Autism is a brain function disorder resulting in impaired social interaction, difficulty with communication, and restricted and repetitive behavior.

These symptoms start before a child is 3 years old and affect four boys for every girl. It can be very severe, or present in milder forms of what is called Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

Causes and Triggers

Autism can have many triggers and causes, and also has a genetic component.

Current research suggests that it is related to chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and fibromyalgia as well as hyperactivity, sharing in the causes and underlying biochemical changes.

The age that the trigger occurs, whether the person is male or female, genetics, and likely other unknown triggers can cause it to reflect anywhere along the CFS/ADHD/ASD spectrum.

In addition, just as there are many ways to blow a fuse, there are many possible triggers that can, given the proper genetics, result in autism.

Treatment for Autism

Because there are multiple biochemical changes occurring in autism, it can often be successfully treated using a number of different approaches (individually or in combination).

Sadly, autism treatment has fallen into the usual controversy that occurs when natural treatments are helpful and gain popularity. Your doctors, though well meaning, may recommend you avoid any natural treatments. Ignore these doctors. This simply reflects the brain-washing of physicians against any competition to our current monopoly of drug/surgical treatments.

• Therapies & Advice

  • Family counseling

    Family counseling to help adapt to the situation and to help the child improve function is recommended.

  • Acupressure — NAET

    A remarkable new option is a special acupressure technique, called NAET, which eliminates sensitivities. After seeing a young autistic girl go from nonverbal to being a chatterbox with this treatment, we explored this further and found this was common. Our foundation then funded a study using NAET in autism.

    By the end of 1 year (100 simple treatments), 23 of the 30 autistic children in the treatment group were back in regular schools (as opposed to none of the 30 in the untreated control group). This study has been accepted for publication. For more information, and to find over 12,000 NAET practitioners worldwide, visit www.NAET.com.

More Information

• NAET (acupressure technique for treating food allergies at www.NAET.com)

Though there are many different definitions, I consider alcoholism to be present when drinking excessive alcohol is causing significant harm to one’s health, relationships or job.

Diagnosis

Denial is a common component of alcoholism. I have found that by the time most people wonder if they have an alcohol problem, they usually do.

Not sure? See if you can stop drinking for a month.

Causes

Alcohol is sometimes used excessively in an attempt to self-medicate for physical or emotional pain. The good news is that better options are available.

Symptoms

In addition to causing liver inflammation, excess alcohol routinely causes widespread nutritional deficiencies and can trigger numerous other health problems.

Treatments

There are two main approaches to treatment — either total abstinence or an interesting approach which supports moderation. To stop excessive alcohol consumption, you need to see whether your personality requires an "all or nothing" approach, or if moderation is an option.

In addition, the side effects of the excess alcohol need to be treated.

A knowledgeable physician can help with withdrawal.

• General Diet Advice

  • Natural Sugars

    In some people, low blood sugar may trigger alcohol cravings. You may find that drinking 4 ounces of orange juice (followed by a meal or some protein such as nuts, eggs, meat or cheese) may help settle the alcohol cravings.

• Recommended Supplements

  • Multivitamins

    Begin with nutritional support from a good multivitamin/mineral. Alcohol causes severe widespread nutrient losses.

  • B Vitamins

    High-dose B vitamins can help support the brain.

  • Magnesium

    Magnesium can help lower the risk of DTs (withdrawal shakiness or seizures).

• Medication

  • The Sinclair Method

    The Sinclair Method employs the use of a medication called Naltrexone, which blocks much of both the alcohol craving and high. This allows the person to drink in moderation, and has been quite effective in a number of studies.

    The Sinclair Method is explained in the book The Cure for Alcoholism by Roy Eskapa PhD. We first heard about this method by downloading the iPhone app "Little Miracle Pill Cures Alcohol Addiction" by Amy Luwis, and found it to be helpful for certain people. Some people find this technique very rewarding as they feel that they can finally feel in control of their own actions and possibly regain the metabolic balance needed to drink alcohol at a normal level once again.

    Essentially the technique is to take the medication Naltrexone one hour before consuming any type of alcoholic beverage. Complete avoidance of alcohol is not necessary. By affecting the opioid receptors, Naltrexone helps alcoholics feel that they do not have to drink in excess and therefore they often stop drinking after one or two drinks.

    The dosage of the Naltrexone recommended by Sinclair is 50 milligrams. We have noticed that certain people cannot start at this dose. So if you wish to try this technique, we recommend considering starting out at a quarter or half of this dose and working up as needed to find the optimal dose for you.

    Precautions

    Do not take Naltrexone if you:

    • are pregnant
    • are on on opiates (narcotics)
    • have acute hepatitis
    • have liver failure
    • are a successful teetotaler

• Other Therapies and Advice

  • 12-Step Programs

    Enter a 12-step program such as Alcoholics Anonymous.

The lens of the eye, which is what allows us to focus, is filled with a clear protein-containing liquid. If the proteins in the liquid start to denature, they become cloudy. This can cause vision to get blurred.

Causes

Cataracts can be small and present at birth, occur (rarely) after eye injuries, and most often occur as people age, being hastened sometimes by diabetes or high blood pressure.

The radiation/ultraviolet light increase seen at high altitudes can also increase risk.

Cataracts are not dangerous, but they can impair vision.

Treatment

• General Diet Advice

  Avoiding excess sugar can help protect the lens in your eyes by preventing the denaturing of the proteins in them.

• Recommended Supplements

  • Multivitamins

    Include a good multivitamin that optimizes antioxidant, zinc, and vitamin B2 intake. This can help prevent the denaturing of the proteins in your eye lens.

  • Vitamin A

    Use actual vitamin A (25,000-50,000 units a day) and not beta carotene for this.

    One ophthalmologist jokingly complained that his cataract surgery income dropped by ²⁄₃ when he started adding the vitamin A.

    Caution

    This is a high dose, and should not be used in children, people with severe liver disease, or women who might get pregnant (it can cause birth defects) — people who usually do not have cataracts anyway.

  • N-acetyl Carnosine

    N-acetyl carnosine eyedrops (available as a product called "Can-C"). Use twice daily or follow label directions for severe cataracts.

    For early cataracts, if cost is an issue I simply recommend 1 drop in each eye each morning.

  • Bilberry

    Use 80 to 160 milligrams of a standardized 25% extract three times daily.

  • Hachimijiogan

    Take 3 tablets of this Chinese herbal mix daily.

• Other Therapies & Advice

  If you have cataracts, wear UV-blocking sunglasses on very sunny days to slow their progression.

• Surgery

  If the cataracts remain problematic after 6-12 months of these treatments, surgery is very reasonable.

  Unlike most surgery, if the cataracts are bothering you to the point you think you eventually will need the surgery (after using the above treatments), you should do the surgery sooner rather than waiting.

  It is simple surgery and can markedly improve vision. So if you are going to eventually do the surgery anyway, why put up with poor vision while waiting?

More Information

Want to help people in poverty who can't afford cataract surgery?

I heartily recommend supporting the SEVA Foundation, which sends volunteer surgeons into high-altitude areas where cataracts blind millions of people unnecessarily.

For a few dollars each, they can give blind people back their sight—and have done so for over 3 million people!

This is a mental health disorder in which people experience episodes of an elevated or agitated mood known as "mania alternating" with episodes of depression.

Symptoms

Symptoms can occur with different levels of severity. At milder levels of mania, known as "hypomania," individuals appear energetic and excitable, and may be highly productive.

As mania becomes more severe, individuals begin to behave erratically and impulsively, and may have great difficulty with sleep. At the most severe level, individuals can experience psychosis.

Individuals who experience manic episodes also commonly experience depressive episodes. Some experience a mixed state in which features of both mania and depression are present at the same time.

Manic and depressive episodes last from a few days to several months.

About 4% of people suffer from bipolar disorder.

Treatment

• Medication

  A number of medications have been used with varying degrees of success.

  Lithium is a classic treatment which is quite benign and is actually a helpful nutrient at low doses, but when used at high doses can cause marked toxicity including hypothyroidism and tremor.

• General Diet Advice

  Try an elimination diet or avoiding sugar and caffeine. If the elimination diet helps, consider NAET treatment.

• Recommended Supplements

  • Fish Oil

    Fish oil, 9.3 grams a day. High doses of omega 3 oils can be helpful. I use a special omega 3 that allows just 2-4 caps a day instead of 16-32 fish oil caps!

  • NAC (N-Acetylcysteine)

    NAC (N-Acetylcysteine), 1,000 mg 2x day. This significantly improves symptoms, but give it 6 months to see the full effect. The benefits stop if the NAC is stopped.

  • Magnesium

    Magnesium, 300-600 mg a day. Magnesium has effects that are similar to lithium, but without the toxicity.

  • Vitamin C

    Vitamin C, 750-1,000 mg a day.

• Other Therapies & Advice for Bipolar

  • Iron Excess

    Iron excess is associated with an increased risk of bipolar disorder, so getting a screening for your ferritin level is warranted.

  • Thyroid

    Interestingly, in those who do not get adequate relief with standard bipolar medications, over half had substantial improvement with high-dose thyroid (levothyroxine 300-500 mcg a day).

According to the American Academy of Neurology, 10% of the population suffers from the syndrome. It also affects up to 50% of industrial workers.

Symptoms

Carpal tunnel syndrome is characterized by pain, numbness, and tingling that occurs in one or both hands.

It often wakes people from their sleep, leaving them feeling like they have to "shake their hands out" to make the pain and symptoms go away.

Causes

This syndrome is caused by the compression of a nerve (the median nerve) as it goes through a narrow tunnel in the wrist formed by the carpal bone, hence the name carpal tunnel syndrome.

According to the American Academy of Neurology, 10% of the population suffers from the syndrome. It also affects up to 50% of industrial workers.

Treatment

Fortunately, unless people are continuing to stress the wrist with repetitive stress injuries (e.g., handling heavy equipment or doing very large amounts of typing), carpal tunnel syndrome can often be relieved without surgery.

In almost all of my patients, their carpal tunnel syndromes have resolved by simply using the advice here.

If surgery is recommended, ask your physician if you can try these conservative measures instead for 6 to 12 weeks.

• Surgery

  All too often the syndrome is treated by surgery. Although this can be effective, it is also expensive and rarely can leave people with residual problems due to the formation of scar tissue that can occur after surgery.

  Unfortunately, your doctor may be totally unfamiliar with these conservative therapies — in today's medicine only expensive treatments tend to get attention.

• Recommended Supplements

  • Vitamin B6 / PSP

    Vitamin B6 250 mg daily. Only use the P5P (Pyridoxal 5 Phosphate) form as this is safer for nerve problems.

  • Armour Thyroid Hormone

    Armour thyroid hormone should be used even if your blood tests are normal.

• Other Therapies & Advice

  • Use a Wrist Splint

    When your hand gets into funny positions while you are sleeping, it stretches and strains the nerve as it goes through your wrist. This is why you wake up in the night with numbness or tingling.

    The type of wrist splint to use is called a "cock up" wrist splint. It keeps your hand in the neutral position (i.e., the position your hand is in while holding a glass of water), which takes the stress off the nerve.

    Be sure to wear the splint while sleeping, and take the vitamin B6 and thyroid, for at least 6 weeks to give the treatment time to work. During that period, also wear the wrist splint during the day whenever you conveniently can.

  • More Advice for Carpal Tunnel

    You may also want to try:

    • acupuncture
    • osteopathic manipulation
    • chiropractic manipulation
    • myofascial release

Emphysema represents severe lung damage, most often from smoking, toxic chemical/substance exposures, or chronic bronchitis. It can cause significant shortness of breath, wheezing and limitations in activity.

In the past, emphysema was believed to represent almost entirely irreversible lung damage. And chronic bronchitis was the step before emphysema.

Treatment

Fortunately, there does appear to be a significant reversible component to both of these conditions, and at these levels of lung damage even small increases in lung function can translate into large increases in your being able to function.

This means aggressively going after:

• Airway inflammation, with its increased mucus production that can block airways.
• Infection.
• Airway spasm (bronchospasm).
• Toxic exposures (especially cigarette smoke) that can further damaged the lungs.

• Recommended Supplements

  • Boswellia and Glutathione

    Boswellia and glutathione are two key supplements. Boswellia is a wonderful anti-inflammatory herbal (also called "frankincense") that significantly reduces lung airway swelling after six weeks (and usually within days). Optimizing the levels of a key antioxidant called glutathione has been especially helpful. Look for it in sublingual form.

  • Glutathione

    Look for a quality multivitamin powder that increases glutathione levels. Consider inhaled glutathione using a nebulizer. This needs to be prescribed by your physician, and unless you go to a holistic physician, they are likely to simply give you a blank stare when you ask about it. Also consider adding colloidal silver to the nebulizer if you have yellow mucus, which suggests possible infections.

  • Multivitamins

    The nutrients magnesium, vitamins B6 and B12, vitamin C, vitamin D, vitamin E, selenium, molybdenum, beta carotene, and bioflavonoids have been shown to decrease lung issues significantly. You can find these in combination in a good multivitamin powder. You should begin with this simple but thorough way to get nutritional support.

  • Adrenals

    Adrenal nutrients can be very helpful in emphysema if you are coughing up significant airway mucus that interferes with breathing.

  • NAC (n-acetylcysteine)

    Take NAC (n-acetylcysteine). Take 650 milligrams, once or twice daily. This amino acid further boosts the level of glutathione, and also helps loosen up the mucus that can restrict easy breathing.

• Other Therapies and Advice

  • Breathing Techniques and Exercises

    Are you frequently short of breath? By practicing yoga, relaxation techniques or deep-breathing exercises, your sense of breathlessness can go down dramatically.

    Important: for the deepest breath, breathe from your belly rather than your chest. To check to see if you are doing this, put one hand gently over your belly.

    If it's rising and falling as you breathe, you're doing it correctly.

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) reflects elevated testosterone and DHEA (which turns into testosterone in the body) hormone levels.

Causes

This often comes from insulin resistance, often caused by excess sugar in the diet. 

Some common triggers for the elevated testosterone include:

• excess sugar in the diet
• supplementation with testosterone or DHEA
• adrenal fatigue
• menopause (causes an increase in the ratio of estrogen to testosterone, which controls facial hair growth).

Symptoms

The high testosterone can problems including:

• acne
• irregular periods
• weight gain
• infertility
• ovarian cysts

Many people with PCOS do not have ovarian cysts.

Facial Hair Growth

As in men, high levels of testosterone trigger facial hair growth in women as well.

The high testosterone is the most common cause of excess facial hair in women.

Treatment for PCOS

Treatment often helps in many ways, including restoration of fertility.

• Elimination

  • Be sure you are not taking any supplements with DHEA or testosterone.
  • Cut out the excess sweets/sugar in your diet, especially sodas and fruit juices.
    • Sweets worsen the insulin resistance. Stevia is OK.
    • See Beat Sugar Addiction NOW! for help.

• Recommend Supplements

  • D-Chiro Inositol

    The supplement D-chiro inositol 600 milligrams (mg) 1 to 2 times a day lowered elevated testosterone levels by over 70% in one study.

  • Chromium

    Take chromium 200 to 1,000 µg daily (it has a modest effect).

    The weight loss is easier after you do the above. Also address any thyroid hormone deficiencies.

• Medications

  • Metformin

    Metformin (prescription) 500-1,000 mg 2x day is a very helpful and safe medication. It’s so wonderful and safe I think it should be classified as an honorary natural supplement!

    In addition to helping the overall process, it often restores fertility (and is both safe and healthy to take during the pregnancy).

    The main concern is that it will cause B12 deficiency if not taking B12 along with it.

  • Cortef

    Cortef (prescription) up to 15 mg a day if symptoms/labs suggest the need for adrenal support (e.g., irritable when hungry).

    Adrenal expert professor William Jefferies routinely recommends ultra low-dose Cortef for PCOS.

    Half of a woman’s testosterone is made by the adrenal gland, and taking Cortef decreases stimulation of the adrenal.

    Using a natural adrenal support product may also help and is especially worth considering if the ACTH blood test is in the upper half of the normal range.

  • Birth Control Pills

    Birth control pills can help the menstrual irregularity if it persists despite the above.