AUTISM: Topic One – Toxic Load

Many factors play a role in a child living with autism. Exploring all of these, in order to support the individual, is key to a thriving child! Let’s explore the topic of ‘toxic load’ and its role in autism.

What is toxic load?

Toxic load is the cumulative burden of toxins and chemicals ingested, exposed to, and absorbed by the body. The sources can be any, and not limited to, the following:

• Foods we eat (eg. pesticides, herbicides)

• Products we put on the body (eg. phthalates)

• Household cleaning products

• Even some water sources

• In the environment (ie. mould in our living space)

• Heavy metal exposure via household paints, lined containers, some foods or medicine

How does the toxic load affect a child with autism?

Children with autism can have a reduced ability to get rid of these toxins, leading to build up in the system, causing issues with neurodevelopment eg. behavioural regression.

Here’s the science behind this…Check out this conclusion from a review of research done in 2014. ‘The findings of this review suggest that the etiology of ASD may involve, at least in a subset of children, complex interactions between genetic factors and certain environmental toxicants that may act synergistically or in parallel during critical periods of neurodevelopment, in a manner that increases the likelihood of developing ASD.’

How do genes and the ability to detoxify meet?

What these findings suggest align so well with my naturopathic brain.

First off – ‘atleast in a subset’ refers to the fact that we cannot lump all children with autism together and treat them all the same. For some, their body’s ability to detox properly may be working really well.

Secondly – ‘complex interactions between genetic factors and certain enviro toxicants’. Ie. multiple factors play a role, this diagnosis is not linear They have been studying the role of genetic makeup and autism for a long time (SIDE NOTE: where research is actually heading is the role of the microbiome and its effects in autism – stay tuned for my next post!)

An area in genetics I focus on in patients with autism, is the area of nutrigenomics - how can we support our genetic makeup through food and supplement. A gene can have a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) – which can then lead an enzyme in the body to either a) work really well (with no SNP!) b) work at only a percentage of optimal or c) not work at all. For example, a child with autism may have enzyme(s) responsible for running the process of detoxifying the body via the liver, working at half capacity (or not working at all!) If the liver is not working optimally, we have the toxins sticking around the body longer, wreaking havoc on the neurodevelopment.

What to do?

First things first: Find the source(s) of exposure and confirm.  Exploring life style, diet, medical history, medications, supplement use, sleep, household environment, environmental surroundings, will help determine where to focus. This can lead to various types of testing including:

•  Heavy metal testing

• Organic acid testing

• Mold assessment

• Water testing

Secondly, eliminate the source – this is a major step and the most useful:

•  Mold removal and abatement – this HAS to be done properly

• Use ‘clean’ skin care products for our kids – what does clean even mean these days? I swear by Rocky Mountain Soap Company for my patients. Its promising when you are able to read every ingredient on the label

• Use high quality supplements made with the least amount of ‘extras’ and the right activated version of these vitamins/minerals

• Eat organic…to a certain extent. This is a tough one. What is organic? Some companies can call themselves this with only using a certain (albeit high) percentage of crops with no herbicides or pesticides. How do we know what we are eating? Do your research in your area that you live in. Giving priority to this current year’s list of dirty dozen

• Use water filters

Does it feel like you’re living in a bubble? That’s not what we want as it causes stress. And stress for you, your family, and your child with autism does not help the healing process either. So what is your balance? I’m not certain the answer. However I bring up the point of this balance in order for you to recognize this is important.

Thirdly: Remove the toxic build up. We want to ‘leach’ toxins from the system, while supporting the body’s organ systems that rid the toxins – namely liver, digestion and kidneys.

When I say ‘leaching’ (no, that’s not a medical term), I’m referring to grabbing ahold of the toxin (ie. heavy metal) in the body and then eliminating it from the body via ‘routes of elimination’ – digestion, liver, kidneys.

We want to get these routes of elimination working at optimal levels so, for example, if we provide the correct co-factors to those enzymes in the liver that are not working at full capacity, we can get them to do so and therefore allowing the liver to reduce the toxic load!

On going support for your child’s routes of elimination is a great idea. And because we don’t live in bubbles, exposure to various toxins may change over time. Our awareness of exposure, noting behavioural changes at different points, we can then either a) prevent exposure or b) increase support to routes of elimination of they body at other times.

Toxic load and elimination are factors to navigate through in order for your child to thrive. Stayed tuned for more information: next up, microbiome!