Posted by Alamo Joe on January 20, 2006 at 16:39:45:

More on regressive autism

I went to a lecture on the medical problems in autistic children. One boy was repeatedly hitting his forehead with the heel of his hand and had been diagnosed with colitis. Removal of his huge tonsils and adenoids resulting in elimination of both problems. The way I see it the tonsils and adenoids caused so much airway resistance the the boy had sleep apnea. The boy hit his head because he had an apnea headache. Treating sleep apnea treats colitis. (It worked for me. I posted my conclusion on ‘sleepnet’. One person reported that CPAP sent colitis into remission and another reported that CPAP treated irritable bowel syndrome.)

In my opinion sleep apnea bruises the intestines causing a change in function. (The diaphragm works harder during an apnea.)

Some of you are thinking that the pancreas could be injured by the diaphragm. I agree. One paper reports that the greater the RDI the higher the prevalence of diabetes. Many papers report that apnea is an independent factor in diabetes.

What about gestational diabetes? When the bulk of the fetus is sufficiently large it can limit the excursion of the diaphragm causing apnea. Most women recover from gestational diabetes after giving birth. It takes some time and i presume it is the time required for the pancreas to recover from the beating

In addition to parents reporting that their child became autistic following MMR vaccination, other parents blame the DpT vaccination. I have reworked my etiology of regressive autism.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I have been researching the cause of regressive autism. The result of my investigation is below. The work is in three sections: 1) The general etiology of regressive autism, 2) The specific points which relate to the etiology of the regressive autism epidemic and 3) Information on associated matters. I would appreciate any comments to help solve the problem of regressive autism.

General etiology of regressive autism

1) Respiratory systems marginal with respect to obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are a factor in regressive autism. (Premature infants, those with airway birth defects and those who were bottle fed.) (Bottle feeding alters skull shape predisposing the individual to OSA. (Palmer))

2) Exposure to a cause of nasal congestion (Corey)

3) OSA is initiated by nasal congestion. (Corey)

4) Low blood oxygen levels of OSA cause hypoxia (Guilleminault)

5) Hypoxia underlies brain injury by causing demyelination (hypoxia)

Understanding OSA
Some pertinent knowledge of OSA will facilitate understand some points of the etiology. A very simplified explanation of OSA:

If respiratory drive is insufficient to overcome airway resistance to airflow and airway collapsibility the result is airway obstruction and OSA.

During apnea respiratory events the diaphragm makes repeated attempts at increased effort to overcome the obstruction. The extra effort can be 10 to 15 times normal as measured at the lower esophagus. (Guilleminault) In addition, at the end of an apnea, the diaphragm suddenly relaxes. In relaxation the diaphragm returns to its inverted cup shape. This causes a rapid expulsion of air which sounds like a ‘snort’.

Specifics of the etiology of the regressive autism epidemic

Step 1) Respiratory systems marginal with respect to obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) (Premature infants, those with airway birth defects and those who were bottle fed.) (Bottle feeding alters skull shape predisposing the individual to OSA. (Palmer)) Bottle feeding as the primary factor in marginal respiratory systems is consistent with “… early weaning may contribute to the etiology of infantile autism.” (Tanoue)

Step 2) Exposure to a cause of nasal congestion. “… common clinical syndromes that cause nasal congestion are allergic rhinitis, vasomotor rhinitis, chronic sinusitis, and upper respiratory viral infections (common colds).” (Corey) Although a group which is based on allergy induced autism exists in the UK,. in my opinion upper respiratory viral infections associated with vaccines (Measles in MMR and pertussis in DpT) are the primary cause of nasal congestion in the etiology of regressive autism. Singh has reported to a Congressional committee that 52% of the parents with autistic children stated that the child started regressing following the MMR shot while 33% stated that the regression started following the DpT shot.

Step 3) Nasal congestion initiates OSA (Corey) The nasal congestion increases the airway resistance. (DpT has caused apnea in premature infants (Sen) reinforces ‘Corey’.)

Step 4) Low blood oxygen levels of OSA cause hypoxia (Guilleminault) Supplemental information is unnecessary.

5) Hypoxia underlies brain injury by causing demyelination (hypoxia) Supplemental information is unneeded.

Associated information:

Skull distortion
The high palates of sleep apnea patients (Kushida) is consistent with the skull distortion mentioned by Palmer.

Bottle feeding
Reinforcing the Palmer and Tanoue papers on bottle feeding in autism, disorders comorbid with regressive autism; reflux (Beaudry), diarrhea (Beaudry) and ear infections (Duncan), are a risk for infants who have been bottle fed.

The reduced cognitive ability in bottle fed children (Cognitive) is consistent with autism.

Further consequences of OSA in autism
In addition to causing autism, OSA can cause reflux (Herr, 2001), diarrhea ((IBS) Herr, 2002) and ear infection (Herr, 2003). Thus regressive autism patients may also present with reflux, diarrhea and/or ear infections. Their etiology is identical to that of regressive autism for Step 1 through Step 3. Aspects of OSA different from low blood oxygen, such as apnea termination ‘snorts’ and violent diaphragm action, are the mechanisms causing ear infection, reflux and diarrhea.

Genetics in regressive autism
Regressive autism is considered to be genetic because it runs in families and if one child has autism there is a high probability that a sibling will be autistic. Bottle feeding is overlooked as a confounding factor.

Women who are pregnant for the first time usually consult with their husband or mother whether to breast feed or bottle feed. (LeFevre)

Children born after a sibling has being diagnosed with a developmental disorder are more likely to be bottle fed. (Burd)

Thus, bottle feeding could cause regressive autism to appear to be genetic.

Gluten and casein allergies
Opioids are developed in the digestive tract due to gluten and casein allergies. When these morphine like substances enter the blood stream they cause muscles to relax. Reducing the strength of both respiratory drive and the airway dilating muscles adversely affects two aspects of preventing OSA.

Conclusion:
1) Prolonged exclusive breast feeding would reduce the likelihood of developing regressive autism.

2) Some vaccines can, in combination with a marginal respiratory system, be a factor in the etiology of regressive autism.

References:

The notes “[full text”] and “[abstract”] refer to the information available to the author. In most cases the information is available in the abstract, but the information in Burd is in the full text. The ‘Herr 2001’ and ‘Herr 2002’ are indicted as ‘No abstract available’ but the full text is available by ‘clicking’ until the text is presented.

Citations

Beaudry M, Dufour R, Marcoux S. (1995) Relation between infant feeding and infections during the first six months of life. Journal of Pediatrics, Feb; 126(2):191-197 [full text] (Bottle feeding and gastrointestinal problems)

Burd L, Fisher W, Kerbeshian J, Vesely B, Durgin B, Reep P. A comparison of breastfeeding rates among children with pervasive developmental disorder, and controls. J Dev Behav Pediatr. 1988 Oct;9(5):247-51. [full text] (Disabled and bottle feeding)

Cognitive ability. Search on PubMed using “breast feeding AND cognitive ability” [absrtacts] (Breast feeding and cognitive ability)

Corey JP, Houser SM, Ng BA. Nasal congestion: a review of its etiology, evaluation, and treatment. Ear Nose Throat J. 2000 Sep;79(9):690-3, 696, 698 [full text] (Nasal congestion and sleep apnea)

Duncan B, Ey J, Holberg CJ, Wright AL, Martinez FD, & Taussig LM. (1993) Exclusive breast-feeding for at least 4 months protects against otitis media. Pediatrics, May;91(5):867-72. [full text] (Bottle feeding and ear infection)

LeFevre M, Kruse J, Zweig S. Selection of infant feeding method: a population-based study in a rural area. J Fam Pract. 1987 May;24(5):487-91. [full text] (Feeding method selection)

Guilleminault C. Obstructive sleep apnea. The clinical syndrome and historical perspective. Med Clin North Am. 1985 Nov;69(6):1187-203. [full text] [Text not available on PubMed] (Sleep apnea information)

Herr J. (2001) Chronic cough, sleep apnea, and gastroesophageal reflux disease. Chest. 2001 Sep;120(3):1036-7. [full text] (Sleep apnea and reflux)

Herr JR. (2002) Medical literature implies continuous positive airway pressure might be appropriate treatment for irritable bowel syndrome. Chest. 2002 Sep;122(3):1107. [full text] (Sleep apnea and irritable bowel syndrome)

Herr JR. (2003) Re: Autism--ear infections--glue ear--sleep disorders. J Autism Dev Disord. 2003 Oct;33(5):557. [full text] [Not available on PubMed] (Sleep apnea and ear infection)

Kushida, C., B. Efron, and C. Guilleminault. A predictive morphometric model for the obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. Ann Intern Med 1997; 127(8):581-87. [full text] (Skull shape in sleep apnea patients)

Palmer B. (1999) Breastfeeding: Reducing the risk for obstructive sleep apnea. Breastfeeding Abstracts, 1999 February; 18(3):19-20 [full text] (Bottle feeding, skull deformation and obstructive sleep apnea)

Sen S, Cloete Y, Hassan K, Buss P. Adverse events following vaccination in premature infants. Acta Paediatr. 2001 Aug;90(8):916-20. [abstract] (DpT and apnea)

Singh V.K. Congressional Testimony - April 6, 2000 [full text]
http://www.house.gov/reform/hearings/healthcare/00.06.04/singh.htm

Tanoue Y, & Oda S. (1989) Weaning time of children with infantile autism. J Autism Dev Disord, 19(3):425-434 [full text] (Bottle feeding and infantile autism)

Follow Ups:

• Re: More regressive autism tomjax 09:26 1/24/06 (0)
• Re: More regressive autism rocket moose 08:09 1/24/06 (1)
  • Re: More regressive autism Alamo Joe 12:25 1/25/06 (0)

---

Copyright ©1995-2005 Sleepnet.com., All rights reserved