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1st Tack Rule: If
you are sitting on a tack, it takes a lot of [Ritalin] to make it feel good.
2nd Tack Rule: If you are sitting on two tacks, removing
just one does not result in a 50 percent improvement.
3rd Tack Rule: Removing all of the tacks doesn't mean
there still isn't a delinquent somewhere trying to put more tacks on your
chair.
( 1st & 2nd
– Sidney Baker, MD, Detoxification and Healing, 1997, 3rd – Harold
Kraus)
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See also: Links to
Neurological Studies, other Research Articles, and Celiac Web Sites |
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Developmental
Disorders (General Discussion)
Regardless of how effective or appropriate different behavioral therapies and medications maybe in various cases of developmental disorders, it seems quite clear that most if not almost all children with developmental disorders have at least one inflammatory bowel condition.[1][2][3] This is important to realize. It is imperative to detect and treat any intestinal problems[4], regardless of any direct benefit to any developmental problems. Even so, there is good evidence that diet therapy that treats the intestinal conditions also helps developmental disorders; the only real question is how many cases of developmental disorders may benefit.
I know I must tread carefully here, for there are some very strong feelings, political issues, and legal risks surrounding the treatment of developmental disorders. Medication seems to have become institutional, and certainly there are adult patients and parents who are happy with medication or even demand medication. And it is reasonable that medication may be necessary to stabilize profound cases, at least for the short term. On the other hand, there are people who have the position that behavioral therapy and especially medication are at least in some cases ineffective at best and fatal at worse. (A whole other ball of wax is the question of the alleged role of vaccines, but I won’t get into that here.)
There are many different theories and therapies for the causes of developmental disorders. Each one has its committed champions and detractors. Each theory has studies that support it and studies that reject it.[5] Each one has groups of parents that swear it worked miracles for their children and each one has other groups that swear it does not work and even endangers children. This state of affairs makes more sense when you consider two things. First, very few if any symptoms have just one cause. Second, regardless of how valuable they may be, the DSM-IV definitions of developmental disorders are neither deterministic nor repeatable; diagnosis depends on each person’s subjective interpretation. Furthermore, the DSM criteria allow patients with different sets of symptoms to be given the same diagnosis with no acknowledgement that the differing symptoms may indicate differing causes. (Compare this with Celiac Disease -- it is very true that each Celiac has different sets of symptoms, but a Celiac isn't a Celiac unless sensitivity to gliadin can be proven, all other symptoms not withstanding.)
So, when you look at treating a developmental disorder, say ADHD, with diet, you will see one side saying “Diet does not work!” with their stack of studies “proving” their point, and you will see the other side saying “Diet does work in many cases!” with their stack of studies “proving” their point. What gives? Well, generally the studies that show diet does not work and the studies that show diet does work applied deferent diets. So the real truth is that some diets don’t work and other diets do work, with this caveat that those diets that do work for some don’t work for all. Furthermore, the definition of developmental disorders like ADHD allow for different studies to be conducted on different “types” of ADHD. As a consequence, the same diet may be applied to groups having different causes of ADHD, so the success of the diets could or even should be different between the studies.
I concede that that behavioral therapy and medication have their places within a field where symptoms are imprecise and there are at best little practical understandings of the causes. I feel I must implore people to consider that behavioral therapy and medication only address symptoms in most cases and allow the underlying cause to continue unabated.
More than half of classic Celiacs have neurological disorders, including such conditions as headache, learning disabilities and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), developmental delay, and hypotonia.[6] This relationship suggests that food sensitivity, particularly to gluten and casein, may have an important role in some developmental disabilities. On the following pages, I present information I have found reported from investigations of the role of food sensitivity in certain developmental disorders. I hope you find more.
Developmental Disorders discussed on this Site:
Attention
Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD/ADD)
Autism: many of the references on the above AS and ADHD pages also address Autism. See also: ANDI -- Autism Network for Dietary Intervention.
Down Syndrome: Most people with Down Syndrome are gluten sensitive (Search the Internet for: Down Syndrome gliadin antibodies: Search 1 Search 2 ).