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Their brains are on fire. Why? What causes Autism and Alexithymia? What can you do about it now?
Back in the early 1900s psychiatrists looked for the cause of a new manifestation in children who had problems communicating along with social interaction disturbances. There were so few children that had it, it was very hard to know where to search.
It's still hard to know what's going on now even with millions of cases, but for very different reasons.
In the beginning when there were so few people that had Autism or Asperger's, it was very hard to know where to track down the causes. A child was brought in here, a child there. How do you make any sense of that?
Doctors through the ages have been fascinated by studying people who have either physical ailments or manifestations of psychological problems. Any anomalies caught their attention.
Thousands of years ago physicians wrote down what they found and categorized it by seeing patterns that formed a collection of traits at which point names were created as something to call these afflictions.
There are written records going back through time describing various cases.
In all this abundance of literature there is virtually nothing described as Autism or Asperger's before the early 1900s.
Isn't that interesting? It seems from descriptions of a few famous people back in time that some of them had it. We can't prove it though.
If they did, their behavior at the time didn't cause their parents to take them into a doctor who kept records that lasted down through time.
In the early 1900s, as time went by, more children began to show the neuro-developmental disorders of being on the spectrum. Now there are over 3 million people on the spectrum in the United States. And how about the rest of the world?
Some say tens of millions but the fact that the rate varies significantly by country is even more interesting. That alone should raise eyebrows through the hairline, but you can look this subject up online yourself At any rate, the hunt for the sources intensified.
Some of the possible links to Autism have credibility in that they have fairly solid connections but are so rare that they don't explain the whole epidemic.
To be clear, some people are born with some degree of Autism, others show the onset within about 36 months of age.
So far it looks like in most cases there are genetic tendencies that outside factors trigger the manifestation of Autism but it doesn't explain everything.
If genetics alone caused Asperger's that would mean the same percentage of this syndrome would be part of every generation in every country and that is simply not supported by the current state of affairs, history and the data gathered from it.
So why are some people getting Asperger's?
Here are some of the causes that are implicated:
- Viral Infection in the pregnant mother, or in the young child who is genetically susceptible,
- Gestational diabetes seems to trigger some,
- Problems with the gut microbiome of the child,
- Advanced age of the parents,
- Lower serotonin levels in mothers
- Air pollution when the mother is carrying,
- Exposure to toxic chemicals of the mother when pregnant or the child when very young.
There are more candidate causes and research continues. It's a complex syndrome.
"The prevalence of co-occurring medical and psychiatric conditions is very high in adults with autism in pretty much every category across the board,” says lead researcher Lisa Croen, director of the Autism Research Program at Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, California. Here is their list:
- Dysfunction in the methylation cycle,
- Disruption in the microbiome of the gut
- Dysfunction of the microbiome in the brain,
- Lower immune function,
- Fragile X syndrome
- Antisocial personality disorder
- Sensory issues with touch, or sound or bright lights.
- ADHD,
- Obsessive-compulsive disorders
- Tourette's syndrome,
- Severe headaches,
- Auto-immune disorders
- Issues with writing, or reading, or movement
- Social anxiety disorder
- Skin allergies
- Depression
- Fives times as likely to commit suicide
- Anxiety disorders
- Twice as likely to have high blood pressure
- Food allergies
- Seizures, epilepsy
- GI disorders including colitis
- Sleep problems
- Aggression issues
- Oppositional Defiant Disorder also known as Compulsive Oppositional Disorder
I know this isn't fun to read about, but if you love your Aspie, have a serious look at the top several possible conditions that are common in connection with it.
According to research, some of these co-occurring disorders make autism symptoms worse. There are several leading candidates that ought to be considered if your mate has Asperger's.
Bear in mind they may have none of them, but the chances are that they have several.
#1. Alexithymia wasn't mentioned on the list above, but we're in the pioneering stage of understanding this disorder so everyone's learning as we go. So it needs to be added here since up to 85% of the people with Autism have some degree of it.
85%. This is a big one.
I mention details of this in "Accidental Narcissists' which is critical to know about if you haven't read about it. There is strong evidence that environmental toxins trigger genetic changes causing it. So far they know about two other ways to get this but they are not affiliated with Autism: head trauma and unusually cold and unresponsive parenting.
Having Alexithymia means you may not know you are having a feeling. In addition you may not know the name for it if you do. Pause here and think back to the problems you are having that involve emotional friction and consider if this might be a possibility.
It's on a spectrum like Autism and can range from mild to severe. Some people have no idea what certain feelings are in themselves and certainly don't understand them in you. There is a simple, free test your partner can take that will let you both know if Alexithymia is involved, and if so, where he landed on the spectrum.
#2. Anxiety issues affects up to 86% depending on the clinical criteria used. Dr. Tony Attwood, world specialist on Asperger's points out that those with ASD have structural and functional changes to the amygdala which processes emotions, especially anxiety.
#3. The next issue to consider has neuro-psychological similarities with Autism which is
"oh look, a butterfly...."
Yeah, you got it. ADHD. From 30 to 50% of the folks with Asperger's have it. Worth looking into.
#4. Bipolar disorder can occur in up to 27% of Aspies. The general population is 4%.
#5. OCD can occur in up to 17% of the spectrum population. It also shares some things in common genetically.
#6. Depression is common because of all the stressors in their life and because of the high possibility of a few of the items on the list could be along for the ride.
Keep in mind, if they have Alexithymia they may be experiencing several of these disorders and have no idea that they are. Their bodies will be experiencing the downsides of the disorders but they won't translate that into knowing there is a problem. For them, that's life as they know it.
That means they could be suffering a great deal but have no way of translating it into emotions or words to tell you with. It's very uncomfortable for them, and for you too.
What's so different in the last 100 years that has changed from the thousands of years before?
Consider how our lifestyles have changed in the last hundred years or so.
My grandmother's stocked cupboards were very simple compared to today. I remember seeing hers on the farm in the San Joaquin Valley of California and they had minimal supplies.
Born into a farm family in the late 1800s, even as an adult she didn't need a lot of cupboards to keep her supplies in because they held the basics of flour, sugar, salt, a box of saltines, a container of oatmeal, a box of raisins, a few cans of tomato soup and sliced pineapple, a few spices and herbs, corn starch, and containers of elbow macaroni.
Like most grandmas of her day she cooked almost everything from scratch. She lived on her own farm with grandpa when I was born. She had shelves of jars from the fruits of the tiny orchard and vegetables she "put up" from the garden at the end of the growing season.
Her lady friends from town bought their neighbor's produce from the local grocer. Her chickens ran around freely in the pastures outside with the cows.
All the cattle were grass-fed only, the chickens were fed non-GMO grains to supplement what they ate in the fields. Nothing was sprayed because that's the way it was.
Even the vegetables tasted good. Her idea of face and hand cream was strained, cooked lard from her own cattle that she kept in a pretty tin with flowers painted on it on the counter. Her face was clear and smooth and her hands were like silk.
It did not occur to them to dye their hair. There weren't the masses of cars back then, furniture was made with few chemicals in the fabric, and most streams that ran nearby were clear and pure.
In my other grandma's summer house, she cooked on a wood stove and everything from there tasted better than you can imagine. She too had access to home-grown vegetables and fruit, field-raised cattle and chickens along with plenty of fresh crab and salmon. There were hardly any boxed foods in her cupboards either.
No microwave ovens were up there at the time. Left-over food was kept in glass containers and there were no plastic bottles to drink out of either.
Neither one of these grandmothers knew each other until they were quite old, but their lifestyles, while different in income were the same in terms of quality and health in lifestyle.
Neither one of them used anything chemical on their gardens, they buried all their kitchen discards and yard trimmings in the garden for fertilizer.
If you got hungry between meals you had a bit of actual food like an apple, some celery sticks with peanut butter smeared in the gullies, or a tablespoon or two of cottage cheese.
There were no bags to open for snacks in their houses. Coke or 7-Up were for holidays, not instead of water. Candy was what my local grandma from the farm made once a year. If I asked my mom for candy in a wrapper as a child when we were at the store, she looked at me as though I lost my mind.
As long as men and women didn't have to work directly with chemicals back then, there was far less exposure.
When I was a child, this was our normal. Our clothing was mostly cotton, sometimes wool, and when I got older, silk for special.
Mothers cleaned the house with simple chemicals among which were vinegar and baking soda back then.
As for medicine today, I will be the first to agree that prescribed or over-the-counter drugs not only save lives, but make life better in many cases. I also suggest that the whole business of medicine has gotten off track in some serious ways.
Traditional doctors want to heal, but seem to have reduced much of what they do down to telling you to take a pill or injection as the solution for everything. It was not always this way. Most of the time when we left doctor's offices back then, it was not with a prescription in our hands.
When I was a child, I remember once the doctor told my mother to have me sit out in the sun more to help a certain condition clear up. She did, and it did.
I saw the end of an era in this country. I'm older than my husband. He grew up with a completely different lifestyle as did many of you and there was a new normal.
There were no wellness visits to the doctors for babies when I was born; there were by the time my husband came along. When my friends and I were actually sick we were taken in to see the doctor when the parents ran out of healing methods passed down from generations ago.
And now? These days, kids are taken in when they are perfectly well for shots. My generation and the ones before had almost no exposure to whatever is going on with injections. And no, the subject on that is not closed. And no, I'm not an anti-vaxxer, but I have many serious questions which does not make me a pro-vaxxer either. Let's not get derailed here because the subject is complicated.
If you are really interested in this subject, go look at original research and ignore magazine and news articles that pop up. The doctors and researchers that have a problem with the way vaccines are given now are not against vaccines as such. They all agree the science behind the idea of vaccines is sound. Their actual issues have to do with the questionable choices the pharmaceutical corporations make about what to put in the vaccine, how many vaccines to bundle per shot, and how early in life to give which ones.
As we close this look back in time, I ask you to consider the environmental changes in the lifestyle of the country you live in. If you've got a moment, go look up the maps being developed regarding the prevalence of Autism around the world. It is not evenly disbursed, very intense in some areas and in some cases seems to be non-existent. Look this up in your own country. You've got to ask why.
Taken all together the cause of Autism is difficult to nail down. So far there are around 1,000 genes that seem to be involved with Autism. You get all the subgroups of Autism depending on which genes get triggered, how frequently, how seriously, and by what. As for which chemicals, time will tell, but why make it worse since we know they don't metabolize them well?
The addition of toxic chemicals are heavily implicated, but there are so many. How much was your mother-in-law or your spouse exposed to which chemicals in addition to how often is part of the equation when you consider what causes it.
The scientists have decided that Autism is triggered from during pregnancy up to the baby's age of around 36 months. It is during this time that the onset occurs.
The reason why it is important to think about how the general lifestyle in your nation has changed compared to 100 years ago, is that you can assess what has changed in your country and compare it to what your mate has been potentially exposed to. The changes we see in some countries are not what is seen in others. Yet.
There seem to be implications regarding the health of the mother and father, but there's nothing we can do about that except ask them if something interesting comes along in research to ask them about.
From the list of what may come riding in with Asperger's in your partner, you may have a better idea of what he is struggling with. Maybe there is more to discuss than you originally thought.
What can you do now?
We can discuss what to swap out in your home for cleaning, discuss pollution or chemical contamination where he works, the same for where you live, how you live, what personal care products he's using, and what you're all eating or not eating. This is not my major focus but it's something to touch on.
If your partner has methylation problems, he is clearing toxins out of his body much, much slower than the average population. Why add to the problem.
Chances are you are married to someone who has been adversely affected by environmental toxins that were severe and frequent enough at the right age to have given him Asperger's.
Doesn't it make sense to tip the balance back the other way towards a lifestyle with less toxic chemicals as part of your efforts to improve your marriage? If he feels better and is not so aggravated by his discomforts, it gives you more chances to work on issues with him.
"Their brains are on fire."
I didn't make this phrase or concept up. It was the title of a riveting lecture I saw last year and it made total sense to the audience attended by a significant number of medical professionals.
It is clearly demonstrated that toxic chemicals cause inflammation in the brain. It also causes inflammation in the gut although they may have no overt symptoms.
The microbiome in the gut communicates directly with the microbiome in the brain and you don't want or need either of them inflamed.
Our partners may be very smart and quite charming but their brains are already wired in a funky manner. Inflammation just makes the situation worse by degrading what's already funky.
How can we work on social behavior, emotional expression and regulation or Executive Function (see the section on "Why You're so Tired") if their brains are on fire? Sometimes it's best to start by calming down their bodies and brains before we start working on behavior with them
If your brain function was as agitated as they say those on the spectrum is, how would you like to live with that as a baseline? Wouldn't you blow off a lot of suggestions?
As that lecturer pointed out, when someone has a stroke, do they send a speech therapist in the ambulance with the paramedics? No. They take the patient to the hospital to stabilize and treat the stroke. Then later they begin to work on speech.
It's fair to suggest we do the same with our mates. If we do what we are capable of to calm down the inflammation in their brains and gut, we can begin to work on behavior as it pertains to their well-being. The healthier they are, the higher chances are for a healthier marriage.
Let's take their brains off the bonfire. Let's see how they feel when you've removed some of the toxins in their environment.
You have a lot of control over how much of this chemical assault continues in your bodies and in your house. We can discuss it, but you can tackle this problem one category at a time, as your own pace of life allows.
Eventually you can get your house, the cars, general environment and what you eat as far removed from toxic chemicals you decide you want to. As for the rest, there are dietary things you can do that will help with what you can't control.
Since I am not a doctor of any kind we can pull in functional physicians, psychologists and psychiatrists as needed, but we can do so much on our own.
As adults we are ultimately responsible for ourselves. We can choose to educate ourselves and choose to create a lifestyle that re-balances our bodies back to better health.
The concepts I have described are based on observation as well as discussion with many experts. The ideas are based in science. I can share with you what we've learned here in my house as well as what has been reported to me by my clients I can also tell you about what I've read, or heard at lectures that has helped others.
You can decide if any of what's been tried by others may help your partner, and therefore, your marriage.
Come home to yourself~~~
