WHAT IS AUTISM?
Autism spectrum disorder, or simply autism, is a neurodevelopmental disorder “characterized by persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across a variety of contexts” and “restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities.”
Autism, like other chronic disorders, is a condition that includes genetic, epigenetic, and environmental elements.
WHEN DOES AUTISM START?
However, unlike many other conditions, in autism the negative effects of these variables begin during pregnancy and persist throughout early and late infancy.
Because autism is a condition that is present from birth, initial signs of potential autism may be detected early after birth.
CLINICAL MANIFESTATIONS OF AUTISM
The clinical features of autism typically change as a child progresses through various stages of development. It is not possible to identify a consistent pattern because parents use a variety of symptomatic treatments, nutritional supplements, and unproven approaches. These interventions may either exacerbate or worsen the clinical picture, but the frequency of these changes should be well documented.
In autism, clinical manifestations typically progress from simpler symptoms in the early stages (such as feelings of emotional detachment or sleep problems) to symptoms associated with sensory and motor impairments later in development, and eventually to neuropsychiatric manifestations.
WHAT DETERMINES THE CLINICAL MANIFESTATIONS OF AUTISM
Clinical manifestations of autism at different stages of development and in children with different forms of the spectrum are determined by structural and functional disorders in the central nervous system. These disorders are caused by chronic inflammatory factors that put pressure on the brain from the earliest stages of its formation and persist in the postnatal period and in childhood.
AUTISM AND INFLAMMATION
Autistic inflammation differs from acute (therapeutic) inflammation by its “sluggish” pathological low-gradient inflammation, which manifests itself in several pathophysiological forms, ranging from serous to atrophic.
Autism is characterized not only by neuroinflammatory diseases, but also by various inflammatory pathologies of metabolic, endocrine, deficiency and other types.
AUTISM AND IMMUNE SYSTEM DYSFUNCTION
The immune system of a child with autism is unable to properly control its processes, which leads to a lack of protection against new infectious agents that can cause various infectious and inflammatory disorders in various organs and systems.
In addition, an imbalance in the immune system contributes to the development of a pathophysiological and inflammatory microbiome, which is home to a significant number of potentially harmful microorganisms. Consequently, this microbiome interferes with the formation of healthy mucosal and systemic immunity, for which the components of the immune system are responsible.
AUTISM AND THE DYSFUNCTIONAL MICROBIOME
Additionally, the imbalanced gut microbiota of children with autism creates biofilms in various areas of the gastrointestinal tract, leading to persistent inflammation in the digestive organs and resulting in a condition known as leaky gut syndrome.
Leaky gut syndrome allows harmful substances created by harmful microorganisms and disease-causing agents to enter the bloodstream and affect the liver, central nervous system and endocrine organs. This leads to an escalation of clinical symptoms associated with autism.
HOW TO TREAT AUTISM
Treatment of autism should be aimed at the underlying disorders caused by chronic/latent infections, inflammatory pathologies of various origins, and then at restoring normal brain function by reprogramming neural connections.
If at the early stages of autism development, the formation of neurotypicality can be a relatively easy task with proper treatment, then at a later age, with severe forms of the autistic phenotype, treatment will become more complex, requiring more comprehensive personalized treatment, including additional methods of normalizing the functioning of not only the impaired immune and nervous systems, but also normalizing the functioning of the endocrine system and metabolic homeostasis.
Based on the existing model, we propose a treatment based on the above mentioned principles, which leads to successful therapeutic results in children with autism.