Dispatches from the Front Lines of Autism and Lyme Disease

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The thinking about autism and Lyme disease is moving so quickly, it can make your head spin.

Last year, and again this year, doctors at the Lyme-Induced Autism (LIA) Foundation's annual conference shared perspectives from the front lines of a battle against mostly unseen, devastating pathogens that rob the afflicted of the promise of a healthy life.

The most striking difference was that last year, the doctors flashed on the big screen lots of patients' slides revealing genetic testing and lab results. This year, there were almost none. The doctors who had "been there, done that" found that the tests didn't really help that much.

The Tyranny of Tests
"Our testing is not that great," offered Dr. Jeff Wulfman of Vermont. "We must rely on the patient's history. That more often leads to the diagnosis. There often is no gold standard to measure." He cited several studies, including a 2002 study of 80 internal medicine outpatients that found that history led to the final diagnosis 76% of the time, whereas the physical examination and laboratory investigation led to the final diagnosis 12% and 11% of the time, respectively.1

Dr. Jeff Wulfman of Vermont received the "2009 Physician's Excellence Award" from the LIA Foundation and CHOICE.

Immune-system suppression is common in afflicted patients. That makes for a poor antibody response. Blood is the easiest thing to pull out and measure; but spirochetes, for example, prefer to set up housekeeping in the tissues, so often they cannot be found in the blood. Hence, a western blot test will be "negative" for many people with chronic Lyme disease. Short of an autopsy, we can't sample tissue, bone, organs, or other places where microorganisms live. Blood simply isn't a good indicator of the pathogenic load in the human body.

"Mayo Clinic said no test is adequate today to rule in or out the presence of Lyme other than the doctor's opinion," added Dr. Garry Gordon of Arizona. "Yet people spend a great deal of money trying to find out which pathogen they harbor. Truth is, we all carry a burden of pathogens."

Testing for heavy metals is a challenge. Often, autistic children do not excrete metals, so tests on hair samples, for example, can look as if there are low levels when actually they just mean that the metals are simply not being released.

Tami Duncan of the LIA Foundation and Linda Heming of CHOICE (Consumers for Healthcare Options, Independence, Choice and Experience) cosponsored the June 2009 convention in Scottsdale, Arizona.


Epigenetics
The hit-and-miss reality of testing is compounded when epigenetic changes are considered. Genetic expressions are changed by mechanisms other than alterations in the underlying DNA sequence. Additionally, these changes may remain through cell divisions for the remainder of the cell's life and last for multiple generations.

Dr. Gordon cited a study from China in 2003 that found that cells infected with the tuberculosis organism changed 463 new expressions of genes.2 Bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical used in polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resins, has been found to cause an epigenetic change in mice, making lean mice into obese mice.3

Dr. Wulfman asks, "When you map the genes, are you seeing a cause or simply a marker?" Good question.

The Body Burden of Pathogens
"Toxins are now believed to be a significant contributor to most chronic diseases today," Dr. Gordon said.

Donna Jackson Nakazawa, author of the book The Autoimmune Epidemic, makes the case that the human immune system is under bombardment. "Our own immune system is being asked to distinguish between itself and invaders, and it is making too many mistakes because of the plethora of environmental chemicals," she said. "In the international community, scientists talk about the impact of the chemicals as global warming, yet we do not admit that there is a sea of change also taking place in human bodies."

Studies done by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and Environmental Working Group document that we all harbor a surfeit of chemicals, from fire retardants and pesticides to plastics and aluminum, and more. Today's children come into the world with a heavy body burden. "I am amazed at how much heavy metal toxicity little children have at 5–6 years of age," reported Dr. Ann Corson of Pennsylvania.

"You can test, but we know everyone born today has 1000 times more lead in their bones," said Dr. Gordon. "As the mother creates a fetus, the calcium from the mom is used to make bones in the fetus but the lead in the bones is downloaded too." If the mother has amalgam (mercury) fillings, that mercury is downloaded to the fetus. And on it goes.

"These kids cannot detox what they downloaded as a fetus from their mothers plus what they get on their own," added homeopath Mary Coyle.

Mercury and lead are extremely neurotoxic and cytotoxic, but their combined synergistic effect is much worse. "When you put mercury and lead together it is not 1 + 1 = 2. No, it is 1 + 1 = 100 times more toxic," Dr. Wulfman explained. "Modern medicine tries to isolate one factor, but there is never just one."

Mercury holds a special place in the world of toxins. "Mercury, in my experience, is the one thing that most fuels the growth of pathogens," stated Dr. Lee Cowden of Texas. "It is slow to detoxify."

Testosterone has an affinity for mercury, which sheds light on why more boys than girls are autistic.

Dr. Doris Rapp, best-selling author of Is This Your Child? and Our Toxic World, received a lifetime achievement award from the LIA Foundation and CHOICE in recognition of her dedication to education about the harmful effects of environmental toxins.



Smart Bugs
The microbe community is highly sophisticated, and very capable of adapting to survive. Over time, they increase their survival odds by morphing their modes of transmission. Lyme disease, for example, was originally known as a "tick-borne disease." But Lyme spirochetes have been found in semen and breast milk, and congenital Lyme disease can be passed by an infected mother to the fetus through the placenta during pregnancy.

"Most of the autistic children are cases of Lyme disease contracted congenitally," said Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt of Washington.

He also stated that almost all of his Lyme patients have kryptopyrroluria (KPU). "There are 300 enzymes that are zinc dependent," Dr. Klinghardt explained. "The bugs figured out to block one of these enzymes to make you pee out your zinc and disarm your immune system. It is genius! It is one of the bugs' molecular mechanisms that has not been found yet, but we know they can do it. If you do not have zinc, the body substitutes cadmium or lead or aluminum or mercury. When the substitution is made, the child becomes highly toxic. Autistic kids cannot mobilize mercury, cannot get it out. With KPU treatment, they can."

Dr. Wulfman cited studies showing that parasites actually make us do things that insure their survival. "We see carb cravings with Lyme disease. That is because the parasites love sugar and have mind control over us to make us deliver it."

The bugs are also skilled at recruiting heavy metals to create an ingenious cloaking device called biofilm.

The Genius of Biofilm
Bacteria aggregate, then draw upon calcium, magnesium, iron, heavy metals, fibrin, and other elements to weave a protective polymeric matrix around themselves: biofilm. Inside the filmy structure, bacteria can shed their outer membrane proteins (OMPs). Without these, they have no proteins to serve as antigens or as targets of the immune system. Biofilms leach toxins into the bloodstream, which weaken the immune system while shielding the pathogens and facilitating communication among the community of microorganisms that live in the matrix. Biofilms can even develop "water channels" that distribute nutrients among the pathogen communities. When biofilms exist in the gut, they disturb digestion and prevent normal flora from thriving. Bacterial are very crafty in creating methods to survive, procreate, and hide from both the immune system and antibiotics.

Biofilms cause more than 70% of community and hospital-acquired infections, according to the CDC.

Peta Cohen, MS, RD, reported in May 2009 that biofilms are a huge piece of the puzzle in autism, lupus, Lyme disease, multiple sclerosis, and any autoimmune-type chronic infection.4 Others agree, including Dr. Stephen Fry of Arizona.

"Biofilms are the law in nature, not the exception," Dr. Fry said. "Biofilm colonies are complex, difficult to treat. We do not have biofilm drugs yet today."

Biofilm compels the immune system to maintain a state of dysfunction.

Dr. Stephen Fry, left, is pioneering research into biofilm.


The Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) has been in a running battle with the International Lyme and Associated Disease Society (ILADS), resisting the use of long-term antibiotics to knock out chronic Lyme disease. But what if IDSA more or less has it right – that long-term antibiotics are not the answer?

One of the best-known features of biofilms is that pathogens within a biofilm community are 100 to 1000 times more antibiotic resistant.5-7 Dr. Klinghardt advised: "It is not enough to bombard with antibiotics. We have to change the inner environment and detox."

Dr. Gordon agrees. "If we give full antibiotics at the start of the bull's-eye rash, it just kills the easy ones and leaves the rest antibiotic resistant."

Dr. Anju Usman of Illinois reported that she has had success dismantling biofilm with EDTA and enzymes. "Biofilm requires formation of fibrin. Nattokinase penetrates the GI tract and gets into the blood where it breaks down fibrin." The battle with MRSA also showed the effectiveness of chelating factors. "One of the most effective drugs against MRSA is vancomyecin," she continued. "But they couldn't get rid of it; there was a biofilm. Then when they combined the antibiotic with EDTA, it pulled the calcium, magnesium, and iron and dismantled the biofilm."

Many Pathogens? or Maybe Just One?
Dr. Fry spends many of his days tethered to a microscope. He prods us to rethink what we know about the bugs that trigger chronic disease symptoms. He thinks the day is not far off when we may recognize that a single microorganism, cloaked in biofilm, is responsible for symptoms of Lyme disease, its coinfections, and many other expressions of chronic disease.

"I don't think Borrelia is the main problem in Lyme disease. We only have one picture of it in the thousands of slides that have gone through our lab. There is something that stains like bacteria, and looks like bacteria in people who are sick. Almost all the sick patients have evidence of more than one pathogen, and evidence of biofilms. There is more than one pathogen in the biofilm community, but one particular microorganism we've stained may be the main concern."

Six years ago, he established Fry Laboratories in Scottsdale to begin to identify the DNA of this pathogen. "So far, we have mapped three unique genes that make up this particular microorganism," he said. "These genes are unique to this pathogen; no other entity on earth is known to possess them. As our work progresses, we will be able to further identify the genetic makeup of this pathogen and then develop a reliable test for it."

But if one bug is behind so much chronic disease, why so many different diagnoses and symptoms? "In the biofilm community, there is a soup of pathogens where they all hide. Any one of those pathogens may not be why you are sick. For example, just about everybody over 35 will test positive for Epstein-Barr virus, but people usually are not sick from it. So not every bug in the biofilm soup is causing symptoms. Symptoms may vary based upon a person's genetics, environment, and pathogen genotype."

Dr. Wulfman also questions the concept of a multitude of bacteria causing a multitude of different diseases. "Classic Lyme disease – the person had no prior infection, got a tick bite – I don't see that as much anymore," he said. "I am not comfortable with ‘Lyme disease' to cover this entire spectrum of illness related to Borrelia. As we see more coming out about the ubiquitous nature of organisms in people today, I see us and the community of microbes within us, and our immune system, trying to manage that. It is a constant tug and pull."

Super Destructive Bugs
Dr. Wulfman sees that the idea of a variety of pathogens being responsible for a long list of illnesses is further defined by the notion that a few biotoxins have turned into superstars of destruction.

Dr. Klinghardt agrees, and underscores the importance of mold in the equation. "We all have molds – Candida, Aspergillus, et cetera," said Dr. Klinghardt. "Many of us were looking at mold years before the Lyme thing happened. The microbes that live in us symbiotically for tens of thousands of years are feeling under attack. This is what creating autism, symptoms of Lyme, the learning disabilities, ALA, Parkinson's, short-term memory loss, insomnia – it all goes back to a few biotoxins in us produced in unprecedented rates."

In the absence of fully understanding the hows and whys of infections, have we developed an erroneous construct of a multitude of diseases, each caused by a different pathogen? But what if one, or several, familiar pathogens are capable of unleashing a storm of symptoms?

Dr. Wulfman suggests we have a "perfect storm" of environmental factors that could account for this. "Never has there been the excess of sugars, never the level of toxins before," he said. "And there is a ubiquitous heavy metal load underneath this. We are weaker and less able to handle infection agents which leads to more chronic, low-grade infectious states."

Dr. Klinghardt pointed out that Borrelia infections have been around for thousands of years. "What is new is the behavior of the illness that is making us so sick."

Electrosmog
Evidence is building that one element of that "perfect storm" is daily bombardment of electromagnetic frequencies (EMF) to which we are exposed. Dr. Cowden points out that microwave illness is identical to chronic fatigue syndrome and autism. "Is this the smoking gun?" he asks.

There was common agreement that pathogens feed on electrosmog.

Bau-biologist Vicki Warren (Institute for Bau-Biologie & Ecology) spoke of two theories about that: "First, the microbials within the body think they are under attack and so they start proliferating and producing toxins. Second, our healthy cells also feel like they are under attack and also go into locking down and close their cells walls. Because the cells are not releasing the toxins, you get a free-radical buildup and DNR repair is disrupted. So the healthy cells die off early and the bad stuff grows rapidly – it's like a double whammy. This is the path for the development of tumors associated with cell phone usage. Johnny Cochran and his doctor were convinced cell phone use was the cause of his cancer."

For whatever reason, a number of the Lyme and autistic children are hypersensitive to electrosmog. It interferes with the body's own communication among its cells. Cells know when to divide by vibrating. "Brain cells, nerve cells, bone cells, all vibrate at different rates in order to communicate with one another," Warren explained. "Our bodies act like tuning forks. When you vibrate a tuning fork (external electrical influence), any tuning fork (like our body) in its vicinity will start vibrating at the same frequency or rate, and therefore will be confused as to how fast to grow."8

Increasingly, doctors and parents are finding that the best defense is to create a "sleeping sanctuary" so there is no bombardment at night when the body does the bulk of its detoxification and healing.9

"Electronics stimulate cortisol; no wonder we have no immune response," said Dr. Toby Watkinson of California.

Dr. Klinghardt shared an experience that gave him new respect for how EMF feeds mold. "I worked with the main mold researcher in Switzerland. He could measure the amount of mycotoxins produced on a daily basis. One culture we protected with a Faraday cage, the other we left in the room. Three weeks later, we measured. The protected culture had a low amount of mycotoxins. The unprotected had 600 times more mycotoxins. Molds are now exposed to unprecedented amounts of EMF."

GMOs
Another element gaining recog­nition for its contribution to immune system dysfunction is the rise of genetically modified (GM) foods.

Jeffrey Smith, best-selling author of Seeds of Deception and executive director of the Institute for Responsible Technology, made the case. "No safety studies were ever done on GM foods," he said. "The FDA declared in 1992 that foods derived by these new methods do not differ from other foods in any meaningful or uniform way. Yet the process of insertion and cloning produces unexpected changes in the DNA. The RNA, proteins, phytochemicals and other natural compounds in plants are affected. The FlavrSavr tomato was the first GM food. They fed it to rats. The animals developed stomach lesions and died."

Smith believes that GM foods trigger a host of health issues, including leaky gut and allergies. "In Australia, they fed GM peas to mice and found they developed MCS [multiple chemical sensitivity]. Allergists know that the burden of a single immune reaction can easily spread to other foods. And an allergen is resistant to digestion. In the last 10 years, we've seen an epidemic of digestive and learning disorders. What we find today is people typically have multiple chronic illnesses. Autism, obesity, certain cancers have all been on the rise since GM foods have been introduced."

European consumers have resisted GM foods more than have Americans. Smith says that this is because the American media have avoided the story. "The Brits decided to test GM safety and awarded the study to Dr. Arpad Pusztai. He looked at GM potatoes and found all kinds of abnormalities. When he presented his report, he was fired from his job and his 20-person research team was disbanded. In 1999, the gag order on Dr. Pusztai was lifted. Within 10 weeks after he was able to speak, the tipping point was reached, and the first announcement was made that a European company would not market GM foods. His data, subsequently published in Lancet, shows the process of GM is unstable. If Oprah Winfrey would speak of GMOs, it would be over in 60 seconds. GM foods are that vulnerable. Nine out of 10 Americans want GMOs labeled."

The LIA Foundation agreed to pass a resolution urging all doctors to prescribe a non-GMO diet to their patients.

Jeffrey Smith cautions us that we are playing genetic roulette when we eat genetically modified foods.


Nutritional Famine
The "Standard American Diet" is another contributor to immune-system dysfunction.

"Never has there been the excess of sugars, never the level of toxins before," said Dr. Wulfman. "Food and drink is the number one contributor to chronic disease that I see. A study this year out of Canada found 90% of the children deficient in omega-3s. A study last year shows Splenda reduced beneficial fecal flora. The primary source of calories consumed in USA today is GM corn syrup. Next is white flour. There is a nutritional famine going on."

He shared that many of his patients switched to gluten-free cereals, pancakes, pretzels, and cookies – but these are still nutrient-deficient foods. "The diet history of a gluten free child shows that there is no real food in it. You need complex, nutrient-dense, living food. Nutritional deficiency affects genetic expression for the individual and the next two generations of offspring. The most pronounced effects of persistent deficient diet are on the 3rd–4th generation. We are now in the 3rd–4th generations."

Science is confirming what our instincts should have told us all along: vitamins in nutrient-dense foodare good for us. Dr. Gordon pointed to a 2008 study that found that vitamins can reset DNA that is not working properly. It makes sense; vitamins have a major effect on enzymes.

Dr. Joseph Mercola of Chicago pointed out that for two decades, we have been running on fumes for vitamin D. "We are modern day cavemen," he said. "We don't get exposed to sun. A hundred years ago, sun exposure was much higher and skin cancer rates were much lower. Vitamin D is antimicrobial. It upregulates some 3000 genes that keep you healthy. Obese people need a lot more vitamin D, because toxins are held in fat cells."

Dr. Mercola summed up much of the nutritional famine from the consumers' point of view: "The vast majority of our culture has traded health for convenience."

The famous Pottenger cat studies of 900 cats over 10 years documented the effects of an unnatural diet on successive generations: adverse personality changes, hypothyroidism, and most of the degenerative diseases encountered in human medicine. The cats died out completely by the fourth generation. The changes that Pottenger observed in cats on the deficient diets paralleled the human degeneration that Dr. Weston Price found in tribes that had abandoned traditional diets

The Fix Is Detox
If the doctors at this conference were less enamored with testing, it is because experience reveals that the effort and money are often better spent on treatment. And detox is the place to start.

"You can never get a Lyme patient well unless you start with detoxification," said Dr. Klinghardt. "That is also true of all chronic diseases. I learned to look at the whole family. We detox, then address infection."

Dr. Gordon, recognized as a long-time leader in detox, advises that the first two elements of a simple detox are zeolite and silver. "Zeolite is a natural volcanic mineral. It will take out most known toxins. Zeolite is particularly good for removing mercury and other heavy metals, based on charged density. Zeolite grabs it and escorts it out. Good colloidal silver allows you to get Candida, MRSA, and other infectious microbes out of the body. People need to focus on lowering their total body burden of pathogens and toxins." Then you need lots of vitamin C, because when the body is destroying bacteria it becomes acidic. Vitamin C is also a great antioxidant.

Once you start to lower the pathogen level, you lower the inflammation level, and then the biofilms start to decrease. This creates a cascade of events in the right direction. "It doesn't happen overnight," Dr. Gordon reminds us. "We have a lot of toxins stored in us, and more come at us every day from every direction. We also need to focus on keeping the bad stuff out. Learning how to avoid GM foods and EMF is something we can all do, today. GM foods modify your intestinal flora, which sets the stage for tumors and other problems. No probiotic will overcome it. GM corn and soy puts a pesticide in the gut and it replicates."

Dr. Klinghardt said he has more recoveries by percentage than other practitioners he knows by simply addressing the issue of sleeping with EMFs.

"We are all hoping for the magic bullet, some pill, that will take us out of the morass of ill health," said Dr. Gordon. "But it's not going to happen. The level of toxins in the body correlates directly with the level of infections. If you go after the infections just with antimicrobials, the effort will fail. Toxins set the stage in the body for pathogens to multiply and become very destructive. You must go after the body burden of toxins through detoxification to stop the downward spiral."

In the mainstream world of medicine, detox is simply the beginning of recovery from a drug or alcohol addiction. But in the integrative health world, detoxification is the tool to turn around the epidemics of chronic disease fueled by chronic infections with their defensive biotoxins being produced inside us in unprecedented rates.

Mary Budinger
4546 E. Cortez St.
Phoenix, Arizona 85028
602-494-1999

Mary Budinger is an Emmy Award-winning journalist who writes for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.


Notes
1. Markert RJ, Haist SA, Hillson SD, et al. Comparative value of clinical information in making a diagnosis. MedGenMed. 2004;6(2). Available at: http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1395780.
2. Xie Jianping, Li Yao, Yue Jun, et al. Exploring Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection-induced alterations in gene expression in macrophage by microarray hybridization. Sci China C Life Sci. 2003;46(4):337–347. http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=15104245.
3. Haemer MA, Huang TT, Daniels SR. The effect of neurohormonal factors, epigenetic factors, and gut microbiota on risk of obesity. Prev Chron Dis. July 2009;6(3). Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/Pcd/issues/2009/jul/ 09_0011.htm.
4. Allergy Research Group. Dissolve biofilms with fibrinolytic enzymes: a novel approach to chronic infection in autism spectrum disorders. Focus. March 2009. Available at: http://www.allergyresearchgroup.com/Mar-2009-Focus-Newsletter-Biofilms-and-Fibrinolytic-Enzymes-sp-90.html.
5. Mah TF, O'Toole GA. Mechanisms of biofilm resistance to antimicrobial agents. Trends Microbiol. 2001;9:34–39.
6. Mah T F, Pitts B, Pellock B, Walker GC, Stewart P S, O'Toole GA. A genetic basis for Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm antibiotic resistance. Nature. 2003;426:306–310.
7. Patel R. Biofilms and antimicrobial resistance. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2005;437:41–47.
8. Oschman, James. Energy Medicine. London: Churchill Livingstone; 2000.
9. Wings of Eagles Healthy Living. Creating a sleeping sanctuary [Web page]. http://www.wehliving.org/sleeping_sanctuary.pdf.