Desperation, Science, Charlatans and Alternative Treatments

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A homeopathic treatment regime invented to ‘cure’ autism is in use in New Zealand.

Complete Elimination of Autistic Spectrum Expression, or CEASE therapy as it is known, has drawn international condemnation and the United Kingdom advertising watchdog is now cracking down on false claims made by hundreds of homeopaths offering the treatment.

Eighteen New Zealand homeopaths are listed online as CEASE practitioners. Training entails a three to five-day course.

The concept behind CEASE therapy is autism is caused by toxins. The inventor, the now-deceased Tinus Smits, claimed 70 percent of toxins come from vaccines.

His treatment regime aims to clear the toxins using very dilute amounts of the same toxins. This includes dilute versions of vaccines.

There’s no robust peer-reviewed scientific evidence CEASE therapy - or homeopathy - works any better than a placebo.

Homeopathy works on a concept of 'like-cures-like'. - if something makes you sick, homeopaths will treat you with the same thing, except dilute it.

The logic gets mind-bending. Homeopaths believe the more dilute something is, the more therapeutically potent it is. For example, homeopaths believe a treatment with five drops of active ingredient in 100 mil of water would be weaker than a treatment with only one drop of active ingredient.

A common homeopathic dilution of ingredient with water is 30C. A 30C solution contains less than one part per million million million million million million million million million million of the original ingredient.

The treatment is shaken vigorously between dilutions. Homeopaths believe this activates treatment by releasing a spirit-like healing force. Another theory is water retains a memory of what has been in it.

In New Zealand you can’t just pick up a vial of MMR vaccine from the chemist to water down and sell as a homeopathic treatment.

Vaccines are prescription medicines. The Ministry of Health told Newsroom vaccines fall under section 43 of the Medicines Act. The purchase, possession and rights to administer vaccines lie with health professionals, or people with what’s found as a “reasonable excuse”.

A spokesperson said: “A person purchasing/procuring a vaccine in order to manufacture another therapeutic product from it (such as a homoeopathic vaccine) is unlikely to have a reasonable excuse under s43 unless that person is one of the authorised health care professionals.”

Many New Zealand CEASE practitioners do not have websites listed, and those that do mention it in passing. Auckland-based The Healing Haven’s Lee-Ann McCall offers CEASE therapy and has a page devoted to it. The website page does not claim to cure autism, but it does mention the treatment was initially designed to treat people on the autism spectrum and could be useful for others “as we all suffer from toxicity”.

Prior to Newsroom contacting McCall about the service, the webpage said she has treated vaccinated children who have allergies:

“Several cases are allergy cases including hayfever, asthma, and food allergies in children who have been previously vaccinated. Although they are only just beginning their journey with this method, having only had a few doses of the homeopathic remedy made from the vaccine they are already noticing some lessening in their sensitivity to allergens.”

McCall told Newsroom she was too busy with clients to provide comment for the article and said Newsroom did not have permission to use her name. The following day, mention of treating children with vaccines had been removed from the website, but the page offering CEASE therapy remained.

Three complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority have been made by members of the public regarding various claims made on The Healing Haven’s website over the past four years. The complaints were all settled or upheld, with the website or digital advertising being changed as a result.

Newsroom also contacted the New Zealand Council of Homeopaths with questions and is waiting for a response. Currently the council is promoting an event on its website: Remedy Autism: Meeting the Challenge of Autistic Spectrum Disorder.

A possible scenario is vaccine treatment was purchased from a New Zealand wholesaler importing already diluted products from the United Kingdom. The wholesaler, who lists “remedies” including MMR, meningitis and polio vaccine said the company further dilutes the products it buys and sells them to homeopaths.

Homeopathic products where the active ingredient is not more than 20 parts per million don’t normally need ministerial consent as long as the label and advertising material does not contain therapeutic claims.

University of Auckland’s Helen Petousis Harris thinks for CEASE therapy, the dilution level used would mean it would be unlikely to have any of the original molecules in it.

“They would only need one vial to last them for probably 100 billion doses.”

As well as treating what Smits calls the toxins from vaccines, homeopathy offers its own version of vaccines which proponents suggest protect people, or animals from disease.

Petousis Harris looked into homeopathic prophylaxis - the use of homeopathic vaccines - during a measles outbreak in 2016 when people presented certificates of homeopathic prophylaxis as evidence of immunity.

While the dilute treatments, supposedly containing what homeopaths call disease “nosodes”, are likely harmless water, people’s belief they are protected against disease is worrying.

“That’s the real danger. Forgoing proven treatments for potentially dangerous diseases.”

A randomised blinded placebo-controlled trial showed homeopathic vaccines work as well as the placebos of sugar pills and saline injections. People given them failed to develop an antibody response.

She said she sees CEASE therapy as a whole new level of homeopathic "woo".

“They’re predatory, they’re making money out of this. While it might not cause chemical harm to somebody, it’s pretty low, despicable behaviour really.”

Autism NZ chief executive Dane Dougan said it had been definitively proven vaccines do not cause autism.

He knows of CEASE therapy but had not heard of it being used much in New Zealand, which he thinks is probably a good thing.

“As an organisation our comment on all of these [unproven therapies] is we don’t look for a cause and don’t look for a cure. To be frank it’s quite offensive to be doing it.”

He said the organisation’s focus is helping individuals and families to live with autism. Scientific evidence is looked at to see what’s best to “help those people live the best life they can live”. He gave the example of medication for epilepsy to help control seizures.

He said some of the unproven therapies prey on some of the most vulnerable people in society.

“They should be evidence-based and proven science. Not just people coming up with an idea.”

A mother has been giving her two sons bleach to "cure their autism", an interview with Fox4 KC revealed.

Laurel Austin from Missouri is at war with her ex-husband for giving their two sons bleach. In an interview with Fox4 KC, the mother of four said she started using the bleach product named Miracle Mineral Solution (MMS) as a treatment for autism.

"When you have someone who tears up their arms and screams all the time and can't speak and they're trapped in their own body - that's not normal, and that's not something they were born with," Austin told Fox4 KC when explaining why she chose to try the treatment.

"That's tortuous, and he deserves relief from that."

Austin began to give her sons the MMS in June 2018 and stopped a year after. She alleges that there was a dramatic difference in her sons' health.

She even claimed that the liquid stopped her son Jeremy from having seizures, revealing: "We've had amazing health improvements, amazing behaviour improvements. This has changed everything ... My children have had improved health.

"If I was poisoning them with bleach, wouldn't their health be getting worse instead of better?"

Austin's ex-husband, Brad, believes she is "abusing" their sons by giving them this liquid and reported her to the police.

Action was dropped after blood tests results, from the sons, tested negative to any signs of toxicity.

"This thing claims to cure everything. It's such a ludicrous idea. She's giving Joshua and Jeremy bleach to try to cure their autism. It is akin to child abuse in my opinion. I fear for their health, their safety," Brad Austin explained.

In the interview, Laurel Austin revealed that she believes that her two sons' autism was caused by vaccines. Her husband Austin believes it is genetic.

Korean-American Professor Couple Identify Major Cause of Autism

[...]

I was reluctant to put this in this thread dispite the similarities to “causes” peddled by quacks because they come from Harvard and MIT. That no information was given about this study and it was published in a consumer magazine not a professional journal means likely means nonsense study.

A “scam” autism treatment at clinics in Cork and Dublin promised an unprecedented physical outcome and has led to public warnings from Health Minister Simon Harris and the Health Products Regulatory Authority.

The “service” offered stem cell treatment for autism, which is incurable. One person considering the Autism Regenerative Centre procedure was told treatment would cost €14,000.

If it seems cruel that vulnerable people, especially parents already unnecessarily guilt-ridden, should be exposed to such charlatans, it seems amazing that they can practise in a society like this. Incurable diseases, and infertility issues, too, offer rich pickings for those happy to exploit people so worn that they allow unfounded hope to cloud their judgement.

The Department of Health is progressing the Patient Safety (Licensing) Bill, which is intended to ensure that providers of health services operate to core standards. It cannot be enacted soon enough.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has over the past week taken multiple actions against makers of stem-cell products. On 5 December, the agency warned California-based Liveyon that its unapproved stem cell products “put patients at risk” due to the possibility of microbial contamination. On 9 December, the agency issued a safety alert, warning the public about unapproved products based on stem cells and exosomes — membrane-bound sacs that shuttle molecules between cells.

Spectrum reported in March that Liveyon’s stem cell products are increasingly being prescribed for autism, even though the therapy is unproven and potentially dangerous. The cells are derived from umbilical cord blood that would otherwise be discarded at public hospitals. Doctors inject the products into the blood of autistic children or spray them up children’s noses for several thousand dollars per treatment.

In November 2018, Liveyon voluntarily recalled a batch of contaminated stem cells that sickened at least 17 people in Texas, Florida and Arizona. At the time, Liveyon’s chief executive officer, John Kosolcharoen, blamed the company’s supplier, a San Diego-based firm called Genetech. That firm had previously received an FDA warning letter and has since ceased operations after a series of lawsuits.

After the recall, Liveyon opened a subsidiary called Liveyon Labs to produce its own stem cell therapies, described on the company’s website as being “manufactured under the strictest safety guidelines set forth by the FDA.” These products are sold under the name Liveyon PURE.

In the FDA’s 5 December warning to Liveyon, the agency said that its inspection of the company several months prior had revealed that Liveyon had failed to properly screen stem cell donors for Zika virus; had combined blood from two donors, increasing the risk of cross-contamination and mislabeling; and had failed to show that its cleaning procedures prevent microbial contamination.

Since the start of this period in November 2017, the agency has filed lawsuits seeking permanent injunctions against two stem cell clinics. It has also sent out more than 45 letters to manufacturers, including one in September to California-based Stemell, Inc., whose products have also been used in people with autism.

There has been little indication thus far that the industry is responding to the agency’s efforts.

“The pace of progress of those offering these human cell- and tissue-based products, including stem cell products, to come into compliance with the requirements has been slower than expected,” the FDA said in June.

Turner says it is far more difficult to get a drug approved for the market than it is to get away with selling an unproven one. “There’s so much money to be made in the marketplace that the incentives skew towards violating federal law,” he says. “That’s what I find scary.”

Twenty-Eight Ways to Spot Quacks and Vitamin Pushers
by Stephen Barrett, M.D.

How can quacks and vitamin pushers be recognized? Here are 28 signs that should arouse suspicion.

1. When Talking about Nutrients, They Tell Only Part of the Story.

2. They Claim That Most Americans Are Poorly Nourished.

3. They Recommend "Nutrition Insurance" for Everyone.

4. They Say That Most Diseases Are Due to Faulty Diet and Can Be Treated with "Nutritional" Methods.

5. They Allege That Modern Processing Methods and Storage Remove all Nutritive Value from Our Food.

6. They Claim That Diet Is a Major Factor in Behavior.

7. They Claim That Fluoridation Is Dangerous.

8. They Claim That Soil Depletion and the Use of Pesticides and "Chemical" Fertilizers Result in Food That Is Less Safe and Less Nourishing.

9. They Claim You Are in Danger of Being "Poisoned" by Ordinary Food Additives and Preservatives.

10. They Charge That the Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) Have Been Set Too Low.

11. They Claim That under Everyday Stress, and in Certain Diseases, Your Need for Nutrients Is Increased.

12. They Recommend "Supplements" and "Health Foods" for Everyone.

13. They Claim That "Natural" Vitamins are Better than "Synthetic" Ones.

14. They Suggest That a Questionnaire Can Be Used to Indicate Whether You Need Dietary Supplements.

15. They Say It Is Easy to Lose Weight.

16. They Claim to Treat the "Root Cause" of Your Health Problems.

17. They Promise Quick, Dramatic, Miraculous Results.

18. They Routinely Sell Vitamins and Other "Dietary Supplements" as Part of Their Practice.

19. They Use Disclaimers Couched in Pseudomedical Jargon.

20. They Use Anecdotes and Testimonials to Support Their Claims.

21. They Claim That Sugar Is a Deadly Poison.

22. They Display Credentials Not Recognized by Responsible Scientists or Educators.

23. They Offer to Determine Your Body's Nutritional State with an Invalid Test or a Questionnaire.

24. They Diagnose Their Favorite Diseases in Virtually Everyone Who Consults.

26. They Claim to Have Scoured the World to Find What Works

27. They Warn You Not to Trust Your Doctor.

28. They Encourage Patients to Crusade for Their Treatment Methods.

Source: This Quackwatch Article.

NOTE: I have omitted the detailed explanations from the original article, and I encourage readers to follow the link I provided to the original article.  I am not affiliated with Quackwatch, which is an international network of people who are concerned about health-related frauds, myths, fads, fallacies, and misconduct.  Its primary focus is on quackery-related information that is difficult or impossible to get elsewhere. -Fnord

8. They Claim That Soil Depletion and the Use of Pesticides and "Chemical" Fertilizers Result in Food That Is Less Safe and Less Nourishing.

Some private clinics are charging UK patients thousands of pounds for unproven and unregulated treatments using the "healing powers" of stem cells, the BBC has found.
And experts are warning some of these "therapies" can cause significant harm.

Stem cells can become many types of cells in the body, from muscle to brain, and can repair damaged tissue.

But they are approved only for treating some blood conditions, for skin grafts and the repair of damaged corneas.

There is growing evidence stem cells may help other conditions, including multiple sclerosis - but only after full clinical trials can these procedures be declared safe, effective and better than existing treatments.

Until then, they are experimental.

The Autism Regenerative Centre, in London, however, is currently offering stem-cell treatments for autism for children over the age of two.

Bone marrow cells are taken from the child under general anaesthetic and re-injected into a vein or their spinal canal, according to its website.

Up to three treatments, each costing £9,500, may be prescribed.

And, an ARC manager told a UK mother, the procedure could be carried out at a hospital near Harley Street very soon.

But Prof Declan Murphy, a leading figure in autism research, at King's College London, said he was horrified such treatment was being offered, because there was "no evidence it was reliable or safe".

B.C. naturopaths are not authorized to transport young patients to another country in order to treat autism with fecal microbiota transplants (FMT), the College of Naturopathic Physicians of British Columbia has confirmed.

The CNPBC issued a statement Monday night in response to a CBC News report about Vancouver naturopath Jason Klop, who advertises "retreats" in Mexico where children with autism can receive pills and liquids made from human stool, at a cost of $15,000 US.

"If Dr. Klop ND is taking patients abroad in order to provide FMT treatment, he is operating outside the scope of practice for naturopathic doctors in B.C.," the statement said.

The college would not confirm whether Klop is under investigation for offering the therapy, but the statement pointed out a number of ways that the treatment he advertises could be in violation of B.C. regulations.

Chief among them is that B.C. naturopaths are not permitted to perform FMT for any reason.

FMT is approved in Canada for treatment of recurrent Clostridium difficile infections, it is not approved for use as an autism treatment in either Canada or the U.S., and the college says it does not condone helping patients access therapies abroad that aren't approved here.

He said the BCNA has also turned up "disturbing information" suggesting that Klop has advertised for salespeople to work on commission to sign up patients. Caissie pointed to an old post (since deactivated) on the online job board ZipRecruiter, where Klop promises "doctor income" for people working at home in their pyjamas.

The BCNA is a voluntary professional group formed to promote the work and services of naturopaths in B.C. Unlike the college, it has no regulatory power.

As CBC News reported last week, Klop says he's used FMT to treat children from around the world as young as two at a clinic south of Tijuana, Mexico. He claims the treatment has produced "dramatic improvements" in symptoms of autism spectrum disorder.

Experts on autism and the gastrointestinal system describe what Klop is advertising as experimental, overly expensive and potentially unsafe.

FMT uses bacteria and other microbes taken from the feces of a healthy person and transferred to a patient either anally or orally, with the goal of restoring a normal environment inside the gut.

There has been some preliminary research into whether FMT could help improve symptoms of autism, but so far it has been based on studies using very small sample sizes, no control groups and no controls for the placebo effect.

One of the researchers involved in that work told CBC News she'd been approached by a parent interested in Klop's business, and she responded, "If it was my child, I wouldn't do it."

Experts say that while FMT holds promise for treatment of a wide range of conditions, there is a serious risk of infection if both the donor and recipient aren't properly screened.

Last year, a 73-year-old man with a compromised immune system died after receiving a transplant from a stool sample contaminated with antibiotic-resistant E. coli.

A Government watchdog has warned homeopaths that they must stop practising so-called treatments for autism, but the NHS director wants the 'quack' practitioners struck off completely.

The Society of Homeopaths have been given a three month deadline to withdraw advertising for bogus 'cures' for autism.

The Professional Standards Authority today said it would only renew the societies accreditation on those grounds.

However, NHS national medical director Stephen Powis has urged for a blanket ban on the practitioners - who have a reputation for offering debunked 'alternative' treatments.

Last year, the PSA faced criticism for accrediting The Society of Homeopaths for a fifth year running, despite some of its members practising CEASE therapy.

The Good Thinking Society, a charity that promotes rational scepticism, said the PSA - which oversees medical organisations - had failed to safeguard the welfare of autistic children.

The High Court gave the green light for a judicial review of the decision, with a decision due to be heard on March 18.

PSA said today it would once more renew the accreditation for 2020 - subject to the condition it stops offering and advertising CEASE therapy.

CEASE relies on the false notion that autism is caused by vaccines, and supposedly involves the removal of 'toxic imprints' in a child through vitamin C and zinc supplements, among other unproven fixes.

The foundations of CEASE also suggests protecting children from autism by avoiding microwaves, antibiotics and bread.

'Specific reference must be made to the society's position forbidding the practice of CEASE and dietary/nutritional supplements,' a statement from the PSA said.

Commenting on the PSA decision today, NHS medical director Mr Powis has encouraged a tougher approach.

He said: 'Taking homeopathic remedies, instead of evidence-based, effective and scientific advice – particularly on lifesaving interventions like measles vaccines – risks sending well-meaning parents down a path that puts them and their children at great risk.

'It's absolutely right that homeopaths should be banned from advertising quack remedies for autism, but frankly this is not enough and they should not be issuing medical advice, full stop.'

As well as forbidding the use of the therapy, the PSA said that homeopaths should stop suggesting homeopathy is a substitute for vaccines - and should instead refer all people to the NHS.

A 2010 House of Commons Science and Technology Committee report on homeopathy said that homeopathic remedies perform no better than placebo, also saying that the principles on which the practice is based are 'scientifically implausible'.

And in October 2018 Yale University researchers actually found that people who use homeopathy as part of their cancer treatment are, on average, twice as likely to die from the disease as those who use conventional treatment alone.

Roby Mitchell hasn’t been allowed to practice medicine for 15 years, but that doesn’t seem to stop him from dispensing medical advice. Mitchell, who lives in Amarillo, Texas, was permanently stripped of his medical license in 2005 for not following a previous probationary order. He was then ordered again in 2012 to stop practicing medicine or holding himself out as a doctor; the Texas Medical Board said he told a cancer patient the disease could be treated by drinking cow’s milk, after Mitchell had injected the patient’s blood into that cow’s udder. (The patient died in hospice before they could drink the "treated" milk.)

Today, going by the moniker "Dr. Fitt," Mitchell is still peddling unproven cures and treatments for everything from the novel coronavirus to autism on social media and his personal website. As the COVID-19 outbreak has worsened, he’s begun touting a variety of fallacious cures for the disease

More disturbingly, though, Mitchell is also touting the success his methods have supposedly had on curing real people of other conditions. That includes children: With the help of a local pain-management doctor in Amarillo, Mitchell says, he has been directing the treatment of a six-year-old who’s been given at least three ketamine IV drips. Mitchell has claimed that ketamine and other speculative methods will "cure" the child of their non-verbal autism.

The child’s name and parents’ names are being withheld by VICE to protect the child’s privacy. The child has undergone at least three ketamine IV treatments, which have been documented in videos and social media posts uploaded by Mitchell, as well as by the child’s mother and grandmother.

The treatment was recommended and directed by Mitchell, according to him, and administered, according to Mitchell and the child's mother, by Dr. BJ Daneshfar, an anesthesiologist and pain management doctor based in Amarillo. Daneshfar didn’t respond to two requests for comment left with someone who identified himself as his office manager, who could never seem to find the doctor in the office when VICE called (which we did prior to the coronavirus pandemic). Daneshfar also did not respond to emails sent to his office and personal email addresses or a text message sent to a cell phone number listed as his in public records.

Reached for comment, Mitchell questioned a VICE reporter’s "level of education," saying, "Looking at your page, you’re not a science writer and don’t appear to have a science background. This topic is not in your wheelhouse." (He didn’t respond to a question about precisely what "page" he meant. His limited response to VICE’s other questions is below.)

In a video uploaded by Mitchell to both Facebook and Instagram in February, the child’s mother was interviewed by him as he stood off-camera. In the video, she said her child was diagnosed with autism at three years old. Daneshfar recommended the treatments to the child’s grandmother, she added. "He brought it up to her, about us trying it out."

"After the first treatment, within a day or two, he started saying more words than we’d ever heard," the mother claimed on the video. "Just talking for himself, really. He’s not just repeating. He’s using words on his own."

As the mother spoke, the video panned to her child, who was slumped in a wheelchair, verbalizing sounds and, repeatedly, what sounds like the word "No."

Mitchell paired the video with a long caption about "curing" autism. "There are several ways to cure autism," he wrote, "once you understand that the cause is inflammation in the amygdala portion of the brain due to Candida overgrowth."

There are a number of things wrong with that statement, starting with Mitchell’s lack of qualifications to make any claim whatsoever about autism or brain health: He wasn’t a neurologist when he was licensed to practice medicine, according to Texas Medical Board records. There’s absolutely no scientific consensus that autism is caused by inflammation or Candida overgrowth (Though he’s not alone in making claims about the purported links between yeast and autism. Candida albicans is an opportunistic pathogenic yeast commonly found in the human digestive tract, and some autism advocates claim that treating yeast overgrowth mitigates autism symptoms, a claim that is, at this point, speculative at best.) There’s also no proof that ketamine would be a way to cure inflammation or candida overgrowth. And there is, according to every reputable medical expert, no known "cure" for autism at all, particularly not an overnight improvement such as Mitchell claims ketamine can provide.

New scientific study has found that an experimental drug for Alzheimer's disease could be used to help children with autism.
The study, titled "Tauopathy in the young autistic brain: novel biomarker and therapeutic target," was an extensive international effort led by Prof. Illana Gozes of Tel Aviv University's (TAU) Department of Human Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry, and was conducted with researchers from TAU, Sheba Medical Center and institutions throughout Europe. It was published this month in the academic journal Translational Psychiatry.

The study focused on a protein deposits found in the postmortem brain of a seven-year-old child with autism from Croatia.

otably, the child in question suffered from ADNP syndrome, one of the most common genetic syndromes on the autism spectrum. This condition, caused by a genetic mutation, leads to a deficiency or malfunctioning of the ADNP protein, which is an essential component in brain development. Those who have this syndrome often show intellectual disabilities and severe developmental delays.
While examining the brain, however, the researchers discovered deposits of tau proteins. These are typically found in Alzheimer's patients.
“When we compared the postmortem ADNP syndrome brain tissues to tissue from the brain of a young person without ADNP syndrome, we found deposits of the tau protein in the ADNP child, a pathology that characterizes Alzheimer's disease,” Gozes said in a statement.

The team then focused on essentially treating the damaged nerve-like cells, which carry the ADNP mutation that leads to the syndrome. To do this, they used NAP, a drug candidate that Gozes's lab developed and intended to use to treat Alzheimer's patients. The drug, also called CP201, is currently classified as an "orphan drug" by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It is currently preparing for conducting clinical trials with ADNP syndrome patients, which will be done through the Ness Ziona-based company Coronis Neurosciences, of which Gozes serves as chief science officer.
"NAP is actually a short active fragment of the normal ADNP protein,” Gozes explained. “When we added NAP to the nerve cells carrying an ADNP mutation, the tau protein binds to the nerve cell skeleton properly, and the cells returned to normal function.

"The fact that NAP treatment has been successful in restoring the normal function of neuronal-like cell models with impaired ADNP raises hopes that it may be used as a remedy for ADNP syndrome and its severe implications, including autism. Moreover, because other genetic disorders related to autism are characterized by tau pathologies in the brain, we hope that those suffering from these syndromes will also be able to benefit from NAP treatment in the future.”
The extensive study further sought to expand on their existing knowledge of the causes behind ADNP syndrome. This was done by analyzing several proteins from the child as well as the mRNA (messenger RNA) and comparing it with proteins and cells from other ADNP syndrome patients, as well as using an online database for proteins in healthy individuals.
The results of this analysis found several characteristics common to the ADNP syndrome patients, but vastly different from these proteins' typical appearances.

“The significance of these findings is that the mutation that causes ADNP syndrome damages a wide range of essential proteins, some of which bind to, among other things, the tau protein, and impair its function as well," Gozes stated.
"This creates various pathological effects in the brains (and other tissues) of children with ADNP syndrome, one of which is the formation of tau deposits, known to be a characteristic of Alzheimer's disease. The vast and in-depth knowledge we have accumulated through the present study opens the door to further extensive and diverse research.

"We hope and believe that we will ultimately reach the goal of developing a drug or drugs that will help children with autism resulting from genetic mutations.”

French prosecutors said Thursday that they had opened an inquiry into dozens of doctors prescribing antibiotics and other drugs as a purported treatment for autism in children, potentially endangering their health. The investigation comes after an alert by France's ANSM medicines watchdog that doctors were prescribing long-term courses of antibiotics and drugs against metal poisoning to autistic children. According to Olivia Cattan, who heads the help group SOS Autisme and has written a book on the practice, some 50 doctors in France are thought to be treating up to 5,000 children this way. Such prescriptions have been linked to controversial ideas from Nobel Medicine Prize laureate Luc Montagnier, honored in 2008 for his co-discovery of the virus that causes AIDS, but frequently dismissed by the medical community for his unconventional ideas in recent years. The Paris prosecutor's office said its public health department has been entrusted with the probe into charges of "endangering the lives of others" and "offences related to research involving human beings." On Tuesday, the ANSM said it had referred the matter, flagged by Cattan, to prosecutors after collecting evidence including parents' testimony and prescription sheets. The watchdog said the children were prescribed antibiotics, anti-fungal, anti-parasitic or anti-viral drugs, as well as treatments for heavy metal ingestion that are normally reserved for use in case of poisoning. The ANSM "formally advises against these uses, for which these drugs have not shown to be effective and which put these children at risk, particularly with prolonged use." Effects can include digestive, cardiovascular and skin disorders, while misuse of antibiotics can lead to drug resistance that undermines the effectiveness of future treatments. The ANSM has also alerted French doctors' and pharmacists' associations. Montagnier has repeatedly suggested that infection may be what causes autism, and set up much-criticized experiments to prove it. He has claimed that parents and doctors have observed benefits from long-term antibiotic treatment, but most medical professionals remain skeptical of the assertion. Montagnier is not the only French medical expert to court controversy with unorthodox treatments. Didier Raoult, a doctor in the southern city of Marseille, has been promoting hydroxychloroquine, usually used in cases of malaria, rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, as a treatment for Covid-19 -- a remedy vaunted by Donald Trump but shot down by clinical research.