BTVC Book - Edition

[Guest guest]

Mine says " millenium edition " , too... but inside, on the copyright page, it says

it's the ninth edition, dated May 2002. There is a tenth edition out there.

No changes to the basic diet, but the more recent one contains the entire

chapter on autism.

Patti

BTVC Book - Edition

I was wondering if I have the latest edition of the BTVC book or if

there have been updates. I'm trying to get some time to read it (very

difficult here!) & want to make sure I've got the right one. It's a

few years old, but says " milennium edition " on it.

Thanks, Michele

[Guest guest]

>

> I was wondering if I have the latest edition of the BTVC book or if

> there have been updates. I'm trying to get some time to read it (very

> difficult here!) & want to make sure I've got the right one. It's a

> few years old, but says " milennium edition " on it.

>

> Thanks, Michele

>

You don't say what edition you have, Michele. Edition 10 was the final one

Elaine

published.

Carol F.

[Guest guest]

I think there may even be an 11th edition. I ordered from Amazon a

week or so ago and it's going to take a few weeks to get here. Did

anyone else have a long wait from Amazon for this book? I had to read

a first edition from the library!

-Jill

>

> I was wondering if I have the latest edition of the BTVC book or if

> there have been updates. I'm trying to get some time to read it (very

> difficult here!) & want to make sure I've got the right one. It's a

> few years old, but says " milennium edition " on it.

>

> Thanks, Michele

>

[Guest guest]

I also ordered from amazon, and it says won't ship for 4-6 weeks. I

guess I didn't understand that when I ordered, so I cancelled my

order for that book and reordered it from and Noble. The price

was quite a bit more, but I don't want to wait that long. B & N will

ship in 3 days.

Diane

> I think there may even be an 11th edition. I ordered from Amazon a

> week or so ago and it's going to take a few weeks to get here. Did

> anyone else have a long wait from Amazon for this book? I had to read

> a first edition from the library!

>

> -Jill

>

>

> >

> > I was wondering if I have the latest edition of the BTVC book or if

> > there have been updates. I'm trying to get some time to read it

> (very

> > difficult here!) & want to make sure I've got the right one. It's a

> > few years old, but says " milennium edition " on it.

> >

> > Thanks, Michele

> >

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Yes, I have the ninth one. I just finished it tonight wondering

where the " autism chapter " was that was mentioned here. I'll have to

get the new one then...

Thanks Patti & Carol, Michele

>

> Mine says " millenium edition " , too... but inside, on the copyright

page, it says it's the ninth edition, dated May 2002. There is a

tenth edition out there.

>

> No changes to the basic diet, but the more recent one contains the

entire chapter on autism.

>

> Patti

> BTVC Book - Edition

>

>

> I was wondering if I have the latest edition of the BTVC book or

if

> there have been updates. I'm trying to get some time to read it

(very

> difficult here!) & want to make sure I've got the right one.

It's a

> few years old, but says " milennium edition " on it.

>

> Thanks, Michele

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

I read the autism chapter on pecanbread.com. Don't know if it is still

there.

Meleah

Re: BTVC Book - Edition

Yes, I have the ninth one. I just finished it tonight wondering

where the " autism chapter " was that was mentioned here. I'll have to

get the new one then...

Thanks Patti & Carol, Michele

Recent Activity

a.. 23New Members

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[Guest guest]

On pecnabread About Autism

by Elaine Gottschall

from Breaking the Vicious Cycle, 10th Edition, Copyright 2003

http://www.pecanbread.com/BTVCautismchapter.html

“….in many autistic children, bacterial and fungal overgrowths are

etiologically significant in the cascade of events that result in autism or one

of the other autism spectrum disorders.”

By Jaquelyn McCandless in Children with Starving Brains.

“A sensible and harmless form of warfare on the aberrant population of

intestinal microbes is to manipulate their energy (food) supply through diet… By

depriving intestinal microbes of their energy source, their numbers gradually

decrease along with the products they produce.”

By Elaine Gottschall in Breaking the Vicious Cycle.

“Janie played with a doll for the first time ever today; I almost fainted. She

initiated a hug and kiss for the first time ever in her 14 years of life.”

From Mom of Janie with Down’s syndrome, autism and gastrointestinal issues after

a short time on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet.

The Specific Carbohydrate Diet has entered the world of autism through “the

back door”- the intestinal tract. And what may have first appeared to be “the

back door,” via the digestive system, is rapidly becoming one of the most

scientifically researched areas in determining what may be one of the underlying

causes of many autism spectrum disorders. Because the Specific Carbohydrate

Diet’s goal is to heal the intestinal tract and to rid it of bacterial and

fungal overgrowth, it is proving to be a very successful dietary intervention in

treating many autistic children and leading them back to a life of normalcy.

This chapter will review some of the research dealing with the Gut-Brain Axis in

child developmental disorders. It will point out how dietary intervention with

the Specific Carbohydrate Diet addresses and often overcomes conditions thought

to be at the root of autism spectrum disorders as well as some cases of epilepsy

and attention deficit disorder (ADD). The

previous chapter, The Brain Connection, highlights the research of many years

in which it had been shown that various neurological problems originate in the

digestive system. And when the number of autistic children soared within the

last two decades, attention has again been directed to the gastrointestinal

tract. Parents of autistic children have always known that, among their

children’s symptoms, there exists symptoms of chronic constipation, periods of

diarrhea, and abdominal pain. But until recently, the parents’ reports were

treated as of no consequence. Now, fortunately, attention is being focused on

these physical symptoms as well as on behavior, and many gastroenterologists are

in agreement that “these children are ill and are in distress and pain, and not

just neurologically dysfunctional.” 1 Some physicians, recognizing that diet

was playing a part in causing the intestinal symptoms focused their attention on

treating these gastrointestinal symptoms as

allergies and/or sensitivities. When testing these patients, they found

evidence of sensitivities to various food components, mainly the gluten of

grains and various components of dairy products. The behavior of many autistic

children, although not all, showed improvement with the removal of these foods

from their diet but, unfortunately, although behavior often improved, intestinal

function did not. It was not unusual for the author to receive letters from

parents as follows: “My son is almost six years old and has autism. He was

gluten/casein free for two years and while, during the first six months I

thought I saw improvement in his exhibiting less stimmy (repeating the same

action over and over again), his stimming returned. Even while on this diet, he

still had constant stomach problems - being hospitalized four times for throwing

up and dehydration. One time he suffered with a bowel obstruction; the other

times they weren’t sure what brought on his violent

vomiting attacks. No doctor even bothered to do a colonoscope. I have mentioned

to our doctor for years that he seems to be addicted to potato chips, french

fries, ketchup, and waffles. When I learned of the Specific Carbohydrate Diet,

it addressed this carbohydrate addiction and I intend starting this diet

promptly.”

And another letter from :

“…Meanwhile, my younger child’s health was failing. He was on a strict

gluten-free diet because of celiac disease. But it wasn’t helping. He was ghost

white and rail thin, with little energy and with chronic diarrhea and black

circles under his eyes. Deep down, I worried he was dying. The team of pediatric

specialists we were seeing had no clue how to make my little boy healthy, nor

did my daughter’s “alternative” DAN (Defeat Autism Now) physician. Fortunately,

for us, this was August. And every doctor treating my son was on vacation. In

desperation, I picked up a book called Breaking the Vicious Cycle: Intestinal

Health through Diet by Elaine Gottschall. A stranger had mailed this book to me

two months earlier after meeting my Mother and hearing about my son’s

deteriorating health. The book explained why my son wasn’t thriving on the

regular celiac diet. His intestines were so damaged he couldn’t digest any

grains, or complex carbohydrates. The next day, he started

the so-called Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) described in this book. His

stools became normal, and he started growing and gaining weight. He’s now a

strong, healthy seven-year old. What about my daughter? She had no obvious

digestion troubles, but she did have “autism” and a recently discovered yeast

overgrowth. One British researcher found a link between the MMR shot, intestinal

problems, and autism. Wouldn’t a diet that promised to heal her intestines and

help with yeast overgrowth be her best shot at normal life? We put on a

dairy-free version of the SCD. She had a terrible yeast die-off that lasted a

week even though she was taking Nystatin, a popular antifungal drug. But once

she recovered from the die-off, about a week later, we were confident she’d

someday grow into an independent adult, thanks to this remarkable diet. Her

remaining speech peculiarities, such as mixing up the order of words in a

sentence, disappeared. Her eye contact became normal. By

the time she was 4-1/2, one year after her diagnosis, no one would guess she

was ever “autistic.”

These parents’ reports are echoed throughout the autistic community: although

various dietary proteins appear to aggravate behavioral symptoms, their removal

is not addressing the gastrointestinal problems. In addition it becomes

increasingly apparent that as a few dietary proteins are removed, more and more

must be taken out of the diet to hopefully achieve and sustain progress until

these children have little to eat in the way of nutritious food. Parents

continuously complain of their children’s addiction to carbohydrates. Dr. J.

O. Hunter in 1991 described this dilemma of treating patients with

gastrointestinal symptoms as food allergies or sensitivities. He stated that

patients who exhibit sensitivities do not follow classical Type I allergic

reaction. If these intolerances are not allergies, then they may be a disorder

of bacterial fermentation in the colon and the disorders might be more

appropriately named “enterometabolic (intestinal) disorders.”2 The Specific

Carbohydrate Diet approaches these gas- trointestinal challenges in autism as

it has been successfully doing for inflammatory bowel disease - as a disorder of

bacterial fermentation and the ensuing problems which occur because of bacterial

fermentation. These problems resulting from bacterial fermentation are: (1)

production of excess amounts of short chain volatile fatty acids (organic

acids): (2) lowering of the pH of the blood as these acids are absorbed: (3)

overgrowth of bacteria as the undigested carbohydrates provide food for

bacterial proliferation: (4) mutation of some bacteria such as E. coli because

of the change in pH in their colonic environment; and (5) excess toxin

production caused by the overgrowth of some pathological bacteria. Bacterial

fermentation occurs when undigested carbohydrates escape digestion and

absorption and end up in the lower parts of the small intestine and colon.

Unlike diets that eliminate only certain proteins, based on tests showing

sensitivities to proteins, and that allow unlimited intake of starches and

sugars, the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) is designed to nourish the child

optimally and to minimize bacterial fermentation. and Blass in 1985 in

The Journal of Developmental Disorders reported the first evidence that autism

might be linked to carbohydrate metabolism (digestion). 3 These researchers

reported that the syndrome of Dlactic acidosis was found to be present in

autistic children. Their work was based on reports of the 1970’s and 1980’s

showing that undigested carbohydrates were being changed by bacterial action in

the intestine to a substance, D-lactic acid. High amounts of D-lactic acid in

the bloodstream have been found to cause bizarre behavioral symptoms. This book

discusses earlier research relating to D-lactic acidosis in Chapter 7, The Brain

Connection.4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 There are two approaches to treating this

abnormal production of D-lactic acid: (1) use of

antibiotics to kill the bacteria producing the substance, a method often used

med- ically, and (2) decreasing the amount of fermentable carbohydrates upon

which bacteria feed in order to produce D-lactic acid. Since antibiotic therapy

often is accompanied by other side effects, it seems reasonable to suggest

dietary changes to accomplish the same thing or as a support for medical

intervention with antibiotics. The year 2000 yielded landmark research in

linking autism to the gastrointestinal tract. It was reported that among 385

children on the autism spectrum, significant gastrointestinal symptoms occurred

in 46% compared with only 10% of almost 100 children without autism confirming

what parents already knew. 11 A flurry of remarkable scientific papers

appeared, first, in the British medical journal, Lancet12 and then in The

American Journal of Gastroenterology (Wakefield)13, demonstrating conclusively

that serious intestinal pathology was found more than half of

autistic patients. These intestinal problems ranged from moderate to severe

including esophagitis, gastritis and enterocolitis along with the presence of

lymphoid nodular hyperplasia. Some of these intestinal pathologies resembled

Crohn’s disease as well as ulcerative colitis. As would be expected, from

previous research done on intestinal problems (see pages 22-24), it was also

found by Horvath et al 14 that there was low carbohydrate digestive enzyme

activity (see diagrams of injured microvilli in the chapter on Carbohydrate

Digestion) although the pancreatic function was normal. Horvath’s report

concluded by saying unrecognized gastrointestinal disorders, especially reflux

esophagitis and disaccharide malabsorption, may contribute to the behavioral

problems of the non-verbal autistic patients. Additional reports from findings

at Harvard Massachusetts General Hospital conclusively showed that carbohydrate

digestion is being hampered at the locus of the intestinal

absorptive cell.15 Initial autism research findings at Harvard Massachusetts

General testing 400 autistic children found that (1) lactase deficiency was

found in 55% of ASD children tested; (2) combined deficiency of disaccharidase

enzymes was found in 15%; and (3) enzyme assays correlate well with hydrogen

breath tests. (The hydrogen breath test measures the amount of hydrogen gas

given off when intestinal microbes ferment unabsorbed carbohydrates.) This

current work, on decrease in digestibility of dietary disaccharides leading to

malabsorption, forms the basis for therapy of the Specific Carbohydrate Diet.

Its goal is to keep disaccharide ingestion to a minimum by avoiding lactose,

sucrose, maltose and isomaltose (remnants of starch digestion) and to provide a

nutritious, healing diet without these double sugars and to deprive the

microbial world of the intestine from a surplus of fermentable carbohydrates. It

is well known that compounds arising in the intestinal

tract can enter the bloodstream and cross the blood brain barrier.16

(Gastroenterologists have been aware of this in treating the neurological

effects of liver disease, hepatic encephalopathy. Reports have been published on

how these toxins from the intestinal tract affect neurotransmitter substances in

the brain.17 Other research by E.R.Bolte18 in an effort to correlate autism

behavioral symptoms to the intestinal tract, investigated how the toxin of one

bacterium, Clostridium tetani, could find its way from the intestinal tract to

the central nervous system via the vagus nerve. But there is still

disagreement among researchers as to what constitutes the toxins from the

gastrointestinal tract and what their origins are. Again, are they derived from

proteins or are they products of intestinal bacterial action? This question was

addressed in an outstanding research paper published in Neuropsychobiology in

2002 and authored by Dr. Harumi Jyonouchi et al.19 Dr. Jyonouchi’s

group were the first to explain how bacterial toxins from the intestine can

result in sensitivities to certain dietary proteins, and casts light on the

conundrum of which comes first: allergies/sensitivities which might lead to

intestinal inflammation, or bacterial and yeast overgrowth (infections) which

can lead to sensitivities to certain dietary proteins. The question can be

viewed as “can the body’s innate immune system, by reacting to the toxins of

certain bacterial cell walls, cause the sensitivities to proteins such as casein

and gluten?” The authors suggest that the root cause of the food protein

sensitivity may be an underlying sensitivity to endotoxin, which arises from the

surfaces of gram-negative bacteria in the gut flora: the lipopolysaccharide

component of the cell wall of certain bacteria present in the intestine.20

This response to an endotoxin of intestinal bacterial cells is considered an

innate immune response, an ancient form of defense and coded in

the genes as an inherited trait. This innate immune response to the bacterial

toxin could stimulate the production of antibodies and cytokines, initiators of

an inflammatory response, part of an adaptive immune response.21 Dr. Jyonouchi’s

research is an attempt to answer the question of why there is gastrointestinal

pathology in children exhibiting autism spectrum disorders and invites the

research community to explore dietary intervention in order to ameliorate the

behavioral symptoms of autism. It is the hope of the author that this book

will be of help to the research community in understanding how the molecular

components of commonly eaten foods affect this problem and how changing the

child’s diet can, indeed, break the vicious cycle.

---------------------------------

Important note to parents of autistic children: When implementing The

Specific Carbohydrate Diet, it is important to remember that during the first

week to ten days, profound changes are occurring in the digestive tract: the

hundreds of different families of microorganisms are changing their metabolic

functions due to the lack of nutrients to which they have been accustomed and of

which they are now being deprived Some children may do well even during the

first week. But others will go through a period of adjustment which some refer

to as “detoxification.” It will be helpful during this period to find support

from the many other parents who have been through this change. Going to the

following websites can give you this support. It is especially important that

you read the information on these websites relating to the introduction of dairy

products. A decision can then be made if the Specific Carbohydrate Diet should

be implemented with or without dairy.

Pecanbread.com

BreakingtheViciousCycle.info

Loving Care, Grammy Gay

---------------------------------

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