Justthatgirl11 wrote:
Really? REALLY??? Because last I checked my son had autism at BIRTH and he'd never had cow's milk in his life.
And since we're on the subject... My kids don't even like milk! I've never made them drink it (they only drink chocolate milk and that's a rare treat!) and you know what? Out of 3 kids -- One has autism and has since, wait, when? BIRTH! and the other 2 are NT (so far, I think).
Ohhhhh...... Just one more reason for PETA to irritate me.
Milk or wheat allergies are not "The Cause" but there is some evidence that such allergies are more frequent in ASDs, and that the antibodies to milk and wheat can cross react with nerve cells - autoimmune nerve destruction is not good for anyone, and it probably makes symptoms worse (and can lead to limited but real improvements in some but not all auties).
On the other hand, PETA people are recognized attention whores, and they are ignoring the fact that many people can eat dairy or wheat with no problems. Oh, wait, they won't tell anyone not to eat wheat, because wheat is not so cuddly and they don't value plant life and don't really care about people with autism!!
Quote:
J Pediatr. 2005 May;146(5):605-10.
Evaluation of an association between gastrointestinal symptoms and cytokine production against common dietary proteins in children with autism spectrum disorders.
Jyonouchi H, Geng L, Ruby A, Reddy C, Zimmerman-Bier B.
Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy/Immunology, and Infectious Diseases, New Jersey Medical School/UMDNJ, 185 South Orange Avenue, Newark, NJ 07101-1709, USA.
[email protected] OBJECTIVE: To evaluate an association between cytokine production with common dietary proteins as a marker of non-allergic food hypersensitivity (NFH) and gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms in young children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). STUDY DESIGN: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were obtained from 109 ASD children with or without GI symptoms (GI [+] ASD, N = 75 and GI (-) ASD, N = 34], from children with NFH (N = 15), and control subjects (N = 19). Diarrhea and constipation were the major GI symptoms. We measured production of type 1 T-helper cells (Th1), type 2 T-helper cells (Th2), and regulatory cytokines by PBMCs stimulated with whole cow's milk protein (CMP), its major components (casein, beta-lactoglobulin, and alpha-lactoalbumin), gliadin, and soy. RESULTS: PBMCs obtained from GI (+) ASD children produced more tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha)/interleukin-12 (IL-12) than those obtained from control subjects with CMP, beta-lactoglobulin, and alpha-lactoalbumin, irrespective of objective GI symptoms. They also produced more TNF-alpha with gliadin, which was more frequently observed in the group with loose stools. PBMCs obtained from GI (-) ASD children produced more TNF-alpha/IL-12 with CMP than those from control subjects, but not with beta-lactoglobulin, alpha-lactoalbumin, or gliadin. Cytokine production with casein and soy were unremarkable. CONCLUSION: A high prevalence of elevated TNF-alpha/IL-12 production by GI (+) ASD PBMCs with CMP and its major components indicates a role of NFH in GI symptoms observed in children with ASD.
In the study above, the immune disturbances caused by milk and wheat were greatest in auties that also had frequent gastrointestinal symptoms.
Quote:
Nutr Neurosci. 2004 Jun;7(3):151-61.
Immune response to dietary proteins, gliadin and cerebellar peptides in children with autism.
Vojdani A, O'Bryan T, Green JA, Mccandless J, Woeller KN, Vojdani E, Nourian AA, Cooper EL.
Section of Neuroimmunology, Immunosciences Lab., Inc., 8693 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 200, Beverly Hills, California 90211, USA.
[email protected] The mechanisms behind autoimmune reaction to nervous system antigens in autism are not understood. We assessed the reactivity of sera from 50 autism patients and 50 healthy controls to specific peptides from gliadin and the cerebellum. A significant percentage of autism patients showed elevations in antibodies against gliadin and cerebellar peptides simultaneously. For examining cross-reaction between dietary proteins and cerebellar antigens, antibodies were prepared in rabbits, and binding of rabbit anti-gliadin, anti-cerebellar peptides, anti-MBP, anti-milk, anti-egg, anti-soy and anti-corn to either gliadin- or cerebellar-antigen-coated wells was measured. In comparison to anti-gliadin peptide binding to gliadin peptide at 100%, the reaction of anti-cerebellar peptide to gliadin peptide was 22%, whereas the binding of anti-myelin basic protein (MBP), anti-milk, anti-egg and anti-soy to gliadin was less than 10%. Further examination of rabbit anti-gliadin (EQVPLVQQ) and anti-cerebellar (EDVPLLED) 8 amino acid (AA) peptides with human serum albumin (HSA) and an unrelated peptide showed no binding, but the reaction of these antibodies with both the cerebellar and gliadin peptides was greater than 60%. This cross-reaction was further confirmed by DOT-immunoblot and inhibition studies. We conclude that a subgroup of patients with autism produce antibodies against Purkinje cells and gliadin peptides, which may be responsible for some of the neurological symptoms in autism.
Some, but not all people with autism produce antibodies to wheat gliadin that also attacks nerve cells. Think about that when the farmer is savagely hacking up rows of gentle wheat with an industrial combine!!