This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Austism Spectrum Disorders
Autism is a serious neuro-psychological developmental disorder of child’s immature brain. It is extremely complex, determined according to the behavior, and it is characterized by deficient communication and sociability. Stereotypic repeated movements, positions, postures, and words are also observed. Autism is not a disease. It is a Syndrome, with multiple non genetic and genetic causes, which is usually present from childbirth, but not evident before the age of three.
Autism was described for the first time in 1943 by Kanner. This is why it is also referred to as Kanner Syndrome, a subcategory placed at one end of the spectrum. This subcategory is called Autism Spectrum Disorders (A.S.D.). In its other end, Symptoms of Higher Functioning are included, such as Asperger Syndrome, while in the middle other types of autism are included.
Pervasive Developmental Disorders (P.D.D.) are a wider group of disorders. Autism Spectrum Disorders (A.S.D.) constitute one of its subcategories.
Now, when we refer to autism, we actually refer to Autism Spectrum Disorders – ASD. These are characterized by disturbances in three behavioral aspects: social interaction, language and communication, as well as imaginative play and the range of interests and activities.
During the past twenty years, a significant increase of individuals diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders has been observed. This is probably due to increased awareness and the change of diagnostic criteria, as well as to the multiple environmental effects.
The term Syndrome in Medicine is used to describe conditions with unknown causes that are also multifactorial. This is why syndromes are never cured and all treatments are supportive. They mainly help in improving patients’ living conditions.
Many professionals are involved in the treatment of Autism; child psychologists, child therapists, speech therapists, music therapists, child psychiatrists, developmental experts, occupational therapists, educators, psychiatrists, psychologists.
They all together try to treat something with unknown cause. Chaos and great concern for the parents, who rely on the experts for the management of Autism.
However, what we definitely know is that Autism Spectrum Disorders – ASD are due to genetic (gene) hereditary and acquired factors.
One of its main characteristics is the different response of patients to all types of stimuli, either external or internal from the body itself.
Responses to these stimuli are generally biochemically guided and controlled by hormones. They are directly dependent on environmental effects and our response to it (oxidative stress), as well as diet.
Autism Spectrum Disorders – Therapeutic Approach
Treatment through a simple biochemical means gets closer to the causal treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorders – ASD.
Based on this self-evident approach of the Functional Medicine system, the child or adult with Autism Spectrum Disorder – ASD is treated aiming at restoring or strengthening biochemical and hormonal balance, depending on the aberration that will be identified.
With the gradual increase of energy production at the cellular level, i.e. increasing response to stimuli, we strengthen all metabolic pathways and mechanisms, as well as the production of hormones, so that the individual can be at its optimal physical state and respond maximally to external stimuli.
For Autism Spectrum Disorders – ASD, the essential exams concern the molecular profile for heavy metals, test of toxicosis from organic solvents, and full hormonal profile.
In addition, an exam for the main gene polymorphisms is also performed.
Treatment may also include Molecular nutrition. The duration of treatment, aiming at improving responses at the social, language and communication levels, is from six to twelve months.
Reference:
- Schneider MR, Schmidt-Ullrich R, Paus R (2009) The hair follicle as a dynamic miniorgan. Curr Biol 19: R132-R142.
- Almohanna HM, Ahmed AA, Tsatalis JP, Tosti A (2019) The Role of Vitamins and Minerals in Hair Loss: A Review. Dermatol Ther (Heidelb) 9: 51-70.
- Guo EL, Katta R (2017) Diet and hair loss: Effects of nutrient deficiency and supplement use. Dermatol Pract Concept 7: 1-10.
- Finner AM (2013) Nutrition and hair: Deficiencies and supplements. Dermatol Clin 31: 167-172.
- Singh RK, Chang HW, Yan D, Lee KM, Ucmak D, et al. (2017) Influence of diet on the gut microbiome and implications for human health. J Transl Med 15: 73.
- Scott KP, Gratz SW, Sheridan PO, Flint HJ, Duncan SH (2013) The influence of diet on the gut microbiota. Pharmacol Res 69: 52-60.
- Vaughn AR, Notay M, Clark AK, Sivamani RK (2017) Skin-gut axis: The relationship between intestinal bacteria and skin health. World J Dermatol 6: 52-58.
- Bowe WP, Joshi SS, Shalita AR (2010) Diet and acne. J Am Acad Dermatol 63: 124-141.
- Dawber R (1989) Alopecia areata. Monogr Dermatol 2: 89-102.
- Odom RB, Davidsohn IJ, William D, Henry JB, Berger TG (2006) Clinical diagnosis by laboratory methods. In: Elston Dirk M, Andrews’ Diseases of the Skin: Clinical Dermatology. Saunders Elsevier.
- Brenner W, Diem E, Gschnait F (1979) Coincidence of vitiligo, alopecia areata, onychodystrophy, localized scleroderma and lichen planus. Dermatologica 159: 356-360.
- Trink A, Sorbellini E, Bezzola P, Rodella L, Rezzani R, et al. (2013) A randomized, double-blind, placebo- and active-controlled, half-head study to evaluate the effects of platelet-rich plasma on alopecia areata. Br J Dermatol 169: 690-694.
- Clavaud C, Jourdain R, Bar-Hen A, Magali Tichit, Christiane Bouchier, et al. (2013) Dandruff is associated with disequilibrium in the proportion of the major bacterial and fungal populations colonizing the scalp. PLoS One 8: e58203.
- Rinaldi F, Pinto D, Marzani B, Rucco M, Giuliani G, et al. (2018) Human microbiome: What’s new in scalp diseases. J Transl Sci 4: 1-4.
- Pinto D, Sorbellini E, Marzani B, Rucco M, Giuliani G, et al. (2019) Scalp bacterial shift in Alopecia areata. PLoS One 14: e0215206.
- Ho BS, Ho EXP, Chu CW, Ramasamy S, Bigliardi-Qi M, et al. (2019) Microbiome in the hair follicle of androgenetic alopecia patients. PLoS One 14: e0216330.
- Polak-Witka K, Rudnicka L, Blume-Peytavi U, Vogt A (2019) The role of the microbiome in scalp hair follicle biology and disease. Exp Dermatol.
- L Nair, Z Dai, AM Christiano (2017) 649 Gut microbiota plays a role in the development of alopecia areata. Journal of Investigative Dermatology 137: S112.
- Olsen EA, Hordinsky MK, Price VH, Roberts JL, Shapiro J, et al. (2004) Alopecia areata investigational assessment guidelines–Part II. National Alopecia Areata Foundation. J Am Acad Dermatol 51: 440-447.
- Grice EA, Kong HH, Conlan S, Deming CB, Davis J, et al. (2010) Topographical and temporal diversity of the human skin microbiome. Science 324: 1190-1192.
- Paulino LC, Tseng CH, Strober BE, Blaser MJ (2006) Molecular analysis of fungal microbiota in samples from healthy human skin and psoriatic lesions. J Clin Microbiol 44: 2933-2941.
- Gao Z, Perez-Perez GI, Chen Y, Blaser MJ (2010) Quantitation of major human cutaneous bacterial and fungal populations. J Clin Microbiol 48: 3575-3581.
- Klindworth A, Pruesse E, Schweer T, Jörg Peplies, Christian Quast, et al. (2013) Evaluation of general 16S ribosomal RNA gene PCR primers for classical and next-generation sequencing-based diversity studies. Nucleic Acids Res 41: e1.
- Takahashi S, Tomita J, Nishioka K, Hisada T, Nishijima M (2014) Development of a prokaryotic universal primer for simultaneous analysis of bacteria and archaea using next-generation sequencing. PLoS One 9: e105592.
- Apprill A, McNally S, Parsons R, Weber L (2015) Minor revision to V4 region SSU rRNA 806R gene primer greatly increases detection of SAR11 bacterioplankton. Aquat Microb Ecol 75: 129-137.
- Parada AE, Needham DM, Fuhrman JA (2016) Every base matters: assessing small subunit rRNA primers for marine microbiomes with mock communities, time series and global field samples. Environ Microbiol 18: 1403-1414.
- Walters W, Hyde ER, Berg-Lyons D, Ackermann G, Humphrey G, et al. (2015) Improved bacterial 16S rRNA Gene (V4 and V4-5) and fungal internal transcribed spacer marker gene primers for microbial community surveys. mSystems 1.
- Caporaso JG, Lauber CL, Walters WA, Berg-Lyons D, Lozupone CA, et al. (2011) Global patterns of 16S rRNA diversity at a depth of millions of sequences per sample. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 108: 4516-4522.
- Kozich JJ, Westcott SL, Baxter NT, Highlander SK, Schloss PD (2013) Development of a dual-index sequencing strategy and curation pipeline for analyzing amplicon sequence data on the MiSeq Illumina sequencing platform. Appl Environ Microbiol 79: 5112-5120.
- Vigetti D, Viola M, Karousou E, Rizzi M , Moretto P, et al. (2008) Hyaluronan-CD44-ERK1/2 regulate human aortic smooth muscle cell motility during aging. J Biol Chem 283: 4448-4458.
- Castro-Quezada I, Román-Viñas B, Serra-Majem L (2014) The mediterranean diet and nutritional adequacy: A review. Nutrients 6: 231-248.
- Rushton DH (2002) Nutritional factors and hair loss. Clin Exp Dermatol 27: 396-404.
- Mubki T, Rudnicka L, Olszewska M, Shapiro J (2014) Evaluation and diagnosis of the hair loss patient: Part I. History and clinical examination. J Am Acad Dermatol 71: 415.
- Spivak JL, Jackson DL (1997) Pellagra: An analysis of 18 patients and a review of the literature. Johns Hopkins Med J 140: 295-309.
- Goldberg LJ, Lenzy Y (2010) Nutrition and hair. Clin Dermatol 28: 412-419.
- Kato I, Vasquez A, Moyerbrailean G, Land S, Djuric Z, et al. (2017) Nutritional correlates of human oral microbiome. J Am Coll Nutr 36: 88-98.
- Manam S, Tsakok T, Till S, Flohr C (2014) The association between atopic dermatitis and food allergy in adults. Curr Opin Allergy Clin Immunol 14: 423-429.
- Cordain L, Lindeberg S, Hurtado M, Hill K, Eaton SB, et al. (2002) Acne vulgaris: A disease of Western civilization. Arch Dermatol. 138: 1584-1590.
- Grossi E, Cazzaniga S, Crotti S, Naldi L, Di Landro A, et al. (2016) The constellation of dietary factors in adolescent acne: A semantic connectivity map approach. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol 30: 96-100.
- Zouboulis CC, Jourdan E, Picardo M (2014) Acne is an inflammatory disease and alterations of sebum composition initiate acne lesions. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol 28: 527-532.
- Zákostelská Z, Málková J, Klimešová K, Pavel Rossmann, Michaela Hornová, et al. (2016) Intestinal microbiota promotes psoriasis-like skin inflammation by enhancing Th17 response. PLoS One 11: e0159539.
- Zhang C, Zhang M, Wang S, Han R, Cao Y, et al. (2010) Interactions between gut microbiota, host genetics and diet relevant to development of metabolic syndromes in mice. ISME J 4: 232-241.
- Turnbaugh PJ, Bäckhed F, Fulton L, Gordon JI (2008) Diet-induced obesity is linked to marked but reversible alterations in the mouse distal gut microbiome. Cell Host Microbe 3: 213-223.
- Mu Q, Kirby J, Reilly CM, Luo XM, (2017) Leaky gut as a danger signal for autoimmune diseases. Front Immunol 8: 598.