PHYSIOLOGICAL ASPECTS AFFECTING NEUROLOGY AND BEHAVIOUR (AUTISM, ADD, DEMENTIA AND OTHER NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS)
Symptoms can arise from a number of reasons. The digestive system is critical in this relationship, probably more so than many doctors realize. The digestive tract is a gateway of consumed foods coming into the body and these must be appropriately broken down into their basic forms to be absorbed by the villi in the small intestine. The primary issues with an incomplete breakdown of foods include:
• leaky gut syndrome
• food allergens causing allergies and intolerances
• overworked immune system
• sulfation dysfunction (autism)
• yeast overgrowth (candida)
• various nutritional deficiencies
• neurological disorders
If we look at all the possibilities of the conditions noted above, there is a common denominator in most of these. Filtering through most of the alternatives, there is a member of the team in the background or completely forgotten, having a huge, if not the most important impact, but not prominently recognized as a major player – the fundamental digestive enzymes. Digestive enzymes are key players in the gastrointestinal tract and are on the front line of what happens there.
EVIDENCE THAT GLUTEN HARMS THE BRAIN
Medical researchers continue to uncover alarming evidence that gluten can harm the brain. Remember, our gastrointestinal system is called our second brain, because it also produces different neurotransmitters, like for instance, serotonin. Gluten can make you hallucinate and lose touch with your memory, but in the latest discovery, researchers found that babies born to mothers who are gluten sensitive or allergic, have twice the risk of developing neurological disorders. Problems deriving from the gluten in wheat, barley and rye, were once thought to be mostly a digestive issue, but more than often gluten is found to cause brain and nerve problems and in most cases no stomach or intestinal problems are reported as would be expected.
In a study looking at a connection between gluten and mental illness, scientists examined birth records and blood samples from more than 700 children born in Sweden between 1975 and 1985. More than 200 of the children eventually developed psychosis like schizophrenia and delusional disorders. They found that the mothers who had a gluten allergy/sensitivity were much more likely to give birth to children who later suffered from different neurological disorders.
Despite the dangers gluten presents to large numbers of people and permeates much of our food supply. If you read food labels, you will discover sources of gluten like wheat, barley, rye and malt, are added to a surprising number of foods. Added to that, many foods that should be gluten-free are frequently contaminated with gluten.
GLUTEN, CASEIN, LEAKY GUT VERSUS INADEQUATE DIGESTIVE ENZYMES
Why are they harmful to so many ADD and Autistic children? Casein is a protein found in milk. Lactose is the sugar part of milk. Gluten is a protein found in wheat and other grains. When these substances end in the stomach, our digestive system breaks them down into their most basic form by specific digestive enzymes produced by the body. The smallest form of a protein is called a peptide and/or an amino acid. One of the peptides created from the breakdown of casein is called casomorphin and the one for gluten is called gluteomorphin.
Both these peptides are called opoid peptides because they act very much like morphine.
When urine of Autistic children is tested, these peptides are found in high quantities thus indicating that a complete breakdown by a specific enzyme found in the intestines, is either lacking or in the incorrect amounts. Most people have sufficient digestive enzymes to break down casomorphin and gluteomorphin into inactive dipeptides which are then harmless.
These partially broken down peptides flow out of the stomach into the intestines, resulting in “leaky gut” syndrome. When casomorphin and gluteomorphin leaks into the bloodstream, they are able to attach to the opiate receptor in the brain, thus mimicking the effects of opiate drugs like heroine and morphine. These compounds react in areas of the brain, which are amongst others, involved in speech, learning and auditory integration. This also explains why Autistic and ADD children are addicted to milk and wheat (bread), because they get a “drug fix” from these foods.
Casein makes up 80-86% of the protein content of cows milk. University of Michigan researchers showed that chocolate does not merely tickle your taste buds, it actually works inside your brain in much the same way opiate drugs do. When we take children off dairy products, we find that the desire for cheese, in particular, lingers much longer than other foods. While they might like ice-cream, milk and yogurt, they describe their feelings for cheese as a deep-seated craving. Ever felt you could not give up cheese? There is a real reason for this. Firstly, cheese is concentrated casein, and secondly, as far back as 1980, researchers have known that morphine, a highly addictive opiate, is also found in trace amounts in cheese. It turns out that morphine is found in trace amounts in cows as well as mothers milk. This ensures that the offspring will bond very strongly with their mothers and get all the nutrients they need to grow.
The good news is that we have a digestive enzyme that will breakdown casomorphin (dairy) and gluteomorphin (wheat) into its non-toxic most simplest dipeptide before it can cause any digestive or neurological problems. This enzyme is called dipeptidyl peptidase-IV (DPP-IV) and plays the key role in degrading casein and gluten.
Another interesting result found in a recent study, seems to implicate low levels of DPP-IV in sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). The study showed that these infants have high levels of casomorphin in their blood. Nursing mothers must breast feed their infant as long as possible to avoid any complication that might be caused by cow’s milk or milk formulae.
In many studies involving children with Autism, Aspergers, ADD, learning problems and such like neurological disorders they showed that when specific digestive enzymes were given to these children, within 2 – 3 months the following improvement was noted:
• eye contact – increased by 50%
• sound tolerance – unable to tolerate loud noise in 90% of cases, after enzymes therapy they showed excellent tolerance
• initiating conversation – was almost exclusively about narrow field of interest – now they initiate conversation about a range of topics
• affection – give more spontaneous hugs and kisses and they say “I love you” more often than before – significantly more affectionate
• empathy – shows genuine concern for others and family members
• self-stimulating behavior – hand flapping, head bumping etc. – decreased by 50%
• self-injurious behavior – biting and hitting self when angry or stressed – decreased by 75% after enzyme therapy
• transitioning – previously, changing activities would result in back-chatting or tantruming – decreased by 80%
• desire for physical activity – improved substantially
• physical appearance – skin less pale, look healthier (better nutritional profile) disappearance of blue circles under eyes, face more filled out, stool firmer and not light in color and too large
• mood – these children are now happy – previously grumpy and difficult to get along with – wrong foods caused anger, aggressive behavior – great improvement
• problem solving – no longer a weakness, able to reason and does not give up readily, memory better
• speech – voice usually high-pitched, slow and measured, enzymes normalized speech
• school – teachers reported: child looks forward to lunch time, now makes jokes, eager to learn, gets excited about participating, reacts to problem solving, show more true emotions
Certain enzymes work by getting rid of immune complexes, which can result from poorly broken down foods that disrupts the immune system. Under normal healthy conditions these complexes are eliminated from the body by the lungs, kidney, skin, joints and blood vessels. These complexes cause inflammation and tissue damage. Research since the 1970’s has shown that eliminating these complexes, by the administration of digestive enzymes, will improve the following conditions:
• Coeliac disease (gluten enteropathy)
• Psoriasis
• Ulcerative colitis
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Multiple sclerosis
An enzyme called galactosidase breaks down Raffinose and Stachyose. These carbohydrates are found belonging to a larger family of starches and sugars. Raffinose and Stachyose is found in a large variety of carbohydrate-rich vegetables, like beans, peas, lentils, cabbage, brussel sprouts, broccoli, onions, asparagus, wheat and rye to mention only a few. If incompletely broken down by the digestive enzymes, indigestion, bloating, gas, constipation and flatulence occurs. You will sometimes hear people say that these type of food causes them great discomfort. By taking galactosidase, all these problems can be eliminated.
I am privileged to have sources of these special digestive enzymes from the USA and these are now available from the practice. These enzymes will enable you to deal with all your food intolerances as well as solving many of the possible neurological disorders.
Please enquire from our practice regarding these enzymes.
Yours in Health
Dr. Alby Ford