By April Brader, DOM Traditional Chinese Medicine Physician, Acupuncturist & Herbalist
Recently, I successfully treated a patient with pretty severe Covid-19 symptoms and once she recovered she told me she had a little five year old boy who was diagnosed with Autism at a very young age. The Mother of the little boy had tried various therapies and supplements with little improvement and asked me to see what I might be able to do for her son to help improve his Autistic Symptoms.
A few years ago, I read an interesting study about an herb called Bacopa Monnieri (A ubiquitous weed that grows wild by the water all over Florida) helping Autistic children and dramatically improving their ability to communicate with family and friends. Autism is a developmental disorder characterized by impaired social interaction, communication, repetitive behaviors and restricted interests. Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is a clinically defined behavioral syndrome that manifests in early childhood.
In Ayurvedic Medicine, Bacopa falls into the category of “Medhya Rasayana” herbs that have the ability to improve memory and intellect. This plant is also called “Brahmi”, along with Gotu Kola taken from the name of “Brahma”, the creator of the universe in the Indian belief system.
Based upon this research, I decided to create a comprehensive herbal brain formula to address the little boy’s Autistic symptoms. I used Traditional Chinese Medicine herbs for improving life-force energy like Huang Qi (Astragalus), Ling Zhi (Reishi Mushroom), etc. and Rosemary (A wise woman herb for remembrance) as well as other researched herbs proven to help improve memory including Red Clover, Ginger, Gotu Kola, Grape Seed Extract, etc. and I added the herb Bacopa for reasons cited above.
We also worked on improving the little boy’s gut health with specific probiotics clinically studied for Autistic individuals (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30979038/). All brain health begins in the gut with the correct balance of flora bacteria. Currently, there is quite a bit of ongoing promising research in the area of gut science and the manifestations of health or disease.
I now incorporate gut research into my practice with my patients, prescribing different types of probiotics based upon their disease manifestations of Chronic Kidney Disease, Chronic UTI’s, Sinus infections, etc. and find this a very helpful therapeutic.
After a few weeks of taking the above organic herbal formulation, probiotics and a healthy diet, the little boy started speaking fluidly and became more social and engaged with his family members. His Mother called me to report, “Boy! Is he super smart and SO naughty?” We both had a joyous laugh about his recent improvements and we are looking forward to seeing what other improvements are possible.
In addition to Autism, I am finding good clinic improvements with my Neurodegenerative Disorder patients with Parkinson’s, Dementia, etc. using a highly concentrated form of probiotics, organic herbal formulas and specific supplements to address the patient’s disease manifestations.
For more information on the above therapies or to schedule a consultation or virtual Telemedicine consultation via Skype or other platforms, please contact me at: (727) 515-8380 or view my website: Healthypathways.com