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My son (11 w/sever autism) has been treated for PANs for two years with antibiotics by an immunologist at MGH. Recently his symptoms worsened with increased anxiety, ocd, aggression, and a new tic disorder. Can anyone recommend doctors in New England who could treat a child like my son? We're feeling quite desperate. Thanks!

My 20-year-old daughter with autism and PANS/PANDAS has, over the last few years, shifted her I nterests back to things she enjoyed as a toddler and young child. She has a renewed interest in some of the shows she watched as a younger child, like Sesame Street or the Backyardigans. Lately she has also become interested in reading the Big Red Barn, a book we read to her often when she was about 3-6 years old. At the same time, we have seen her OCD symptoms worsen and her anxieties increase. Could it somehow be linked to a PANDAS flare? She also has Lyme, which we started treating last week with Suprax. That initially caused even higher anxiety as the infections were stirred up by the antibiotic. Has anyone seen this happen in their own children? Any thoughts people share would be very appreciated.

This popped up in my Facebook feed this morning. Long suspected by many (if not most) autism families, but encouraging research nonetheless. http://www.ozy.com/fast-forward/autisms-gut-brain-connection/33302

Has anybody had a chance to read this new paper? (Kim?) I skimmed it on my phone and haven't had a chance to read it closely. I think there are some fishy things about it, for one thing not very many African Americans were in the study. http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2275444 Of course, all the media is lit up with how once again, here is another study that shows no link between MMR and autism..I need to take the time to read the paper more closely....did they look at any other vaccines in the study, or the age at which MMR was actually given to the siblings (1 year vs 4 year?) ? Maybe they were spaced out more, delayed, or other vaccines such as hep B or Chicken Pox were omitted?). Did they allot enough time for the siblings to actually receive an autism diagnosis, or did they "wrap up" the study before enough years had elapsed to see if the siblings were eventually diagnosed? http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/apr/21/no-link-between-mmr-and-autism-major-study-concludes?CMP=share_btn_fb ^^here are some snippets from some of the comments by readers 1) conflicts of interest 2) "As King suggests, there's no signal to suggest a relationship. The sampling on this is way off to make an adequate interpretation with confidence. The group size for unvaccinated kids with ASD siblings is 269. So given the "noisy" results, you'd be similarly valid in arguing the MMR reduces ASD risk." 3) good comments by John_MD (sorry for the weird copy/paste) John_MD 8h ago 34 Can somebody help me out here? I just looked through the paper and the numbers as reported show that kids with autistic siblings who are NOT vaccinated are 39% more likely to get autism that those who are not! So in their attempt to show that vaccines don't cause autism in high risk children, they've it can actually reduce the risk of developing it! I really want this paper to be legitimate, but if the data collection was done at random, such a result would be quite unlikely (and maybe, the vaccines can cure autism, but that is even less believable than the original hypothesis). The numbers are found here: http://amaprod.silverchaircdn.com/data/Journals/JAMA/933762/joi150033t2.png?v=635651498182930000 Reply |Pick Report 100383 John_MD 8h ago 34 I noticed the same thing in the original JAMA article. The relative risk is HIGHEST among the 5-year group kids whose siblings do not have ASD. Reply |Pick Report 6jjjjj John_MD 8h ago 12 Yes, I did not get that either. I raised that question earlier here, and all the people here raised up a ruckus of indignation, but when it came down to it, could not explain it either. I wasn't sure if I go the stats wrong, and got 'no vaccine/ to vaccine' backwards. I was also reading this from the article: "The pattern in RRs across these groups was such that lower RR estimates (commonly extending into the protective range, ie, below 1.0) were observed at younger vs older ages and in children with older siblings with vs without ASD. Although protective estimates tended not to reach statistical significance, this pattern is worth further consideration. It is possible, for example, that this pattern is driven by selective parental decision making around MMR immunization, ie, parents who notice social or communication delays in their children decide to forestall vaccination. Because as a group children with recognized delays are likely to be at higher risk of ASD, such selectivity could result in a tendency for some higher-risk children to be unexposed." The way they are talking about it there, is that parents who DON"T vaccinate the second child, get the protective benefit. Is that right? In that case, according to this study, it means that children who do NOT get vaccinated, and are siblings of ASDs, get a 44% reduction in ASD risk if they don't get vaccinated. I am kind of confused on how they are presenting the data. Reply |Pick Report John_MD 6jjjjj 8h ago 12 I think what they are saying is that vaccines do not reduce the risk of autism, but parents who know their kid is likely going to be autistic (especially knowing that their sibling is), are more likely to shy away from vaccinating their child. BUT here lies the problem: this self-selection makes the study less valid since now we don’t know what would have happened had the high risk children who were not vaccinated and are not autistic been vaccinated (we don’t know how many of them there are, but we know that the samples are not random). Reply |Pick Report Loading… 6jjjjj John_MD 8h ago 12 Yes I think what you are saying makes sense. But I think this study was kind of confusing, as to how it presented its data. It could have made it a little more clear. Reply |Pick Report 100383 John_MD 8h ago 23 Exactly. The cell size is TINY for the unvaccinated child with an ASD sibling.

I don’t post very much because when my twins are home from pre-school the minute I open the iPads they both grab one & jump on ABC Mouse. Background: my son is 3.5 years old he has had PDD-NOS since he was 18months maybe longer. He has a twin brother & they were initially both verbal at 16 months then one progressed verbally & social and the other had terrible diarrhea & stomach problems for many months & he then did not progress, he actually regressed for a year. I see a DAN that was in California but is now in Florida & my son is on Methyl B-12 injections, DMG, Digestive Enzymes before meals & cod liver oil & Probiotics. No dairy no wheat and limited carbohydrates is his diet. After 60 days of Methyl B-12 & DMG he began to talk, he can spell and writes things to me with his ABC sets that I bought him. He ACES the spell curriculum on ABC mouse (more than his Nuerotypical brother), but he is not social and he still vocally stims very loudly 3 times a day for an hour each time. So 3 hours a day. At that time it is very difficult to pull him out & back with us. This usually happens when people are at our house or if we are in a store. Currently he is on his 3rd round in 6 months of Fluconazole & Cefdinir. He makes big social & verbal gains when he is on this course. He can communicate better and stims a little less. Two days ago I accidental missed his Fluconazole and he had trouble communicating the next day, so now I am thinking the Fluconazole is the most helpful. Where do we take this? I need advice? IVIG? Stem Cells? Fecal transplant from brother? GcMAF? What could replace these medication rounds OR do the medication rounds sometimes help workout the problem for good? Please let me know.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/26/opinion/sunday/immune-disorders-and-autism.html?_r=0 This article is from a few years back. It is striking how many kids on the spectrum have Pandas/Pans. Is there something in their genetics which makes them uniquely vulnerable to autoimmune problems? Or are the autoimmune problems causing the autism? Some kids seem to be "cured" of their autism once the Pandas/Pans is treated. Dr. Kenneth Bock suggests that even ADHD is on the spectrum and the spectrum has an autoimmune root. There also seems to be a correlation between maternal illness during pregnancy (especially in the fist two trimesters) and autism. Is there a correlation with Pandas/Pans? The article suggest that countries with parasites don't tend to have autism (or as many autoimmune problems)-related to the microbiome theory. Has anyone used parasites to treat Pandas/Pans? I know some parasites may be the cause of Pandas/Pans, so wondering what others think. Is there any research out there on any of this? Some quotes: "Humans also evolved with plenty of parasites. Dr. Parker and many others think that we’re biologically dependent on the immune suppression provided by these hangers-on and that their removal has left us prone to inflammation." I couldn't find results front this study, but it sounds interesting... "a trial is under way at the Montefiore Medical Center and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine testing a medicalized parasite called Trichuris suis in autistic adults."

Great eight-minute video of Dr. Stephanie Seneff of MIT discussing the connections between autism, vaccines, GMO's, pestisides, glutamate, sleep disorders, Tylenol, brain swelling, blood/brain barrier, etc. Very relevant to PANDAS/PANS as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3P6wVUH0pc&feature=youtu.be

1) VAXXED: Caller Gets Schooled on Dr. Andrew Wakefieldhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTxQxkXevkQ (more info here http://vaxxedthemovie.com/dr-andrew-wakefield-deals-with-allegations/ ) 2) Santa Barbara Q and A with Del Bigtree (producer of Vaxxed) https://www.facebook.com/del.bigtree/videos/10153458187935964/

Here's a good summary on what has been going on. Please share To buy tickets https://www.angelikafilmcenter.com/nyc/film/vaxxed-from-cover-up-to-catastrophe More info on FB https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=673611479448561&id=669084493234593&substory_index=0&hc_location=ufi

Somebody here made this test and willing to share it over here? (if that is too long for you, then at least post your arabinose results which is elevated with people with autism or similar problems, autism can be also aspergers such as high functioning autism which doesn't seem to be autistic on the outside) also write your background story of problems you have, anxiety, sleep disorders, aspergers, autism, pandas syndrome, etc.. here are my results: http://imgur.com/a/PnJil My problems: Severe social anxiety, schizoid personality disorder or aspergers (socially disabled - can't talk to people), generalized anxiety disorder, seasonal affective disorder (worse depression in winter), severe chronic insomnia (after lots of stress events), psychotic disorder, maybe PANDAS syndrome when i was a child (and maybe now it effects me in a way of depression and more), major depression (was mild depression but major after a break up with somebody i loved.. aspergers is autism, and i do think i have symptoms of high function autist.. i don't look like one but i'm very screwed when it comes to socializing with people, severely.

Hi, I'm a 19 year old man, kid, idk I'm sorta in between man and kid. Anyway I've always been a sort of weird kid, but very intelligent and high functioning. I always had some tics and weird mood behaviors, social awkwardness, etc. but was more or less a functioning member of society so my parents never saw any reason to investigate further. Over the summer I met with a therapist for the first time to help sort out attention/studying issues that I was having my first year of college and I ended up being diagnosed with ADD and Autism, I also used to be a major strep carrier, as an infant I had a severe case of scarlett fever and frequent cases of strep throughout my childhood, like multiple instances a year. Needless to say, PANDAs instantly came to mind, but I can't seem to find any info about how PANDAs affects people in adulthood. All these disorders are all new news to me, and while they explain a lot of my quirkiness, I'd really like to learn more about them and how they affect me, ya know? Any input from you guys would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, bentushar

This is a great informational meeting from earlier this week. Brian Hooker (Skype) plus many other powerful speakers were in attendance. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4SedhV5I8E

Hi, My son who is 3 year 2 months had a positive strep yesterday with absolutely no symptoms. He has been diagnosed with Autism recently, has excessive running and other ADD issues, has shown some regression. One thing I remember, early on when we were concerned he developed vocal tics suddenly, this coincided with him going to a different class, so we were could be stress induced autuistic reaction. His behaviours did seem to come on suddenly, I remember telling a psychologist like some body turned on a switch, he had some behaviours like hyperactivity. But we have lost our kid completely since April. Our peds mentioned Pandas in June and brushed it off ( also our neurologist) so waited and called back, finally got strep test two days back and it is positive. our ped started him on amoxycillin. His anxiety is through the roof some times and he will go to the play area for a month and now he is totally scared/not interested in it, same with his bike. Wondering about our next steps: Should I get ASO Dnase, cunningham panel, but he tested postive for throat strep. Will the antibiotic make the ASO Dnase etc.. tests false negative. Should we wait to see to howm amoxycillin helps or add other antibiotics. Contacted Dr.K in chicago, did not get a reply for email, but can call back, we live in minneapolis. Thanks and sorry for my long post

This article in the Sacramento Observer reports Congressman Posey's revelation to congress that Dr William Thompson of the CDC has revealed the deliberate omission of data in a 2004 study of the link between MMR and autism. The other authors not only omitted damning data and conclusions from the final publication but destroyed documents in order to cover it up. Sadly the Sac Observer is just one of two publications in the entire country that has reported on this so far. http://sacobserver.com/2015/07/u-s-congressmans-statement-questions-science-cited-to-support-school-vaccine-bill/

This is a really good interview w/Dr. Wakefield. Please watch and share.

"Some parents reject the current vaccine schedule. This video includes a selective review of issues and studies that may contribute to parental concerns. The "vaccine court" and the Omnibus Autism Proceeding are discussed. The accusations against Dr. Andrew Wakefield and the lack of evidence he commited fraud are reviewed." "Why do parents refuse to vaccinate their children?" This video needs to go viral...it deserves millions of views.

This has implications for all of us whose PANS kids have gut issues. http://www.ageofautism.com/2015/03/autism-and-the-microbiome-will-fecal-transplants-be-the-next-awakenings.html#more

I have just been told my son likely has PANDAS. I knew nothing about it. After reading quite a bit I am putting pieces together. He was given amoxicillin the same day as his MMR when he was 18 months old, for strep, I think... still checking to be certain as it may have been for massive ear infections, if which he had many. Another piece of the family auto immune puzzle is that this same time he regressed into a world of autism. Yet another, I have an adult daughter 15 years older who is on the spectrum. But here is my reason for posting: does anyone know of or has anyone heard of a documented or researched connection to autoimmunity disorders related to infections other than strep? I had recurrent TSS for 25 years and nearly died from sepsis month after month when doctors at a prestigious clinic in Phoenix dismissed it as imaginary. Fortunately, I found a great doctor. Could staph have a similar reaction as strep in people who may develop PANDAS, people who are constantly exposed to it or are carriers ?

The Greater Good can be viewed on this website for free until 21 Nov. http://articles.merc...eater-good.aspx Aluminum adjuvant linked to Gulf War illness induces motor neuron death in mice. Petrik MS1, Wong MC, Tabata RC, Garry RF, Shaw CA. http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/17114826

I need this groups help on a topic I feel like autism and PANS may be one in the same ,,,, I have heard of other doctors thinking this too that classic PANS is an occurrence after age three, & my sons situation is before he was three with his tick bite when he was a baby.my son is now almost 4 & has a twin with typical chattery development..... We are doing oral human gamagobulin for 2 months and starting our 3rd month we now have good speech but very little desire to be social or use language in a back fourth receptive way, very little desire to socialize with his brother. We had a process of getting rid of candida overgrowth and use probiotics & Nystatin to keep it away. The funny thing is I was holding a friend of mine's little girl at a birthday party on Saturday & at 11 months of age she was attempting to have a conversation with me, it showed me something I had NOT thought about in a while, which is ....just how young the human desire to communicate can be My question is: Now trying to move forward to get receptive language and socialization, has anyone tried oxytocin or Respen-a? We will continue the oral hg , but I am just trying to see what others have done in this situation, thinking of the future. Thanks

My doctor wants us to try Oral IG. It is the IVIG used but not with needles, We are told to give him a childs does of Pepsid to stop stomach acid and the oral amount is small & given every other day for many months. It is expensive $600. a month and I am fully aware of that. Background: My son is 3.5yrs old, and is in & out of being with us.He has some OCD, it used to be EXTREME. He talks some but not conversationally. He did 20 days of Cefdinir 2 different times. On both occasions he did speak conversationally. And permanently lost some of his worst OCD & separation anxiety symptoms. It was amazing!!! So his conversational speech & socialness did go awa when we stopped the Cefdinir. He has a bit of a yeast Candida battle going on since he was a baby & so we could not keep him on long term antibiotics. I give him Sacchamoyers Ballardii & FiveLac & Nystatin to help that battle and that does work BUT it is not enough when he is on antibiotics. and I am nervous about long term antibiotics with long term Fluconizole/Diflucan. IS that a true concern? The Candida problem is reason we are thinking very seriously about the Oral IG because if he had to be on antibiotics for a year or two I think it is not recommended to be on Diflucan that long. I saw a post from doctor McChandless saying ORAL IG works well for some kids. Are there any families out there that have had experience with Oral IG, Please let me know!!! Thanks,

The research below, done in Australia shows the dangers of our food supply and why there is an epidemic of diseases with the onset of GMO food both in our meat supply and corn, soy and sugar beets. My mom always wondered why I, and so many of my friends had to have bed rest pregnancies. She use to be a labor and delivery nurse in the 50's and saw miscarriages but mostly early on. Glyphosates were introduced in the 70's and tripled or more in amounts sprayed with GMO foods. Now I have my answer. I met the farmer personally 2 years ago at a lecture. He is 3rd generation and has seen changes first hand in the field and slaughter house. He is passionate about what he has discovered because as he puts it, "I don't know who my kids will marry and I want healthy grandchildren". He presented his findings to the FDA and was ignored. Fortunately he has not given up which led to this extensive research. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/05/18/gmo-foods-inflammation.aspx?e_cid=20140518Z1_SNL_Art_1&utm_source=snl&utm_medium=email&utm_content=art1&utm_campaign=20140518Z1&et_cid=DM45056&et_rid=524687028 Visit the Mercola Video Library By Dr. Mercola If you're like me, you've probably been asked by many of your friends and relatives why you believe genetically engineered (GE) foods are unsafe. Dr. Judy Carman, one of the few researchers in the world who has carefully and independently evaluated this question, can help you provide answers to your friends and family. Dr. Carman has degrees in both epidemiology and medicine, specifically in the field of nutritional biochemistry in metabolic regulation in relation to cancer, and her research into GE foods provides compelling evidence for avoiding such foods if you value your health, and want to protect the health of your children as they grow older. Her background involves both cancer research, and work as a senior epidemiologist in Australian government, investigating outbreaks of disease. She's currently an adjunct associate professor at Flinders University in South Australia, as well as the director of the Institute of Health and Environmental Research (IHER). Independent GMO Researchers Face Many Challenging Hurdles As one of the few researchers looking into the effects of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), Dr. Carman is no stranger to the many challenges that this kind of research entails. The biotechnology industry has devised a rather clever and sophisticated control system that largely prevents independent research of their products. "Yes, there are a number of problems for anyone doing research," she notes. "They usually center around getting the money to be able to do the research... But you also need to get the materials to test. In this case, it's the seeds from the genetically modified (GM) plants... But it's very difficult to get GM seeds to test. If a farmer wants to buy seeds to plant in the field, the farmer has to sign a technology user agreement, which means [he]... is not allowed to do any research on those seeds, and is not allowed to give them to anyone else to do research on either. You basically have to find some way around that that's legal and we did, but it took us quite some time. Otherwise, you need to go to the industry to ask, 'Pretty please, can we have some seeds?' We did that as well. The conditions placed upon us getting those seeds were such that we couldn't legitimately try and get the seeds from most companies." Besides the hurdle of obtaining the GE seeds in question, protected as they are by rigid patent laws, researchers who venture into GMO research must also be prepared to survive the personal and professional discrediting and abuse that comes with the territory. Truly, anyone who does this kind of research must be close to sainthood, as those who reveal negative findings are figuratively speaking "tarred and feathered" for their efforts. Most must endure being personally attacked and vilified, and many have had their entire career stripped from them in the process. In the last six years, Dr. Carman has survived six different attempts to have her removed from her various university positions, for example. As she notes later in this interview, she was largely "protected" by the fact that she knew this going into the research, and chose to stop receiving a salary and getting paid for her work. Funding is another major barrier, of course. Because most of the agricultural universitiesthe ones that would conduct these studiesobtain their funding from the very companies that make the seeds, they're not interested in research that might jeopardize this lucrative relationship with the industry. In Dr. Carman's case, her team was fortunate enough to obtain the funding for their research from the government of Western Australia. Why Industry Safety Assessments Rarely Reveal the Truth Most pigs raised in American piggeries are fed a GE diet these days; typically, a mixture of GE soy and corn. Howard Vlieger, who is the second co-author of the study, had noticed differences in pigs fed a GE diet compared to those given non-GE feed, and he was one of the primary instigators of the investigation. Dr. Carman explains what got them started: "The two main things he was seeing was an increase in intestinal problems in pigs fed GM feed, particularly an increase in stomach inflammation. He was also seeing things such as a thinning of intestinal walls, and hemorrhagic bowel disease, where a pig can... bleed out from its bowel within 15 or so minutes. The other thing he was seeing was a reduced ability to conceive in the sows (female pigs) and higher rates of miscarriage in female pigs fed GM crops. [in] communities in the United States that still use boars to inseminate their sows... he was also seeing a reduction in the number of piglets born." They decided to take a proper look at these phenomena. Dr. Carman has been an outspoken critic of the protocols used by the genetically modified food industry for their safety assessments, so she was careful about the design of her own study. Generally, industry safety protocols fall into two main camps: What the industry calls a "safety assessment" is really nothing more than an animal production study, Dr. Carman notes. Using significant numbers of animals, they feed some the GE crop, and another group gets non-GE feed. But the outcomes industry researchers look for are typically irrelevant to human health. These studies are basically done to reassure primary livestock producers that if you feed this GM feed to your animals, they will live long enough to get to market and produce a good yield. The second type of studies done are animal studies to determine if a product is going to harm human health. These are quite rare within the GE industry. Here, a very small number of animals are typically used, who are then given GE feed. Sometimes, however, they may not even feed the animals with the GE crop in question. Instead, they might just use the "active ingredient" or in this case the particular plant protein that has been inserted into the plant. For example, a small number of animals might receive a GE protein, and the effects of a singular dose are then noted over the course of seven to 14 days. If the animal (usually a rat) doesn't die, all is presumed to be well. Crazy as it seems, this is sometimes the main safety assessment performed by the industry. Even more remarkable, sometimes, the protein tested doesn't even come from the actual GE plant, but rather from the bacteria they genetically engineer to produce what they hope is the same protein. As Dr. Carman notes, this kind of testing is not going to reveal the long-term health outcomes associated with eating the GE food over the course of years, or an entire lifetime. In Search of Statistical Significance Dr. Carman's team decided to use pigs instead of rats. Adverse effects have already been observed in pigs raised on GE feed, and the digestive organs in pigs are very similar to those in humans. They also decided to feed them long enough for adverse effects to actually be found. As soon as the piglets were weaned, they were randomly assigned to receive either GE or non-GE feed, and they were fed the same feed for their entire commercial lifespan, which is about five months. At that point, the now fully mature (and very large) animals were slaughtered according to industry standards. All personnel involved in the study were blinded, including the veterinarians who performed the autopsies at the end of the study, meaning no one knew beforehand which animals were receiving which feed. Two years ago, the first-ever lifetime animal feeding study involving GE corn revealed major health problems, including massive mammary tumors, kidney and liver damage, and early death. That study, led by Gilles-Eric Séralini, also attempted to separate out the effects of glyphosate. To do so, some rats were given GE corn that had not been sprayed with glyphosate, while others were given conventional GE corn that had been sprayed. Yet another group received glyphosate in water, but no GE feed. All suffered serious health consequences, although the combination of glyphosate and GE corn was the worst. "In my view, he needed to have more animals to be able to find statistical significance," Dr. Carman says. "That's what we did in the pig study. We made sure that we had large numbers of pigs, so that if there was anything biologically significant happening, we would pick it up in the statistics. We had 168 just-weaned pigs. We split them into two groups: one fed GM feed and the other fed non-GM feed. We had 84 pigs per group. That made quite a lot of difference. We were able to do some more elaborate statistics and actually hunt down some hypotheses within the statistics that we used." Pig Study Reveals Significant Stomach Inflammation The sad reality though is that pigs are not just fed one GE crop at a time. As mentioned earlier, they're fed combinations of GE crops, typically GE soy and corn. Dr. Carman used Roundup-ready soy designed to be resistant to the herbicide Roundup, so that the herbicide will only kill surrounding weedsalong with a couple of different GE corn varieties. "We were in effect feeding three GM genes and their protein products to these pigs at the same time," she explains. This was also done in order to simulate the diet of a typical American who, just like pigs raised in a conventional piggery, will eat a variety of different GE corn crops, not just one specific one at a time.Besides the fact that there are different kinds of GE crops, such as Roundup Ready and Bt, more than 37 percent of the GE crops grown in the US are "stacked" gene crops, meaning they're not just resistant to Roundup, they also have one or two Bt genes in it. So eating foods that have two or more genetically modified genes in it is pretty standard in terms of what you'll find in the typical American diet. "These pigs were eating the Roundup-ready gene, its protein product, two Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) proteins, and the proteins from the two Bt genes, which are designed to produce insecticidal proteins. I suspect that the reason why we got such strong stomach inflammation was the interaction between the proteins that the animals were eating," she says. At the end of the study, Dr. Carman's team discovered a significant increase in stomach inflammation in the pigs fed a GE diet. Overall, inflammation levels were 2.6 times higher in GE-fed pigs than those fed a non-GE diet, and male pigs fared worse than the females. While sows were 2.2 times more likely to have severe stomach inflammation on a GE diet, male pigs were four times more likely to get severe stomach inflammation. "And when I say 'severe,' I'm talking about a stomach that is swollen and cherry red in color over almost the entire surface of the stomach. This is not the sort of stomach that you or I would want to have at all," she says. To see the results for yourself, visit GMOJudyCarman.org. The uterus was also 25 percent heavier in sows fed GE feed. Both of these findings were biologically and statistically significant. In their paper, Dr. Carman et.al. discuss the disease states this kind of uterine enlargement might represent. "The two main things that we were looking at here and the two main things that Howard Vlieger flagged as a problemas things that he was seeing in livestock, particularly in pigswere both things we found statistical significance for: (1) digestive health problems, particularly inflammation in the stomach, and also (2) reproductive issues. In this case, we've found this increased uterus weight," she says. Can We Put the Genie Back in the Bottle? I sincerely believe that if you expose people to genetically engineered foods for a long enough time, we're going to see dramatic increases in disease. My own efforts are all geared toward reducing the number of people affected. And my recommendation is clear: avoid GE foods, and for as long as such foods are not required to be labeled, avoid them by purchasing organic foods. Without labeling, that's the only real workaround at your disposal. As noted by Dr. Carman, the chemical technology industry is NOT doing a good enough job ensuring safety before putting their genetically altered products into the food system. Unfortunately, hundreds of millions have already been exposed. And without knowing it, they've fed GE foods of highly questionable safety to their children, day in and day out, perhaps for years already. Have GE crops contributed to the increased chronic disease burden in the US, especially in children? While the industry says "no way," I believe the evidence suggests otherwise. We have to remember that humans live around 80 years, and this gigantic GE food experiment only began in earnest less than 20 years old agoeven less if you start counting from when GMOs became really prevalent in processed foods. Hence, we may be decades away from tabulating the human casualties. This is why long-term safety studies on animals are so critical, as rats and pigs have far shorter lifespans than humans. Silencing Scientific Dissent Dr. Carman's research, as well as Seralini's, really suggests we need to exercise the precautionary principle and avoid these foods. Needless to say, however, the chemical technology companies that created these crops are in the business of protecting and expanding business, not voluntarily shutting themselves down, and they've proven they're willing to go to great lengths to protect profits. Ruining a researcher's reputation and livelihood is nothing in the big scheme of things to a multinational giant like Monsanto. The Corbett Report above discusses some of the less-than-honorable methods used by industry to silence dissentersespecially scientists whose research doesn't jibe with preconceived industry decisions. The list of victimsresearchers who published research detrimental to the industry's bottom lineis long, and growing. As mentioned earlier, the findings from Séralini's lifetime feeding study, which was published in Elsevier's peer-reviewed journal Food and Chemical Toxicology, were an absolute bombshell. The study was, and still is, among the best evidence of the toxic effects of GE foods. Of utmost importance, Séralini's study showed that the major onslaught of diseases really set in during the 13th month of the experiment, strongly suggesting that industry-funded studies have simply been too short for problems to be detected. Consider this: if 24 months of a rat's life equates to about 80 years of your child's, the 13-month mark would be somewhere in your child's early to mid-40s. The industry immediately went on the offensive. Then, in what appears to have been a last ditch effort to get rid of this stubbornly incriminating study, the publisher (Elsevier) simply retracted it, for no other reason than its findings were deemed to be inconclusive. The thing is, inconclusiveness of findings is not a valid ground for retraction... Elsevier's actions caused a major backlash, and has undoubtedly opened more than a few eyes to the reality of censorship of "unwanted" research. Even the National Institutes for Health (NIH) scolded Elsevier in an editorial titled: "Inconclusive Findings: Now You See Them, Now You Don't!" Harassment, Par for the Course Another poster child for researchers harassed to their wits' end is Tyrone Hayes, whose Atrazine research turned his life into a paranoid nightmare. Rachael Aviv told his story in a February 10 article in The New Yorker. In the late 1990s, Hayes conducted experiments on the herbicide for its maker, Syngenta. As reported by Aviv: "...when Hayes discovered that Atrazine might impede the sexual development of frogs, his dealings with Syngenta became strained, and, in November, 2000, he ended his relationship with the company. Hayes continued studying Atrazine on his own, and soon he became convinced that Syngenta representatives were following him to conferences around the world. He worried that the company was orchestrating a campaign to destroy his reputation." Two years ago, his work on Atrazine provided the scientific basis for two class-action lawsuits brought against Syngenta by 23 US municipalities, accusing the chemical technology company of contaminating drinking water and "concealing Atrazine's true dangerous nature." Documents unearthed during these legal proceedings revealed that Hayes' suspicions were trueSyngenta had indeed been studying him as deeply as he'd been studying their toxic herbicide for the past 15 years. What follows reaches a level of creepy that no one should ever have to endureleast of all a scientist who's working to learn and share the truth about a widely used agricultural chemical that has the power to affect all of us, and our ecology. Aviv writes: "Syngenta's public-relations team had drafted a list of four goals. The first was 'discredit Hayes.' In a spiral-bound notebook, Syngenta's communications manager, Sherry Ford, who referred to Hayes by his initials, wrote that the company could 'prevent citing of TH data by revealing him as noncredible...' Syngenta looked for ways to 'exploit Hayes' faults/problems.' 'If TH involved in scandal, enviros will drop him,' Ford wrote. She observed that Hayes 'grew up in world (S.C.) that wouldn't accept him,' 'needs adulation,' 'doesn't sleep,' was 'scarred for life.' She wrote, 'What's motivating Hayes?basic question.'" Who Will You Listen to: Big Money, or a Researcher Working Next to Free? Indeed, what could possibly motivate anyone to undertake work that is bound to alienate them from their peers, smear their personal and professional reputation, and perhaps even ruin their financial future? In Dr. Carman's case, it was a passion for the truth. And a deep concern for her fellow manyour children and unborn grandchildren included. She is a magnificent role model for all of us as she sacrificed her income and endured professional abuse for the sake of the truth. She was savvy enough to understand the risks of such an undertaking. She knew that people in this field tend to be fired from their jobs once they publish negative findings. Publicly shamed and out of work, many of these scientists are prevented from doing any further research. To circumvent this possibility, Dr. Carman took some proactive steps to ensure that backlash wouldn't force her to discontinue her work. "Early on, it became obvious that there was really no money. You couldn't go to a funding organization and ask for money to be able to do research in this area. I was concerned about the possibility of bad health effects occurring in people. I decided that I needed to go looking. I needed to do some proper animal studies to see if there were any adverse effects occurring in animals that might translate into people. I realized I needed to leave paid employment to be able to do it. I'm actually unfunded in this work. At the age of 45, I had enough investment income to be able to do work on this area basically for free, and on very little money. I've been poor now for quite a few years. But it became imperative for me to look; I had a burning question about whether it was safe for people to eat GMO's or not... Most people would probably choose to look after their families [rather] than to continue on with the research. Not only is it very hard to get money to be able to do the research, but you have to be able to survive the abuse you get afterwards, and the threats to your livelihood afterwards. In fact, a lot of people who work in this area are people who are retired from paid employment, because once again, they can't be threatened with losing their livelihood." Follow the Money... Ever since the introduction of genetically engineered seeds about 20 years ago, the market for these chemical-dependent crops have spawned a multibillion dollar industry. Funding for the development of more varieties of GE crop varieties has come primarily from the privately-owned pesticide industry itself. Over the last 15 years, conflicts of interest within science have exponentially increased, and at this point, it's blatantly obvious that financial conflicts of interest play a major role when it comes to what research is done; what gets published, and what doesn't. Virtually all of the research done on GMOs is performed by the industry itself or scientists funded by them either directly or indirectly through grants to the agricultural universities. The results, therefore, are predictable. Few are those who have both the right qualifications and the willingness to "bear the cross," as it were, that seems to come standard when you're investigating GMOs as an independent researcher. My sincere gratitude goes to Dr. Carman for her personal sacrifices to get this all-important work done. Without such research, we'd remain clueless as to what these foods might be doing to us in the long term. With it, we can make far more educated guesses about the real ramifications of this massive, unannounced human experiment, and decide for ourselves if we really want to partake in it or not. My recommendation? Avoid it, as best as you can. Vote with Your Pocketbook, Every Day The food companies on the left of this graphic spent tens of millions of dollars in the last two labeling campaignsin California and Washington Stateto prevent you from knowing whats in your food. You can even the score by switching to the brands on the right; all of whom stood behind the I-522 Right to Know campaign. Voting with your pocketbook, at every meal, matters. It makes a huge difference. By boycotting GMA member Traitor Brands, you can help level the playing field, and help take back control of our food supply. I-522 poster I encourage you to continue educating yourself about genetically engineered foods, and to share what youve learned with family and friends. Remember, unless a food is certified organic, you can assume it contains GMO ingredients if it contains sugar from sugar beets, soy, or corn, or any of their derivatives.

The PANDAS/PANS Symposium was a brain intense, but wonderful gathering of Dr.s and parents put on by PANDAS Network in San Francisco, Saturday April 26. Families came from England, Scotland, Canada and Mexico. Maybe others I have missed. I was never the "note taker" so I apologize for any inaccurate info ahead of time. I found all the Drs passionate about helping our kids which is a nice change from the blank look or grimace I have received in the past. I have bits and pieces I took away and will mention them here in case there is a dot for your child's picture of this puzzle. Any other families who were there please add your thoughts and comments! They did video tape it and hopefully will have it up soon on the website and YouTube. Dr. S came out to a standing ovation. She talked about the Cam Kinase II /activity and anti-dopamine D2 Receptors along with evidence of cross reactive antibodies. 1 in 5 have the eating issues and there also is a disruption in REM sleep. Besides the throat, strep can be found in the sinuses where some had cysts removed along with the Uretha and Anus. Titers were only elevated in 2/3 of patients. Augmentin also decreases Dopamine and Glutamate. Dr. B-A brought in newer concepts of Encephalopathy. She is a pediatric Neurologist and discussed cytokines and brain inflammation. PANS should be under the umbrella of Psycho Immunno Neurological Syndrome. She found a ratio of males 5:1. She also thought a lumbar puncture was important and using Immunotherapy for treatment. There may be involvement of the Vagus nerve. Dr. F from Stanford Neuro Immune Clinic discussed abnormal reactions of the Innate and Adaptive Immune System. She talked about the intersection between PANS and other diseases. She felt the medication Ritux X2 was dangerous and would only consider it in very serious cases. I think, don't quote me but it makes the T cells be quiet and lasts about 6 months till symptoms return. She also is part of a consortium of Dr.s working on this puzzle with Psych, Rheumatology, Immunology , and Infectious Disease. Dr. C from the Univ of Missouri related PANS to "The Blind Man and the Elephant" with every specialty looking at it from a different angle. I have Rifampin written in my notes if persistent but don't know if he said that or someone else. Pen VK was also discussed to set your timer for every 12 hours otherwise a missed dose leaves you unprotected for a few days. We can't take penicillin. Maybe someone can chime in about this. The next morning we had very informative talks with an Integrative nurse. After all the coordination of the event she still had the time to answer many parents' questions. She said there are 100 different strains of Lyme and the CDC revised their numbers last year to 300,000 new cases. As a parent of a PANDAS son she said trust your gut and just think what is the next step you can do. Most important is to get the bowels moving and eliminate constipation. Her son spoke words of encouragement to the parents during the morning session yesterday and he is excited to start college next year. Kathleen from Moms Across America talked about pesticides and that Glyphosate in Round Up chelates minerals from the body. These important minerals like Magnesium, Zinc, Copper are the engines to hundreds of functions in our body especially the brain. This pesticide also kills off your gut flora and makes the intestines permeable creating a multitude of allergies and immune responses. We use to only spray the soil but with the creation of GMO (Genetically Modified Organism)food we now spray the plant heavily with pesticide too and this correlates with a rise in PANDAS in our kids. GMO crops started in 1996 and in 1998 Swedo started studying PANDAS. GMO Corn has BT toxin DNA spliced into each kernel. It explodes the bug's stomach when it bites into the corn. Our bodies don't recognize this inserted DNA to our food and creates an inflammatory response. This is in 80% of corn grown in the USA. Makes me stop using products with corn syrup. Mexico has abruptly stopped all growing of GMO corn. Yeah! Pesticides are sprayed in the drying process of all grains contributing to Celiac and also sprayed on rice used in Gluten Free products. She is working with companies open to change this for kids with allergies. I didn't know but they spray the fruit at the end of growing season too! The majority of our animals have been fed with GMO feed. She says go to your local farmer's market, get to know your farmer and ask questions. Buy Organic. Vote for labeling, 64 other countries have the Right To Know and you can vote with your wallet at the grocery store. I personally enjoyed going. It is so nice to be with parents who "Get It". There were stories exchanged, paths we have travelled, and most important successes sprouting hope.

Researching around I found this very informative. Seems to me we have rendered the innate immune system dysfunctional. What should become dormant is creating havoc neurologically. Depending on the age of onset, infants-Autism, young children- PANDAS/PANS, elderly-Alzheimers. Looks like it's ALL the same thing! http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/evolutionary-psychiatry/201110/could-alzheimers-dementia-be-caused-virus

I don’t post very much because when my twins are home from pre-school the minute I open the iPads they both grab one & jump on ABC Mouse. Background: my son is 3.5 years old he has had PDD-NOS since he was 18months maybe longer. He has a twin brother & they were initially both verbal at 16 months then one progressed verbally & social and the other had terrible diarrhea & stomach problems for many months & he then did not progress, he actually regressed for a year. I see a DAN that was in California but is now in Florida & my son is on Methyl B-12 injections, DMG, Digestive Enzymes before meals & cod liver oil & Probiotics. No dairy no wheat and limited carbohydrates is his diet. After 60 days of Methyl B-12 & DMG he began to talk, he can spell and writes things to me with his ABC sets that I bought him. He ACES the spell curriculum on ABC mouse (more than his Nuerotypical brother), but he is not social and he still vocally stims very loudly 3 times a day for an hour each time. So 3 hours a day. At that time it is very difficult to pull him out & back with us. This usually happens when people are at our house or if we are in a store. Currently he is on his 3rd round in 6 months of Fluconazole & Cefdinir. He makes big social & verbal gains when he is on this course. He can communicate better and stims a little less. Two days ago I accidental missed his Fluconazole and he had trouble communicating the next day, so now I am thinking the Fluconazole is the most helpful. Where do we take this? I need advice? IVIG? Stem Cells? Fecal transplant from brother? GcMAF? What could replace these medication rounds OR do the medication rounds sometimes help workout the problem for good? Please let me know.