Helminthic therapy and autism

    From Helminthic Therapy wiki

    Autism subtypes[edit | edit source]

    Italian researchers have suggested that there may be two subtypes of autism, inflammatory ASD (I-ASD) and non-inflammatory-ASD (NI-ASD).

    Those subjects with inflammatory ASD are likely to exhibit chronic and/or recurrent sino-pulmonary infection, asthma and persistent GI symptoms with high frequency non-IgE mediated food allergy. Those with this subtype are more likely to have a better response to antinflammatory therapies such as helminthic therapy than are those with non-inflammatory ASD

    Significant results have been observed over a 4-5 year period in 70% of those with inflammatory ASD who took TSO in its original pH2.7 form, and the improvements observed were not only in the quality of stool and control of allergic symptoms, but also in improved behaviour and cognitive skills.

    For more detail about this, see this post and this support group thread.

    The science on helminthic therapy and autism[edit | edit source]

    See also:

    For more research, use your device's search function (the 'Command' and 'F' keys on a desktop or laptop, or 'Find in page' in the drop-down menu from the three dots icon on a mobile) to search the following page for "autism" and "ASD".

    Media coverage of helminthic therapy and autism[edit | edit source]

    Anecdotal reports about under 18s with autism (ASD)[edit | edit source]

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    The results have been dramatic. My son’s most extreme behaviors, including self-abuse (head hitting, hand biting), agitation, aggression, anxiety, obsessive/compulsive thoughts and behaviors, impulsivity, perseveration, behavioral inflexibility, extreme sensitivity to external stimuli, and “stimming” were completely eliminated 10 weeks into the therapy, and have not returned for 15 months now. [2]
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    My son, who is 15, is on the autism spectrum, is gay, overweight, fatigued, depressed, and has PANDAS/POTS and OCD, along with mast cell and allergy issues. The list is long! He started using helminths to treat the PANDAS. The first dose was 5 NA in November 2019, then a second dose of 5 in May 2020. He has always struggled with being awkward and different, and had difficulty expressing what he was feeling, but I didn’t realise just how severely depressed he had become. When he told me how much he had hated himself for so long, it broke my heart. His anxiety was off the charts. He said he was suicidal. Fortunately, a month on helminths has cleared his brain. He wakes up early now, and has lost 15 lbs. It’s like night and day, like a switch turned off and his inflammation is gone, and I am so thankful for this. I wish I had given NA to him 5 years ago. He's doing so great on them. Helminths have literally saved his life. [3]

    Three comments by a parent/therapist

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    … he and the other children who received hookworm all improved cognitively and in motor skills. Why those 2 things, I don't know. Most of the younger children, the less impaired, also improved, sometimes dramatically, in expressive language… There are many children with TSO now, and the results with that have been remarkable. It seems to have about a 70-75% success rate of causing major global improvement. One child I know was non-verbal and on TSO began to talk. He's now fairly chatty. A lot is repetitive language, but a lot isn't. His teachers couldn't believe it. (Link expired)
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    My older son is 16 and autistic. I started with TSO 3 years ago and within 12 weeks or so, began to see positive results in terms of digestive symptoms, mood, and eventually cognition. Because of the staggering cost, I moved him onto first hookworm and then added TTO when it became available. I now have many, many clients using some form of helminths with a positive result rate (I estimate) around 75% (at least). Things that improve: cognition, receptive language, eye contact, sociability, awareness (less autistic fog), sometimes expressive language, and absolutely gut symptoms. Things I haven't seen affected so much in the autism population - anxiety and OCD. (Link expired)
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    I have been using TSO in my son with autism and many of clients and friends' children have also been on this, so I have a fair bit of experience with it at this point. Almost all children require the full 2500 ova every 2 weeks for maximum efficacy. Most take an average of 10-14 weeks at this full dose to start to show improvement, although that is an average - some take a shorter amount of time, some longer. The first thing to improve tends to be bowel symptoms. Starting around 14 weeks, parents start to see improvements in communicative intent, sociability, receptive language. The younger and less severe the child, the more improvements are seen, although even older and more affected kids like my son have done incredibly well on TSO. (Link expired)

    TSO and HDC have both been found generally effective in autism, and NA may help with some of its co-morbidities, but individuals can respond uniquely to the different helminths.

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    We started with 15 NA in 2016 for my autistic PANDAS daughter but her flare was under control with azithromycin so the side effects were not as bad. The second inoculation was 20 NA and the reaction was pretty severe, her psychiatric symptoms worsened. She was already in a flare up when I inoculated. Side effects lasted about 6 weeks then started having better days until she achieved remission exactly at week 11. We also tried 10 HDC which was amazing quick results but my daughter ended up with horrible cramps so I never tried them again. I control side effects of third inoculation of 20 NA with TSO (500 each week) and it worked out well. Fourth inoculation was 10 NA 3 months after the 20 and the side effects were a lot milder and she achieved remission at 12 weeks post inoculation of that last batch of 10. [4] [5]

    When using helminths in children with autism, they should be introduced VERY gradually to avoid triggering severe side effects.

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    Started off 500 (TSO), two weeks later 1000, two weeks later 2500. He is having really bad behaviors… hitting screaming.” (From a parent treating his 17 year old son with autism.) [6]
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    My child is autistic and as long as we increased the dose VERY SLOWLY he was fine. When we doubled the dose he went absolutely bonkers... I think with the ASC population you have to be very very careful with these things... [7]

    Once smaller doses of TSO have been tolerated, 2,500 ova has been found to be best dose size in most cases.

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    … even the little ones seem to need the maximum. I've only seen 2 or 3 kids ever who did better with lower dose, and even they were on at least 1000. (Link expired)
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    I give TSO 2500 to my 16 year old son with autism and it acts like a “happy pill” for him - I think his body feels so much better. He is not particularly verbal, so I can’t ask him about side effects, but I’m sure if there were any negative ones I would definitely be able to tell from his behavior. He takes the salty liquid like a champ, makes a face, and then goes about his business. [8]

    Further collection of reports:

    Also see Table 2 in this paper.

    • The following five reports, written over a period of 6 years, all relate to the same child.
      • "Since then Alex has made nothing short of stunning progress. I mean WOW." (Link expired)
      • "... there's no question that he and the other children who received hookworm all improved cognitively and in motor skills... Most of the younger children, the less impaired, also improved, sometimes dramatically, in expressive language" (Link expired)
      • "My older son is 16 and autistic. I started with TSO 3 years ago and within 12 weeks or so, began to see positive results in terms of digestive symptoms, mood, and eventually cognition." (Link expired)
      • “… I officially declare hookworms to be rockin’... this experiment has been a success ... But, if you’ll forgive the phrase, I have a gut feeling that we’re only seeing the tip of the iceberg so far.” (Posted on a since deleted website.)
      • “We started the HDC in August (and) I have gotten similar results with the HDC as the TSO: he has no GI symptoms now and, except for a migraine condition that I am still working on, is almost continually very happy and social. I am going to be experimenting with much higher doses of HDC to see if we can improve the migraines more.” [9]
    • The following two reports are about the same teenager.
      • “There’re no words to describe it. It’s like giving me my son back... Or in many ways, like giving me a son that I didn’t ever have.” [10]
      • “...we began treating my son with TSO. After 10 weeks he completely lost all symptoms of agitation, agression, self abusive behavior (including head smashing and hand biting), perseveration, behavioral inflexibility, compulsivity, impulsivity, repeated questioning, “stimming” and hypersensitivity to external stimuli. He continues to take TSO every two weeks and the symptoms have been gone now for 15 months. [11] and watch video
    • "The teachers were telling us it was a definite possibility that he would never actually be able to write and that he would need assistive technology for life… We've been struggling to teach him to read for two years now… Well, in the last month (following inoculation), he's had major developmental leaps... and is now actually reading, has progressed about 12 months in the last month as far as his fine motor skills go. He's reading and writing now, actually reading at or above grade level." (Reported in a private discussion, 2011)
    • "(Our son) has started playing imaginatively with toys for the first time in his life. He has started pretend playing appropriately with all kinds of different toys - cars, superhero action figures, dinosaurs, .... It's something we tried working on with him for years in his behavioral therapy and eventually gave up. I can't say for sure it's because of the helminths, but I can't think of any other reason for the sudden change. It's such a great feeling to see him doing this finally." (Reported in a private message, Nov 2012)
    • The following three reports are by the same very happy parent.
      • “... had to share this as its independent confirmation of what we've been seeing at home. Today I had a meeting at school to discuss my 6yo's special needs educational plan and was overjoyed when I was told without any prompting he had "a complete turnaround a few months ago after parents evening" and that he has been paying attention, sitting still and being kind to the other children. Guess what therapy we started in the week following that parents evening.” (Link expired)
      • “For us, the benefits of giving my autistic 6yo HDC include vastly reduced risk to everyday dangers. I used to have to physically restrain him near roads as he had little control over impulses. We had more than one near miss when he bolted away into the path of unsuspecting cars! He now has sufficient control over impulses that he would not do that.” [12]
      • “He's 7 now and continues to do really well, much calmer than he used to be. I'm so very proud of him today because he willingly went to an all-day holiday science camp in an unfamiliar location and where he knew nobody and he bounced out like any neurotypical kid and asked to go again.” [13], [14] and [15].
    • “I am now pretty confident that TSO are a big success for my autistic boy (5 yo). The change has been amazing. He has a very long way to go, but the effect of TSO is very noticeable - for us, his therapists, his preschool. After years of really hard work and nothing helping, this is almost like magic... He is finally developing socially… We are so glad we plucked up the courage to try helminths.” (Link expired)
    • ☹️ “First I tried TSO with my autism children and then I tried HDC. Was 8 months in total but I didn't see any results.” [16]
    • “I wanted to report my experience so far giving my 15 year old son with significant autism TSO. I just gave him the second dose. From what I read it is supposed to be too soon to see results, but all I can say is WOW! We live in Austin and this is high allergy season. In addition to being on a year round allergy protocol (pills, sprays, naturals, etc), we had to give him headache medicine round the clock for allergy-induced migraines. He has had nothing for two weeks and is the happiest I have seen him in a long time. He has more energy, is more willing to try new foods and experiences, and just plain feels good. I am amazed because we have tried so many things to get his inflammation down and this is the one thing that has made a huge difference. I’m really excited to see what other changes we might see, but if this is it, it will have been worth it.” [17]
    • "We use it with our 12yr old pandas, ASD, adhd & itch, and it has been a game changer for us! We are at 9 months & we started low & slow then worked our way up. We still have a long journey ahead of us, however this was one of the best interventions we have done so far." [18]

    Anecdotal report about an adult with autism[edit | edit source]

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    After being on TSO for 4 months, my adult daughter was able to reduce her medications for OCD, and she has not had her usual severe seasonal depression during the recent winter. After taking the first 10 doses of 2500 TSO, she was able to reduce her dose without losing any benefits. (Via private message.)

    The role of the microbiota in autism[edit | edit source]

    Worms and bacteria are known to interact in complex and subtle ways to provide an efficient and beneficial ecosystem.

    The role of gut bacteria in autism is therefore arguably as important as that of helminths, and the two are likely to be complementary in addressing this disorder.

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    He then tells a surprising story about a woman whose son had autism. She persuaded a physician to prescribe vancomycin to change the child’s microbiota, and the autism disappeared. But it returned when he went off the drug. The experiment was resumed, and the autism went away again. And a fecal transfer had a lasting effect so that more than a decade later, the young man works in a microbiology lab. [19]

    In view of the articles above, Fecal Microbiota Transplantation (FMT) might be worth considering for autism, either alone or in combination with helminthic therapy. For more about combining these treatments, see the following page.

    Asperger (Asperger’s) syndrome[edit | edit source]

    The limited feedback received so far from those with Asperger’s who are hosting helminths suggests that, while this therapy may not change the unique features of Asperger’s, it may make positive changes to health that can improve the life of someone with this form of autism.

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    I'm definitely still aspie but the fun part of using helminth therapy is that I have tons more energy, mind clarity (which allows me to understand people way better and estimate better what a proper reaction is in social situations). And because I feel so much better, I'm more cheerful, less rigid, thinking less in black and white. Thankfully my obsessive hobbies, hyper-focusing, the need to recharge on my own, etc., are still parts of me. [21]
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    Almost 12 years with NA has transformed my health in many ways, but I'm just as much as Aspie today as I was before HT. And I'm actually very comfortable about this, because my difference has given me abilities that I've been able to put to good use in life, even though it has also caused difficulties, both for me, and for those close to me… Worms may do for you what they've done for me - leave you with the "good" aspects of Asperger's but greatly reduce the fog and fatigue. [22]

    See also[edit | edit source]

    The reintroduction to the digestive tract of a controlled number of specially domesticated, mutualistic helminths (intestinal worms) in the form of microscopic eggs or larvae to reconstitute a depleted biome to treat or prevent chronic inflammation, autoimmune disease and other immune-related disorders, including allergy.

    Autism spectrum disorder.

    Gastroenterology is the branch of medicine concerned with disorders of the digestive system which includes all the organs of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract (alimentary canal) from mouth to anus. Physicians practicing in this field of medicine are called gastroenterologists or GI specialists.

    The reintroduction to the digestive tract of a controlled number of specially domesticated, mutualistic helminths (intestinal worms) in the form of microscopic eggs or larvae to reconstitute a depleted biome to treat or prevent chronic inflammation, autoimmune disease and other immune-related disorders, including allergy.

    the ova (eggs) of the porcine (pig) whipworm, Trichuris suis

    An intestinal worm which grows large enough to be seen with the naked eye when mature but which is microscopic when administered in helminthic therapy. Wikipedia:Helminths

    An intestinal worm which grows large enough to be seen with the naked eye when mature but which is microscopic when administered in helminthic therapy. Wikipedia:Helminths

    the human hookworm, Necator americanus

    A helminth that lives in the small intestine. Necator americanus (NA) is the only hookworm species used in helminthic therapy. Its microscopic larvae are applied periodically to the skin.

    the ova (eggs) of the human whipworm, Trichuris trichiura

    the ability to produce a desired or intended result.

    Hymenolepis diminuta cysticercoids (Hi-men-o-lep'is dim-a-nu-ta sis-ti-sur-koid) - the larval cysts of the rat tapeworm, Hymenolepis diminuta

    The introduction of an infectious agent into an organism. Helminth inoculation

    A helminth that lives in the small intestine. Necator americanus (NA) is the only hookworm species used in helminthic therapy. Its microscopic larvae are applied periodically to the skin.

    a change which is a result or consequence of an action or other cause.

    The specific population of microorganisms living in a certain part of the body, such as the gut. "Microbiome" refers to all the microorganisms living in and on the body, or the genome of these microorganisms. These two terms are often used interchangeably.

    The reintroduction to the digestive tract of a controlled number of specially domesticated, mutualistic helminths (intestinal worms) in the form of microscopic eggs or larvae to reconstitute a depleted biome to treat or prevent chronic inflammation, autoimmune disease and other immune-related disorders, including allergy.

    helminthic therapy

    Doctor of Medicine (MD, from the Latin Medicinæ Doctor meaning "Teacher of Medicine").

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