What is one of the first things a parent can do to help by boosting the immune system of a child with autism?

According to Dr. Kurt Woeller, the answer lies in the digestive tract. He says taking a holistic approach to medicine is the smartest choice, which he would choose to do if he were treating his very own son.

Addressing the International Symposium on Dietary Therapy for Epilepsy and Other Neurological Disorders, mother and doctor Deborah Snyder reveals her first-hand experience of the ketogenic diet and its success in curing her son’s epilepsy.  She implores health professionals to recognise the efficacy of the diet in stopping seizures and aims to dispel the myth that the diet is too difficult or not worth the effort.

Genetically Modified (GM) foods pose a danger to the health of children everywhere. Allergies, nutritional problems, toxins and weakened immune systems have all been linked to the consumption of genetically modified foods, and children are at a greater risk of developing these problems than most adults.

What are GM foods?

Speaking at the 2008 International Symposium on Dietary Therapy for Epilepsy and Other Neurological Disorders, British Mum Emma Williams tells of her fight to get son Matthew on the ketogenic diet.  In an address that brought tears to the eyes of not only this brave Mum but many in the audience, she speaks of her rage at doctors refusal to take the ketogenic diet seriously and the subsequent brain damage her little boy suffered due to constant seizures. 

Hollywood star Meryl Streep was so moved by the Abrahams’ story that she decided to become involved in the fight to inform parents about the ketogenic diet.  She narrates and introduces the information video made by the Charlie Foundation which is available to parents across the world. 

Streep was close friends with movie director Jim Abrahams, who asked for her help to increase awareness of the ketogenic diet as a treatment for childhood epilepsy.  His son Charlie was successfully prescribed the diet and after a few days his seizures ceased completely.

Added with permission:

The Story of Bauer - a 2 yr old with Severe Food Allergies

My son has had seizures and I have connected them with food allergies! He has now been seizure free for 5-6 months. I wish I could go back to that first allergist and tell him..."you may have MD after your name, but I have MOM and that outweighs you any day. My gut instincts have been right on.

In my last posting I reviewed some of the recent progress in research on the use of the ketogenic diet.  In this posting I’d like to follow up by reviewing an exciting study published this past February by a group of French researchers on the use of the ketogenic diet for patients with focal epilepsy (also called partial epilepsy).

Having a child with special needs of any kind can be difficult. Even something as simple sounding as a peanut allergy can be a nightmare to navigate. It sounds simple, right? I mean, avoid peanuts. Then you start looking at labels because you mention it to the waitress that you need a jelly and jelly sandwich due to your son’s peanut allergy and she gets a serious look on her face.

Michael and Tammy Koski thought they’d never find a solution for their daughter’s seizures.  She was suffering from up to 100 absence seizures per day and after four years of anti-seizure drugs, nothing was working.  However, they were lucky enough to meet Dr. Eric Kossoff at the John Hopkins Center in Baltimore, where their little girl was put on the modified Atkins Diet.  After just a few months, her seizures reduced dramatically and she is now medication free and having just 5 to 10 seizures per day. 

As parents we all have a huge responsibility to teach our kids healthy eating habits.  Did you know that the future of your child’s health depends on how they eat now and the food habits they learn during childhood?  Research trials have proved that children with a poor diet tend to be unhealthy adults, with a much greater risk of suffering from obesity, as well as cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, later on in life.