UCSF autism kids study tests enzyme

[Guest guest]

UCSF autism kids study tests enzyme

Allday, Chronicle Staff Writer

Monday, November 8, 2010

Fallon took an interest in enzyme replacement when she saw that many autistic

children had diets heavy in carbohydrates - french fries and pastas and breads -

but hardly any protein.

UCSF researchers are kicking off a clinical trial to test whether certain

children with autism can benefit from regular doses of an enzyme to help them

digest proteins, which may in turn improve their brain function and ease some

symptoms of their disease.

It's one of several treatments being explored that could address the root causes

of autism - an incurable set of developmental problems that affects

socialization, language and behavior - instead of just the symptoms of the

disease. But the theory behind the enzyme is controversial, because there is

little solid research demonstrating that the missing enzyme, or digestion

problems in general, is a direct cause of autism.

Some studies have shown that autistic children are more likely than healthy

children to have gastrointestinal problems, and that a certain subgroup of

autistic kids have enzyme deficiencies. But whether those problems cause autism

or are just another symptom of the disease isn't known for sure.

Still, some researchers say that even if there's no clear connection between the

missing enzyme and autism, it's a treatment worth exploring.

" I think every avenue, every potential hypothesis, should be investigated in

autism, " said Dr. Hardan, a pediatric psychiatrist and an autism

researcher at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital who is not involved in the

enzyme trial. " This is one of them, and regardless what the results show, it

will be helpful to look at what they find. "

Curemark

The trial is being paid for by Curemark, the New York-based drug company that

developed the enzyme. UCSF is one of 15 sites around the country participating

in the trial, which will involve 170 children ages 3 to 8. UCSF is planning to

recruit up to 10 children.

The trial is double-blind, meaning that children will be randomly assigned to

receive either the enzyme or a placebo, and the patients, their parents and the

researchers will not know who is getting the treatment and who isn't.

Children will eat the enzyme three times a day - they sprinkle the tasteless

powder over their food - for 90 days. After that time period, parents can opt to

give their children the enzyme for up to a year, whether they were in the

treatment group or the placebo group.

Researchers will use interviews with parents and other behavioral tests to

assess whether there are any changes in the children's symptoms.

" The treatment is enormously simple, but finding it out wasn't simple at all, "

said Joan Fallon, chief executive of Curemark, who is a pediatric chiropractor

who works with autistic children. " Is it theoretical? Yes. But we hope the

trials will give some benefit to a subgroup of children. And we hope our trials

will make other researchers look at the physiology of the disorder. "

Carb heavy

Fallon took an interest in enzyme replacement when she saw that many autistic

children had diets heavy in carbohydrates - french fries and pastas and breads -

but hardly any protein. These kids may avoid protein because they're missing the

enzyme to help them digest it.

That enzyme helps the body break down proteins in a process that produces

certain amino acids, which are important for brain development and communication

between brain cells. So some autistic kids aren't eating enough protein to begin

with, and what protein they do eat isn't being digested properly. The idea is

that those missing amino acids may be a cause of autism.

At least anecdotally, doctors seem to agree that gastrointestinal problems are

common among autistic children. And many parents have reported - again,

anecdotally - that dietary changes help improve symptoms of autism.

So it's possible that giving the enzyme to children who are missing it will help

some autistic kids, doctors say. At the very least, it's worth testing,

especially since the enzyme itself is unlikely to have any side effects, some

researchers say.

" I do think there is a subgroup of kids who have these gastrointestinal symptoms

or some difficulty digesting proteins, who may have that relate somewhat to

autism, " said Dr. Hendren, director of child and adolescent psychiatry at

UCSF. " We're always thinking about what else we can try. What else we can do

that might help these kids. We have a responsibility to leave no stone

unturned. "

Much of the research into treatments for autism is based on anecdotal evidence,

Hardan said. Doctors often hear of reports from parents who try one trick or

another to help ease symptoms in their children, and if something sounds

promising, they'll test the treatment in a scientific study.

" I meet with a lot of parents, and they support our research. But some of them,

they want something this afternoon, not tomorrow, " Hardan said. " And I

understand that, it's very frustrating. But that's science. It takes time. "

What is autism?

Autism, which usually appears before age 3, is one of a group of developmental

problems that generally affect three key areas: social interaction, language and

behavior. While there is no cure, early treatment can make a difference.

Causes: Autism has no single, known cause and probably has many. These may

include genetic problems that can make a child more susceptible to the disorder

or worsen symptoms. Environmental factors may also contribute.

Symptoms: Children with autism show unique patterns of behavior, but common

symptoms include delayed development, poor eye contact, failure to hear others,

resistance to close contact and unawareness of others' feelings.

Source: Mayo Clinic

E-mail Allday at eallday@....

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/11/08/MNLJ1G7T0C.DTL

[Guest guest]

About this new study UCSF autism kids study tests enzyme

" UCSF researchers are kicking off a clinical trial to test whether certain

children with autism can benefit from regular doses of an enzyme to help them

digest proteins, which may in turn improve their brain function and ease some

symptoms of their disease... " The treatment is enormously simple, but finding it

out wasn't simple at all, " said Joan Fallon, chief executive of Curemark, who is

a pediatric chiropractor who works with autistic children. " Is it theoretical?

Yes. But we hope the trials will give some benefit to a subgroup of children.

And we hope our trials will make other researchers look at the physiology of the

disorder. " Fallon took an interest in enzyme replacement when she saw that many

autistic children had diets heavy in carbohydrates - french fries and pastas and

breads - but hardly any protein. "

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/11/07/MNLJ1G7T0C.DTL

What I'm curious about is if the researchers even casually interviewed families

of autistic children who were not consuming much protein daily to see if there

was a difference if they tried to raise the protein in the diet and if there was

a difference. From what I'm reading this study raises a few possible theories

and questions

1. Is autism linked to lack of protein in diet?

2. Is autism linked to lack of ability to digest protein in diet?

3. Will increasing protein in diet help children with autism?

4. Will increasing metabolic or digestive support help children with autism?

I'm just saying; wouldn't it be easy to at least find out in a parental

anecdotal study what type of diet the child has and if there are any changes in

increasing protein in the diet? The reason I ask is because from what I've seen

the average child in America has a terrible diet today filled with synthetic,

processed " foods " and as we have seen in recent news in spite of attempts to

crack down on marketing to children unhealthy foods, there is an increase

http://healthland.time.com/2010/11/08/study-fast-food-ads-target-kids-with-unhea\

lthy-food-and-it-works/

So while I applaud the focus on finding out if there are simple ways to help

children improve by improving diet -bravo for that! Why not first rule out that

improving diet doesn't help before we jump to having to add specific enzymes to

their foods? Aren't meats harder to digest say than other forms of protein such

as whey isolate protein which is already partially broken down? I believe we

found an easily digestible isolate protein that is water soluble, natural,

casein free, and is " working " for autism and many other diagnosis for what

appears to be all ages and almost across the board

http://pursuitofresearch.org/science.html (and if you still want enzymes with

that protein then add some NV Accell

=====