AUTISM: THE ULTIMATE ALLERGY?

We keep hearing about how allergies are on the increase. Allergies to dust, pollen, pets, grass, seasons, even the sun – the source of all life. Allergies to food are even greater, and more numerous, especially among children. Shift the focus to autism for a moment: Typically when children are diagnosed as such, the doctors will tell you that it is because their behavior displays a set of characteristics that match those of people on the Spectrum of Autistic Disorders (or ASD). These include but are not limited to hand-wringing, running up and down, lack of sustained eye contact, not turning to their name, making inappropriate noises and not using language at all. But there appears to be less interest in factors such as continuous diarrhea, consumption of non-food items, such as glue, stickers and that kid-friendly modeling dough. Children’s’ gut problems are often labeled “toddlers’ diarrhea”, or IBS in children, and parents are told that their child will grow out of it. Rather than looking for a possible link between autism and allergic reaction, research appears to focus on genetic causes. For instance, the medical world has hailed the revelation that children with autism often develop normally until 9 months or even up to age 2, and then appear to regress and deteriorate - regardless of whether or not the MMR vaccination is involved. Then there is the theory that children with autism are born with unusually small heads, and by the end of the first year of life, their head size has increased to be unusually large. This rapid head growth is a factor in the onset or appearance of subsequent autistic characteristics. But these determinations still only apply to approximately 10% of children on the spectrum.
Meanwhile it is becoming more apparent that an increasing number of children are allergic to some food product or another. Eggs, milk, soy, corn, chocolate, nuts, even celery. Reactions to these products vary from mild rash to stomach ache to anaphylactic shock that can kill. Newsweek addressed the issue of the growing allergy problem among our children (11/05/07). Approximately 11 million Americans suffer from one allergy or another, with most scientists agreeing that the numbers are climbing. Newsweek concentrated on the “hygiene hypothesis”, that says we have made our world too clean for children to cope with even the mildest bacterial obstacles. But as one reader pointed out in her response letter, it was surprising that the article never mentioned the link between food allergies and special education needs, specifically gluten and autism. The writer was a teacher who said it’s not a question of wanting to know, people in education NEED to know. Another respondent was intrigued that genetically modified foods didn’t come under the magazine’s microscope. How can we not see a link between what we do to our food chain and our environment, and the rising number of allergy sufferers?
If we are indeed dealing with an allergy epidemic, are we talking also about ADHD, and who knows how many other conditions that have so far usually been medicated rather than diet-challenged? Taking an even broader look at what we have done to our environment in say, just the last twenty years, we see a corresponding rise in brain diseases and nervous afflictions. Cancers of all kinds, Parkinsons, Alzheimers – the medical conundrums of our day. Can it really be coincidence or is it just possible that the human body has more allergic reactions to poisons than we have realized? These are the pressing questions that appear to deserve time and attention from the medical research community, who seem focused on finding the genetic link to autism and other conditions above all else.