The National Autistic Society said therapies with no supporting evidence were being sold to parents.
The warning comes after a BBC investigation found the use of dietary supplements and biomedical therapies being widely touted as a treatment.
There is no cure for autism and current best practice involves the use of behavioural and educational therapies.
SECAUCUS — The neuroscientist who would have overseen a controversial therapy for children with autism has been fired by Meadowlands Hospital Medical Center in Secaucus and, in a separate action, his nomination to a state commission on brain research has been delayed.
Philip DeFina was part of an ambitious plan by Meadowlands to offer hyperbaric oxygen therapy to children diagnosed with autism. The therapy, typically used to treat burns and other wounds by energizing dying tissue, required approval from the state Department of Health and Senior Services. Meadowlands would have been the first hospital in the state to offer the experimental treatment.
More @ http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/01/meadowlands_hospital_neuroscie.html
Unable to watch the seizures continue to wrack their daughter’s tiny body, Ann Marie Angelucci said she and her husband were willing to try anything — and pay anything — to help their child diagnosed with autism.
On the advice of other parents, they took Carolyn to a doctor for hyperbaric oxygen treatments, which cost $90 each and required their 5-year-old to lie repeatedly in a pressurized chamber flooded with oxygen.
They also paid $15,000 to install a chamber in their Yardley, Pa., home. Six months later, with no sense the treatment was helping, the Angeluccis sold the device on eBay for about half the price they paid.
"I cannot say one way or another if it helped her. There was no measurable effect," said Angelucci, a nurse and central New Jersey native. "But I wouldn’t tell a family not to do it, because you never know. You’ll grasp at anything that might help."
Come January, the state health department will decide for the first time whether a hospital — Meadowlands Hospital Medical Center in Secaucus — should be allowed to offer this experimental and controversial treatment for children with autism.
Judging from the sentiments on both sides of the issue, there is a lot at stake. Traditional medical experts say hyperbaric treatment offers families false hope while draining their bank accounts because insurance doesn’t cover it. Advocates say the approach deserves more respect and attention by researchers because some families swear it has helped their children communicate and learn.
If the state licenses the hospital’s hyperbaric chambers for experimental use, the work would be overseen by Philip DeFina, who has a doctorate in clinical psychology from an accredited online university. His work with neurologist Jonathan Fellus treating coma and brain-injured patients commands $100,000 a year in out-of-pocket costs from hopeful families across the country, according to the two doctors.
Should the state give its approval, the statewide advocacy group Autism New Jersey won’t recommend it.
"There might be some anecdotes, and they are a nice start to develop a hypothesis, but they in no way substantiate claims of efficacy," said Suzanne Buchanan, clinical director for Autism New Jersey. She suggests families explore the evidence-supported applied behavioral analysis, which requires a child to break down desired actions into smaller steps that are repeated.
Buchanan also recommends "hopeful skepticism" with anything deemed experimental.
"You have to explore things that could make a positive difference," she said, "but if you are not skeptical, you could be led down the wrong path."
More @ http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/11/questions_risks_surround_hyper.html
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All signs point to a guy named Dan Rossignol. Dr. Rossignol is apparently into every form of autism crankery, including mercury poisoning, mitochondrial dysfunction, and oxidative stress (although I can’t imagine that increased PaO2 is an effective treatment for “oxidative stress”). After spending a few minutes looking through his web-based material, I’m starting to think that this guy can give the Geier’s a run for their money.
True to form, Rossignol is a “pioneer” and a “maverick”. He goes where legitimate clinicians haven’t dared. Based on an implausible hypothesis, he (apparently) subjects autistic children to potentially dangerous hyperbaric oxygen therapy. He has published his ideas in the crank-magnet “Medical Hypotheses”, and in BMC Pediatrics, a journal devoted to rapid, “flexible” publication.
Even if his data were to support his nonsensical hypothesis (again, increased O2 to treat oxidative stress??), should we believe it?
Well, someone does, and that someone apparently sells hyperbaric therapy, and not just for autism. They also treat Lyme disease, multiple sclerosis, and cerebral palsy—and anything else you can spell. The site does, however, have a very small Quack Miranda Warning on the left sidebar.
Clinical Studies and Articles on Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for Autism:
· Autism is treatable: Townsend Letter
· A New Method of Treating Brain Injured Children in a Barochamber
· Treatment of Neurologically Impaired Adults and Children with mHBOT
· Hyperbaric oxygen therapy might improve certain pathophysiological findings in autism
· Hyperbaric oxygen therapy may improve symptoms in autistic children
· Medical Study- Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for Autism
· Hyperbaric Oxygenation can repair and restore damaged brain
· Hyperbaric Oxygen Report on Autism
· Autism Treated With Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatments from MUMS
· Clinical Study: Mild Hyperbarics for Impaired Brain Function
· Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), Autism, Aspartame and Mercury- Interview Dr Stoller
· Hyperbaric oxygen chambers treating autism in Lower Hudson Valley
· Vaccinations, Autism and Hyperbarics
· Advance Cover Story on Autism
Case Studies- Treating Autistic Spectrum Disorder with Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
There is an estimated 1 to 1.5 million Autistic individuals in the United States. With an annual growth rate of 11-16%, and a 172% increase from the 1990’s, Autism is the fastest growing developmental disability in this country. The condition effects communication and social interactions and is the effect of neurological dysfunction. Autism is a spectrum disorder, with varying degrees of impact and is the most common of the Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD). Other disorders in this spectrum range include; Asperger's Syndrome, Rett's Disorder, Childhood Disintegrative Disorder and Not Otherwise Specified Pervasive Development Disorder.
While the cause of Autism is unknown at this time, there are many theories as to the source of the condition. Some medical professionals claim that the Autism is caused by a state of hypoxia, or lack of oxygen to areas of the brain. Others state that the condition was due to a high fever or infection, trauma during birth, mineral or other nutritional deficiencies, vaccination reactions, mercury poisoning, chemical exposures, or abnormal blood flow in the brain. While there is currently no cure for Autism, researchers are investigating new and revolutionary means of treating the condition with promising results.
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy used in Autism
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) has been utilized to treat Autism in many countries throughout the globe. The rationale behind using hyperbaric for Autism is that the treatments increase cerebral blood flow and thus oxygen is delivered to areas of the brain, which are thought to be oxygen deficient. Greater amounts of blood and oxygen begin to stimulate cerebral tissues and aid in recovery of idling neurons. HBOT also reduces excess fluids and swelling of brain tissues which aid in neurological function and a less confused state in Autistics.
Hyperbaric is also used as a complementary therapy for the treatment of heavy metal detox for such materials as mercury. Hyperbaric assists in the metabolism of heavy metal removal. It can help a patient counteract the effects of heavy metal poisoning and helps body deal with toxins even as noxious as cyanide. It is often used in conjunction with chelation and other detox procedures to help support the body to deal with the impact commonly seen in the removal of heavy metals, mercury, toxins, and other contaminants.
Worldwide, medical researchers are discovering promising results with the effects of hyperbaric therapy on persons with Autism.
In one study, involving brain functionality and recovery for children with chemical exposures exhibiting PDD disorders, hyperbaric oxygen therapy was found to be remarkably effective. Treatments consisted of 10 sessions in a hyperbaric chamber at 1.3 ATA, for one hour per day, five consecutive days for two weeks. To increase validity to the study results, SPECT scans of each patient’s brain were taken before and after the hyperbaric treatments to quantify physical changes to the brain tissue. The SPECT scan showed an increase to blood flow and oxygen to the temporal lobe. SPECT scans of patients taken before hyperbaric treatments showed a significant amount of dormant activity while scans taken of patient brains after hyperbaric indicated an increase in brain activity and blood flow. After hyperbaric therapy, dormant brain regions were replaced with greater functioning tissues and represented a scan more similar to a healthy individual.
In another recent study, measuring the effects of hyperbaric oxygen therapy on Autistic children ages 1-11 yrs, researchers found a total effectiveness of hyperbaric in 93.6 % of study participants. Researchers theorized that HBOT was effective in combating autoimmunity and the viral aspects of these conditions when encephalitis was present.
So the question is- how can hyperbaric help with Autism? Scientists have varying opinions on why the therapy is so successful as a treatment for the condition. Some theories suggest that the brain in some persons with Autism, as well as Cerebral Palsy and other neurological disorders, is lacking oxygen and in a dormant, or sleeping state due to lack of blood flow. Hyperbaric forces oxygen into tissues throughout the body including brain tissues and fluid, resulting in a re-awakening of dormant areas of the brain. Other theories state that excessive swelling in the brain results in a lack of oxygen causing cerebral impairment that can cause behavioral problems, confusion, etc. Oxygen is forced into these damaged areas, through the pressurization of hyperbaric, which alleviates brain swelling by constricting blood vessels. In addition, hyperbaric is thought to provide an optimal environment to assist in the regeneration of brain tissue.
Clinical Studies and Articles on Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for Autism:
· Autism is treatable: Townsend Letter
· A New Method of Treating Brain Injured Children in a Barochamber
· Treatment of Neurologically Impaired Adults and Children with mHBOT
· Hyperbaric oxygen therapy might improve certain pathophysiological findings in autism
· Hyperbaric oxygen therapy may improve symptoms in autistic children
· Medical Study- Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for Autism
· Hyperbaric Oxygenation can repair and restore damaged brain
· Hyperbaric Oxygen Report on Autism
· Autism Treated With Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatments from MUMS
· Clinical Study: Mild Hyperbarics for Impaired Brain Function
· Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), Autism, Aspartame and Mercury- Interview Dr Stoller
· Hyperbaric oxygen chambers treating autism in Lower Hudson Valley
· Vaccinations, Autism and Hyperbarics
· Advance Cover Story on Autism
