The Centers for Disease Control report that 1 in 36 children in the U.S. is diagnosed with autism (2023). The increasing prevalence of this diagnosis is not only a matter of greater awareness, but also reflects a true increase. Parents are often told the only supports for their child are either behavioral and educational therapies or pharmaceutical medications.
Research shows that autism is a multi-systemic condition affecting the brain, and thus behavior. It is also associated with a wide variety of physical ailments. There is a growing body of evidence pointing to numerous contributing factors involving the gastrointestinal, immune, metabolic, and nervous systems.
Gastrointestinal or GI system: Many people with autism experience GI symptoms such as constipation, diarrhea, bloating, reflux, and abdominal pain. Because the gut is dynamically interacting with the immune and nervous systems, these symptoms point to not only a digestive problem, but also effects on the brain and immune system. GI dysfunction can also lead to other problems like skin rashes and sleep problems. In a child with autism, this may be expressed behaviorally through tantrums or self-injury, out of frustration and discomfort.
Immune system: Chronic, unregulated inflammation is seen in the GI and nervous systems of many, but not all, people with autism. This may be a result of a low-grade viral infection the body has been unable to clear, ongoing allergies, or in some cases an autoimmune process, where proteins in the brain are attacked by the immune system.
Nervous system: Problems with attention, impulse control, and “stimming” all point to neurological causes in the brain. Inflammatory activation of the immune system in the GI tract can lead to inflammation in the brain as well, affecting important brain chemical messengers called neurotransmitters. These neurotransmitters can affect sleep, anxiety, mood, learning, and behavior.
Metabolism: On the level of the cell, destructive processes such as oxidative stress, impaired ability to remove toxins, and dysfunction of mitochondria (the energy center of the cell) are common in autism. Evidence-based treatments are having a great impact on the lives of those diagnosed with autism and their families. These treatments do more than hide outward symptoms, but seek to find the ongoing, damaging processes in the body that cause these symptoms and to alter or reverse them, bringing about true healing.
Dr. LaRosa is one of only a small number of physicians in the Portland, OR area with extensive, specialized training in integrative, biomedical treatment for people with autism. In addition, she has years of experience as a behavioral therapist and advocate for people with autism and their families. The key to optimizing health is a thorough, individualized assessment. Given the unique biochemical differences among people with this condition, a treatment plan must be customized to the individual. Healing the underlying causes of illness and treating the whole person are at the heart of Naturopathic medicine.