHF).
5-MTHF gives the methyl group (the “M” part) to B12 so it can become MB12. Unfortunately, many children have a defect in this enzyme. In a recent study byDr. S. Jill James, 90% of children with ASD were found to have methylation defects.
*In my practice, 92% of children have benefited from MB12 treatment*
What are the benefits of MB12 treatment?
Enhancement in executive function:
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Awareness
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Cognition
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Appropriateness
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Eye contact
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Responsiveness
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Normalized behaviours and interaction
Promotion of speech and language
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Spontaneous language
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More complex sentences
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Increased vocabulary
Improvements in socialization, understanding and expressing emotion
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Initiation and interactive play
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Understanding and feeling emotions
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Affection and tolerance to touch
Side effects to MB12 treatment are not uncommon and include:
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Hyperactivity
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Self Stimulating Behaviour
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Increased mouthing of objects
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Sleep disturbances – which can be managed with other treatments
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Aggression, hitting and biting - caused by frustration due to increased awareness
*Side effects can be mild to severe and are considered transient which means they will pass as treatment progresses*
MB12 is a treatment, not a cure. However, many children using MB12 combined with other biomedical and non-biomedical therapies make incredible developmental gains and in a small percentage of children, have had their ASD label removed.
Parents must understand that the maximum results from MB12 therapy occur over years, not months, not weeks. Initial results will be obvious within the first 3-5 week period of time; but MB12’s power is in continued use.
Why is MB12 most effective when injected into the bum?
According to Dr. Neubrander (www.drneubrander.com), “Only the subcutaneous injectable route of administration into the adipose tissue of the buttocks will produce the remarkable results parents want to see!”
All forms of administration work to some degree, and some better than others. Injection has been shown to be, by far, the most effective route of administration. It is through injection that the most dramatic strides in development are seen.
MB12 injection into the buttocks area allows MB12 to surround the cells and stay in the system continually. Oral, transdermal or intranasal forms cause the MB12 levels to fluctuate up and down.
All cobalamins are absorbed in the last portion of the small intestine, the terminal ileum. Dr. Wakefield and Dr. Krigsman and Dr. Buie have shown through their research that an extremely high percentage of children on the autistic spectrum have an inflammatory bowel condition that affects this region of the intestinal tract. This makes injection a better choice than depending on the digestive tract for absorption.
Why is it important to fill out the Parent Designed Report Form?
From 136 possible responses, approximately 50% of parents report more than 28 positive or positive-negative responses while the remaining 50% of parents report fewer than 28 responses.
Children scoring greater than 28 responses have an excellent long-term prognosis , while children scoring fewer than 28 responses may have a good prognosis , though the prognosis is guarded and only accurately evaluated after adequate time has elapsed to compare those children’s progress to their peers.
It is the number of responses that is important, not the intensity of response.
What is biomedical treatment?
Biomedical treatment of autism spectrum disorder takes a functional approach to treatment. Functional medicine treats the individual by assessing underlying impairments in each person’s system. Biomedical treatment includes thorough assessment through medical history, family history, review of systems and laboratory testing. Benefits of alternative treatment of autism include enhancement in language, social and cognitive development as well as addressing physical complaints such as:
- Chronic diarrhea or constipation
- Sleep disturbances
- Eczema and rashes
- Behaviour (self-stimulating , aggression and self-injurious)
- Frequent illness or immune dysregulation
Individualized treatment for autism is not only based on the most recent research, it is based on ground breaking research that is changing the way developmental delay is perceived by the medical community. Mounting evidence is showing that ASD, like other developmental disorders, is biological in nature. The long held belief that autism is a mental health issue is being challenged based on physical findings such as immune dysregulation, elevated heavy metal and/or toxic load, inflammation, enzyme dysfunction, dysbiosis or microbe imbalance in the gut, nutrient deficiencies and altered neurotransmitter biochemistry (chemicals that regulate brain function).
While biomedical treatment is not considered mainstream treatment for ASD, thousands of children have benefited dramatically. I have seen tremendous success in the over 200 children that I have treated on the autism spectrum. Biomedical treatment does not help every child but it has the potential to help the majority of children with ASD.