Autism Treatment - Neurological Inflammation

Inflammation is known to be a big problem in chronic illness. Inflammation is always a problem in degenerative conditions we see in our country like diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, autoimmune disorders, and cancer, and it is even more problematic when the inflammation is chronic. We also see a problem with inflammation in Autism, especially neurological inflammation. There are several markers that can indicate inflammation that may be impacting these kids neurologically, tumor necrosis factor and interferon gamma are two.

Many children with Autism can have an issue with digestive inflammation and particularly, inflammatory bowel disease. But any type of inflammation whether it is in the gut, the blood stream, whether it is from a virus or a vaccine reaction or food sensitivities, it can negatively impact the brain. Inflammation in the brain can affect kids both globally and locally too, and can be particularly impactful on the temporal lobes. The temporal lobes are found on the side of the head and the left side is where some of the language areas are. When you have inflammation in those areas, blood flow can be decreased which hampers the ability for the blood to deliver oxygen. You can see that can be very problematic.

But the good news is there are many remedies that have been implemented that can have a positive change on neurological inflammation. Actos is a medication that have been used on individuals with Autism with fairly good success to help reduce neurological inflammation. Actos was originally a medication to control blood sugar for diabetics and then it was discovered that it could positively impact the way the cells in the body produce inflammation. Spironolactone is another medication to aid in controlling inflammation, also used at first to treat other conditions. It can be used to treat hirsutism which is an overproduction of testosterone in women and can regulate potassium and sodium which is useful in edema or swelling, especially of the lower extremities. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is also an effective treatment for inflammation in Autism and it helps in two different ways. It increases blood flow and thereby oxygenation to the brain but the pressure of the chamber also seems to be helpful in treating inflammation as well. Turmeric is a very interesting herbal remedy for inflammation. It is an Indian spice with the active ingredient called curcumin. It is showing good results in children with Autism for both gut and neurological inflammation. As you do more research you will certainly hear more about inflammation, not only as a big problem in chronic illness today but also in the Autism community. But, as discussed in this article, there are remedies that can help.