Introduction to Autism

As a former Defeat Autism Now “DAN” doctor, Dr. Patel has worked with hundreds of children affected by Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) since 1998. After watching many of these kids recover, he strongly believes Autism is treatable in many cases. There has been a tremendous amount of research and information emerging over the past few years that is helping doctors like us  get these kids on the road to recovery. Since the underlying causes of autism vary from patient to patient, results may vary from mild improvements to complete recovery.

Although we treat a number of different health conditions in our practice, working with kids on the autism spectrum and both children and adults affected by Lyme Disease and Mold Illness is by far the bulk of our medical practice. Seeing children on the spectrum improve is one of the most rewarding aspect of our work.

This portion of our website is dedicated to providing information to assist you in understanding and implementing a treatment program for your child. You will find:

  • Autism Diet Information

  • Links to Other Important Sites

  • Critical Research Articles

Please spend some time researching these resources before and after your appointment with us as it will help you understand our process and clarify potential questions. Thank you for choosing us to support your child’s recovery.

What Causes Autism?

Putting together all of the pieces of information on autism, we can now begin to speculate why some of these children develop autism. From our current understanding, it appears to be multifactorial:

  • Genetic Mutations in Methylation and Mitochondrial Pathways

  • Increased Exposure to Toxins (Heavy Metals and Chemicals) during Developmental Stages

  • Exposures to Infectious agents

For example, a child born with genetic alterations in their methylation cycle will naturally accumulate heavy metals/chemicals more rapidly. This weakness coupled with exposure to infectious agents pre- or post-natally can result in accumulation of heavy metals and other toxins. As these metals accumulate, they often displace key nutrients in our detoxification pathways allowing the accumulation to occur at an even faster rate.

The combination of infectious agents and accumulation of toxins causes inflammation in the gut, resulting in multiple food sensitivities, bloating, diarrhea and other GI symptoms. The same systemic inflammation is also in the brain causing reduced blood flow resulting in abnormal behavior, speech delay and other cognitive symptoms.

We are increasingly seeing cases of autistic spectrum children also affected by autoimmunity. Like autism, autoimmunity in the medical research literature has been linked to heavy metals like mercury and underlying infections.

These factors are all interrelated and can potentiate the symptoms of autism.  Therefore, it is important to address them in a comprehensive manner. As research continues to shed light on these factors, we are able to integrate this knowledge to help in both prevention and treatment.