I have been perplexed by the increase in diagnoses of autism spectrum disorders, ADHD, and depression in recent years. In my search to find answers for what is going on in my own body, I stumbled across a book which may have some answers to my perplexion. It is called Gut and Psychology Syndrome, and was written by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride. It is beyond the scope of this post to summarize the whole book, but if you or someone you love is autistic or has been diagnosed with an autistic spectrum disorder, ADHD, ADD, dyslexia, schizophrenia, or depression, I strongly encourage you to read this book. Research has shown a correlation between these disorders and gut dysbiosis, or unbalanced gut bacteria and dysfunction. In particular, biopsies of the small intestines of children with autism, have shown that the lymph nodes in the small intestine are enlarged and inflamed, because they are trying to fight off infections. Based on the hunch that there might be a link between vaccinations, particularly the Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR) vaccine, and autism, Dr. Andrew Campbell, a British gastroenterologist, studied these tissues and found the same measles virus in the inflamed lymph nodes of the intestines of children with autism as that used in the vaccine. This caused a lot of controversy, but clearly, the digestive systems of children with autism have been found to be inflamed, with enlarge lymph nodes, which are trying to fight off infection.
Similarly, research has shown that many schizophrenic patients have digestive problems similar to celiac disease, a disorder caused by a sensitivity to gluten, a protein found in many grains, that makes the digestive system unable to digest fat, causing diarrhea, and anemia, among other digestive discomforts. Dr. Campbell-McBride also says that many people with ADHD, dyslexia, asthma, allergies, and eczema have symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome, including abdominal pain, bloating, stool abnormalities, and flatulence (gas).
A Dry Drunk
In the last post, I mentioned how easy it is with the typical American diet to develop an overgrowth of a yeast called Candida in the gut. Candida can take the glucose we need for energy from our food and digest it in such a way itself that it produces alcohol and its by-product, acetaldehyde. Thus, we can be drunk without drinking a drop. It is very easy for alcohol to get through the gut barrier and straight into the blood, and thereby, straight into the brain. Alcohol can be very toxic to our bodies. One hangover will prove that to you! It is one thing for that to happen to an adult who chooses to consume alcohol, knowing of this potential, but think of the children whose systems produce this alcohol on their own because of an imbalance in the gut bacteria. Aside from being toxic, this alcohol can interfere with the absorption of vitamins, too.
Acetaldehyde has the ability to alter proteins in our bodies, which can then cause different autoimmune processes, where the body begins to attack itself. A person can develop multiple sclerosis, where the body attacks the myelin covering of nerves, Hasimoto's thyroiditis, where the body attacks the thyroid tissue, or rheumatoid arthritis, where the body attacks itself, and causes severe inflammation in the joints. In fact, having one autoimmune condition means you are also more susceptible to other autoimmune conditions as well.
I will go into more detail about gluten intolerance in another post, but one of the most surprising things I found in the Gut and Psychology book is that in people with imbalanced gut flora, one of the byproducts of the body's inability to properly digest gluten (from grains) and casein (from milk products) is some substances with chemical structures very similar to opiates, like heroin and morphine! These substances can get through the blood-brain barrier and block certain areas of the brain like heroin and morphine do. Dr. Campbell-McBride says that substantial research shows these morphine-like substances in the urine of patients with schizophrenia, autism, ADHD, post-partum psychosis, epilepsy, Downs syndrome, depression, and some autoimmune diseases. Yikes!
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