Autism Study Shows Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Benefits Autistic Children

I guessed right about the therapy study announcement from the USAAA conference in Boulder Colorado this week. Dr. Dan Rossignol released the findings of a study in which autistic children are reported to have made significant improvements in speech, versus those in a control group, after receiving 40 treatments in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber. The improvements are said to include more language, new words, more words put into sentences and improvements in cognition. If the Lovaas 1987 study is any guide this study will undoubtedly receive intense scrutiny; some from professional sources and some from those with a more ideological bent.

A report on CBS4 from Denver tells of the Wrangham family of Boulder whose 16 year old daughter Rachel has an autism spectrum disorder and whose family has purchased a $15,000 hyperbaric oxygen chamber for their home and who report language gains from using the Chamber. Rachel herself reports that the chamber treatment has helped her organize her thoughts. As the CBS4 report indicates "Doctors believe the hyperbaric oxygen therapy helps children with autism by increasing blood flow to areas of the brain which may have lower levels of oxygen than in typical children.The hyperbaric oxygen therapy has also been found to help with sleep and intestinal problems often associated with autism.

http://cbs4denver.com/health/local_story_223173252.html

Autism Surging - the Numbers Are Going Up

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is estimating 1 in 150 births will be affected by Autism. In fact, that number is growing at a startling rate of 10 to 17% a year.

"The numbers are huge and they're going up," said Dr. Phillip Demio, Autism Specialist.



http://www.thedenverchannel.com/health/13852467/detail.html

The arguments will continue about why the number of persons diagnosed with autism are going up. The arguments have been stated and restated many times and usually boil down to environmental toxins versus changed definitions and greater autism awareness. Bloggers, lawyers, cultural anthropologists and professors of english literature can foam and froth and offer their considered, or ill considered, opinions about why the numbers are rising but they are. In the UK the numbers are higher. Even Neurodiversity icon Simon Baron-Cohen begrudgingly cites 1 in 100 as the incidence figure for autism in the UK. To my knowledge no one has explained the divergence between the 1 in 150 US figure and the 1 in 100 UK figure. Hopefully though we will one day know what is creating the surge in diagnoses of autism disorder.

There is an explosion of research into the causes of autism now taking place. The Autism Knowledge Revolution is happening all around us and we should soon have more reports and more information from Boulder Colorado where the USAAA is holding its conference Treating Autism as a Medical Disorder; Bringing Biomedical Treatments and Behavioral & Developmental Therapies Together. Understanding the causes should help in the development of new treatments for autism. And someday conclude yet another seemingly endless autism debate.

Autism Treatments - Keeping a Disciplined but Open Mind

The USAAA conference, Treating Autism as a Medical Disorder; Bringing Biomedical Treatments and Behavioral & Developmental Therapies Together, starts today in Boulder Colorado. When I first commented on the conference and the press release announcing that a major autism study would be disclosed I received a comment from a Neurodiversity blogger who asked whether I was now embracing "quackery". For the record, I have never accepted, to date, the evidence of a vaccine/thimerosal link. In my home province here in New Brunswick I have received criticism in the past for commenting on the shortfalls in the vaccine theories and for speaking against "conferences" at which unproven biomedical products are sold. My son does not receive any biomedical treatment, no medication, no dietary supplement. He does not receive HBOT (Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment) or stem cell treatment. Conor receives Applied Behavior Analysis, ABA, intervention because, despite the fervent ideological opposition of the Neurodiversity movement, there are hundreds of studies demonstrating gains for autistic children receiving ABA intervention.

I have not embraced, to use the term offered by the ND blogger, biomedical treatments for my son's autism disorder. That does not prevent me though from keeping an open mind about biomedical, or any other autism interventions, if further studies provide evidence of their effectiveness. By open mind I do not mean an unquestioning, accepting, approach. I will try to take an open minded but disciplined approach to new studies and new evidence concerning autism treatments and interventions. If new studies and evidence are presented showing that interventions are effective then I will be prepared to examine the evidence, with the assistance of professionals in the field, and I will be prepared to change my personal assessment of a particular autism intervention.

Two interventions which have shown some promise as autism interventions are stem cell therapy and HBOT (Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment). There is also anecdotal evidence of parents who swear by chelation as an effective autism treatment. None of the evidence of these interventions rises to the level, in my mind, of evidence based effective interventions for autism - to date. I do not know what intervention will be the subject of the study to be announced today. My guess was that the report will focus on HBOT but if you know my record on predicting the outcome of sporting events (I picked France over Italy in the World Cup, Ottawa over Anaheim in the Stanley Cup) you should probably assume that it will NOT be about HBOT. Regardless of what intervention turns out to be the subject of the study I intend to approach the announcement and the results of the study with an open but disciplined mind. Not out of desperation as some of the ND ideologues like to chant about parents seeking new treatments for their children's autism; but because it makes no sense to make a final decision about potentially helpful new treatments and to refuse to consider new evidence. It just does not make sense to close your mind forever on such important issues.

Major Autism Treatment (Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment ?) Announcement Promised at USAAA Conference

In a post on July 15, 2007 Autism Research Paradigm Shift I commented on a new autism research center at the University of Minnesota and the Autism Research Paradigm Shift which would see Autism as "both preventable and treatable, not by any one method but by a combination of behavioral and biomedical approaches. Autistic kids are not defective, they are sick but otherwise normal kids, and thus, recoverable." The paradigm shift is also the theme of the USAAA 2007 Autism and Asperger International Conference Denver, Colorado August 8-11, 2007 Treating Autism as a Medical Disorder; Bringing Biomedical Treatments and Behavioral & Developmental Therapies Together. The USAAA is co-hosting the conference with the Autism Society of Boulder Colorado.

http://www.usautism.org/usaaa_conference_overview_2007.htm

Experts on autism and Asperger's Syndrome will speak about biomedical and educational interventions with a focus on ways to improve the quality of life for the affected individuals and their families/caregivers. There is a wide range of speakers including Temple Grandin, Raun Kaufman, Dan Rossignol, David and Mark Geier, and Doreen Granpeesheh.

The keynote presentation will undoubtedly be controversial, at least on the internet, if not at the actual conference. The address by David Geier and Dr. Mark Geier is titled "Epidemiology and other evidence on what caused the autism epidemic and new treatment protocol for autism".

Dr Doreen Granpeesheh, PhD, BCBA, honored recently by the Autism Society of America as "Professional of the Year", will provide a two part presentation on the conference theme "Bringing Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) Therapy and Biomedical Treatments Together". The conference website profiles Dr. Granpeesheh's impressive experience and background in studying and treating Autism Spectrum Disorders including her role as Founder and Executive Director of the Center for Autism and Related Disorders (CARD) and more than 25 years of study and treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorder.

In a press release issued yesterday "USAAA announced that a major medical announcement will be presented at the conference regarding a study on autistic children that showed significant clinical improvements in many core areas including language, socialization, cognitive awareness, and decreased irritability. This intervention has been used with clinical success in several other chronic neurological conditions including cerebral palsy, fetal alcohol syndrome, closed head injury, and stroke."

http://www.prleap.com/pr/88329/

The press release does not identify the intervention referred to but there have been ongoing clinical studies of HBOT (Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment) which has been used to treat all the above injuries so my otherwise uninformed and purely speculative guess is that the announcement will involve results of an HBOT clinical study.

Hopefully the bold promise of the press release is matched by the actual results in the study and, if confirmed, by future successful application of the intervention be it HBOT or otherwise.