Biological Treatments for Autism and PDD
The purpose of writing this book is to integrate information from the fields of biochemistry, immunology, genetics, nutrition, and microbiology about autism, ADD, and PDD into a form that could be assimilated by both parents, professionals such as nutritionists and dietitians, and physicians who deal with children with these disorders. Long conversations with hundreds of parents of children with autism and PDD, including many who are themselves physicians, have provided me with many clues to these disorders. The wealth of information on the abnormalities of the immune system in autism leads me to the conclusion that the genetic factors in autism appear to be primarily those affecting the immune system. In my view, the anatomical abnormalities in the brain that have been documented may be secondary to abnormal metabolic function caused by abnormal microbial metabolites and/or toxic peptides from wheat and milk, which in turn are due to an impaired immune system. M! ost of the information has been available in the form of research papers that have been available only to medical research specialists but was essentially unknown by persons outside the narrow specialty. My goal for this book is to allow your child to be healthier and function better so that both you and your child will have a better life. The stakes for the safety of our children are too high to wait forever