Bill Sardi
Knowledge of Health, Inc.
http://www.knowledgeofhealth.com
http://www.naturalhealthlibrarian.com
bsardi@aol.com

I hope Katie is going with her instinct which is all we parents have to go on for our children.

The ‘single disturbance’ theory of regressive autism

This ‘single disturbance’ theory of regressive autism is: Early weaning followed by vaccination with vaccines containing measles or pertussis is the primary cause of regressive autism. The theory implies that prolonged breast feeding combined with the avoidance of both measles and pertussis vaccines will reduce the incidence of regressive autism.

The basic theory, one of two possibilities postulated by Piggott in 1979 is: “… the possibility remains that there is only one disturbance that in varying degrees affects many body systems and thus manifests in a variety of overlapping syndromes.” Most of these syndromes and autism have another common factor, namely bottle feeding, which combined with Tanoue’s (1989), ”… early weaning may contribute to the etiology of infantile autism” suggests bottle feeding is a facilitating element in autism.

There are two reasons to speculate that obstructive sleep apnea is the ‘single disturbance’. The general profile of gout (uric acid) patients is similar to that of obstructive sleep apnea patients. The general profile for both is “Overweight men and women after menopause”. In addition, obstructive sleep apnea seems to underlie the physical manifestations of regressive autism. Some physical presentations of regressive autism are bedwetting, diarrhea, high uric acid levels, reflux, ear infections, breathing and sleeping problems.

Guilleminault (1985), reports increased respiratory effort can occur even when a complete apnea does not occur and that the muscular effort may cause some of the clinical symptoms. I surmise the diaphragm’s increased effort inflicts ‘blunt force trauma’ on and injures the bladder, intestines, kidneys and pancreas resulting in bedwetting (or nocturia if the person wakes up), diarrhea, high levels of uric acid and diabetes.

Obstructive sleep apnea has an unusual characteristic (snort) which seems to cause ear infections. In 1976 Bluestone presented the concept of a pressure gradient which opens the eustachian tube and insufflates organisms into the middle ear. The rapid expulsion of air (snort) which occurs at apnea termination seems equivalent to the positive pressure gradient.

For reflux, the ligament connecting the diaphragm with the lower esophageal sphincter transfers the diaphragm’s force to the sphincter, opening it while the diaphragm is squeezing the stomach, pushing some of the stomach’s contents through the sphincter.

The breathing and sleep problems are consistent with “sleep apnea”.

The behaviors of autistic patients imply brain injury. During respiratory events there is limited or no air entering or leaving the body. It is speculated oxygen deprivation underlies brain injury in autistic children.

I postulate the sequence of events leading to regressive autism is: 1) The child is bottle fed, 2) the child is exposed to a cause of nasal congestion, 3) the child develops nasal congestion, 4) nasal congestion upsets the balance between respiratory drive and airway characteristics of resistance and patency resulting in obstructive sleep apnea. Palmer, in a 1999 paper, suggested that bottle feeding alters the shape of the skull to one predisposed to obstructive sleep apnea. The skull shape is not altered by breast feeding because the forces used are different from those used in bottle feeding.

In 2000 Corey identified a number of causes of nasal congestion: “The most common clinical syndromes that cause nasal congestion are allergic rhinitis, vasomotor rhinitis, chronic sinusitis, and upper respiratory viral infections (common colds).” Children are not the appropriate age for a diagnosis of gout, obstructive sleep apnea or Type 2 diabetes. This suggests human intervention, not something from nature. It is speculated that the ‘something’ underlying nasal congestion is not ‘wild’ but from society. Both measles and pertussis are upper respiratory viral infections. It is further speculated that vaccinations containing either measles or pertussis can initiate the sequence of: Nasal congestion — Obstructive sleep apnea — Regressive autism.

For many years the role of bottle feeding as a risk for so many ailments has been explained with: “Maternal antibodies protect the breast fed child”. The actual reason seems to be: “Bottle feeding causes obstructive sleep apnea, which in turn has multiple manifestations”. Bottle feeding is a risk even if expressed breast milk is in the bottle because the forces the child will use will be those of bottle feeding.

Who is at fault for autism? Blame technology! Without refrigeration it would not be possible to safely store baby bottles and vaccine vials.

Validation of the “single disturbance” theory will be invaluable in preventing regressive autism and may suggest treatment protocols for existing patients.