I know I told ya'll a while back that we had sent off Dominic's saliva for a full DNA mapping. The results are back.
Because of FDA limitations all that 23andme can tell us is Dominic's ancestry composition (He's 41% British/Irish, imagine that) and give us raw data. There are any number of sites online which can tell you your exact genetic defects / abnormalities using the raw data. But they don't tell you what to do about them. Fortunately we know the lovely Tyler Dahm at Pathways in Denver offers those interpretations AND helps create custom supplementation plans to manage mutations. I want to encourage everyone to check out the work they offer at Pathways - you do not have to be local for her interpretation. One of the most frustrating parts of Autism treatments is not knowing why something works for someone else's kid but not yours.
Genetic tests also aren't the be-all, end-all. Just because you have a particular genetic mutation does not mean that mutation is expressed, and just because you have mitochondrial damage, that does not mean you can't heal it. We plan to use this information as a road map for what to try next.
Dominic's biggest issue genetically is that he has a double heterozygous MTHFR mutation. This means that his methylation pathway simply doesn't work. Further, his immune system is hyperactive - its so busy all the time that it has zero resources available to fight off things like viruses. He has zero natural ability to detoxify anything in his body. It made total sense to Tyler to hear that the back breaking straw in our case was influenza. He is genetically wired to not respond at all to anti-inflammatory drugs, which also means that he doesn't make anti-inflammatory compounds in his body.
When I asked Tyler about how his genetic test and overall functionality (she has met him) compared with what she had seen in the past, she said repeatedly that he has had the deck so stacked against him that he is doing amazing. If she had only his genetic test to go off of, she wouldn't know if she could help him - his mutations are that severe. She also said that looking at his genetic map, it makes total sense why his only issue remaining is speech. He simply doesn't make the amino acids required to open the pathways in his brain. So based upon his genetics, he's doing AWESOME. She also said, when I told her he has never had antibiotics, that it was a very good thing because based on his genetics its very likely antibiotics would've caused him to regress.
So its a VERY good thing we are doing the footbaths. Those are now his method for detox - since his body doesn't do it naturally. They will be in our toolkit forever.
Our battle plan is this - Clear the toxins (in progress), rebuild the foundation with some foundational supplements while removing supplements that he shouldn't be on based upon his genetic profile, then if he is doing well in 60 days, add additional supplementation to open the pathways. We need to get the foundational stuff in before we add the pathways stuff or he'll get gunked up again. Essentially we are doing a 60 day nutritional reboot.
1. We are removing: inositol, bowel strength, oil of oregano, organically bound minerals, lactic acid yeast, advancedTRS*, and theralac
2. We are adding Gaba, trace minerals, liver complex, and liposomal glutathione
We will be redoing his food and environmental allergy testing as soon as possible because Tyler believes that based upon his hyper-immunity, he's probably got an unidentified food allergy that if we can identify and pull out will take some additional stress off of him.
After 60 days we will look at next steps which will likely include a B Complex, SamE, and an anti-inflammatory called PEA. This will be the rebuilding the pathways step. After that point it would appropriate to look at specific therapies aimed at speech - like RPM.
Tyler said to me, and I believe her because of how far we've come with the dartboard method, that within a year Dominic will have fully functional speech. That as far as he has come, he now has recovery fully within his sights.
(*yes i know we only just started this and its all the rage. We are removing it because Tyler has concerns about the reports coming in from Coseva's folks who are responsible for getting them the licensing to be able to sell a nutritional product)
Because of FDA limitations all that 23andme can tell us is Dominic's ancestry composition (He's 41% British/Irish, imagine that) and give us raw data. There are any number of sites online which can tell you your exact genetic defects / abnormalities using the raw data. But they don't tell you what to do about them. Fortunately we know the lovely Tyler Dahm at Pathways in Denver offers those interpretations AND helps create custom supplementation plans to manage mutations. I want to encourage everyone to check out the work they offer at Pathways - you do not have to be local for her interpretation. One of the most frustrating parts of Autism treatments is not knowing why something works for someone else's kid but not yours.
Genetic tests also aren't the be-all, end-all. Just because you have a particular genetic mutation does not mean that mutation is expressed, and just because you have mitochondrial damage, that does not mean you can't heal it. We plan to use this information as a road map for what to try next.
Dominic's biggest issue genetically is that he has a double heterozygous MTHFR mutation. This means that his methylation pathway simply doesn't work. Further, his immune system is hyperactive - its so busy all the time that it has zero resources available to fight off things like viruses. He has zero natural ability to detoxify anything in his body. It made total sense to Tyler to hear that the back breaking straw in our case was influenza. He is genetically wired to not respond at all to anti-inflammatory drugs, which also means that he doesn't make anti-inflammatory compounds in his body.
When I asked Tyler about how his genetic test and overall functionality (she has met him) compared with what she had seen in the past, she said repeatedly that he has had the deck so stacked against him that he is doing amazing. If she had only his genetic test to go off of, she wouldn't know if she could help him - his mutations are that severe. She also said that looking at his genetic map, it makes total sense why his only issue remaining is speech. He simply doesn't make the amino acids required to open the pathways in his brain. So based upon his genetics, he's doing AWESOME. She also said, when I told her he has never had antibiotics, that it was a very good thing because based on his genetics its very likely antibiotics would've caused him to regress.
So its a VERY good thing we are doing the footbaths. Those are now his method for detox - since his body doesn't do it naturally. They will be in our toolkit forever.
Our battle plan is this - Clear the toxins (in progress), rebuild the foundation with some foundational supplements while removing supplements that he shouldn't be on based upon his genetic profile, then if he is doing well in 60 days, add additional supplementation to open the pathways. We need to get the foundational stuff in before we add the pathways stuff or he'll get gunked up again. Essentially we are doing a 60 day nutritional reboot.
1. We are removing: inositol, bowel strength, oil of oregano, organically bound minerals, lactic acid yeast, advancedTRS*, and theralac
2. We are adding Gaba, trace minerals, liver complex, and liposomal glutathione
We will be redoing his food and environmental allergy testing as soon as possible because Tyler believes that based upon his hyper-immunity, he's probably got an unidentified food allergy that if we can identify and pull out will take some additional stress off of him.
After 60 days we will look at next steps which will likely include a B Complex, SamE, and an anti-inflammatory called PEA. This will be the rebuilding the pathways step. After that point it would appropriate to look at specific therapies aimed at speech - like RPM.
Tyler said to me, and I believe her because of how far we've come with the dartboard method, that within a year Dominic will have fully functional speech. That as far as he has come, he now has recovery fully within his sights.
(*yes i know we only just started this and its all the rage. We are removing it because Tyler has concerns about the reports coming in from Coseva's folks who are responsible for getting them the licensing to be able to sell a nutritional product)
No comments:
Post a Comment