Wednesday, December 31, 2014

What Will Life Be Like for Your Child with Down Syndrome?

Thanks to many parents that have been before me, parenting a child with Down syndrome, we can stand by our kids today and raising them in our homes. The loves for these amazing humans give us the courage to fight for them to have a place in this society. Today, we are changing people minds, including doctors. There are still many doctors that need to learn how to give the news to expectant parents about their child's  genetic disorder. Howsoever, some doctors are going beyond the norm and respect the lives of individuals of Down syndrome.

The first thing, we all do as soon as we get the positive results for Trisomy 21 is going online and absorb all the information available possible. I did it! I don't regret. Howsoever, I wish when the news was giving to me that the doctor  would give me a beautiful welcome pack with real stories of kids with Trisomy 21 as well as a list of Parents support group because the true experts in this matter  are the parents. Today, our local Down syndrome has make this possible for new expectant parents and Tommy was in the cover of the firts welcome pack distributed in the metropolitan area in 2009.


More and more Doctors are understanding that individuals with Down syndrome are not a second category citizens, that they have the same rights to enjoy life as everybody else. One doctor who truly understand this is Dr. Linda Crnic. She devoted all her knowledge on pediatrics and psychiatry for the benefit of improving lives of kids with Down syndrome, which gave her a good international reputation for her research in Down syndrome. Unfortunately, her life got short due to a tragedy biking accident on September 11, 2004. Howsoever, her input and passion to improve the quality of life of kids with Down syndrome staid to inspired others, which made possible the creation of Linda Crnic Institute for Down syndrome in 2008. The institute is part of School of Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.


Currently, the Linda Crnic Institute for Down syndrome is the top leading research organization dedicate to Down syndrome. Dr. Tom Blumenthal is continuing Dr. Crnic legacy and he is working really to improve cognition and health issue in kids with Down syndrome. 

"The avowed purposes of the Crnic Institute are to “eradicate the medical and cognitive ill effects associated with Down syndrome by the year 2017” and “to significantly improve the lives of all people with Down syndrome and their families and their communities.” Our intention is to accomplish those goals, but when exploring the unknown, one never knows what lies ahead. Explorers can’t promise anything, except that we will do everything we can to accomplish the mission. It is time for research to start benefitting people with Down syndrome, and there is reason to believe we can accomplish this..."

If you are expectant mom or dad, I want you to know that there is hope and science has the clue in how improve our kids outcomes and quality of life. I want to share with you:

"What Will Life Be Like for Your Child with Down Syndrome?by Linda Crnic Institute for Down syndrome* 
  • The life expectancy for individuals with Down syndrome is 60 years of age.
  • Most individuals with Down syndrome finish high school, and many complete a transition to work program or go on to attend community college. Some individuals with Down syndrome complete a four year college and the occasional individual with Down syndrome attends graduate school. 
  • Self-advocates with Down syndrome describe their life and their achievements using power point or speak from notes.
  • Work placements for individuals with Down syndrome are less likely to include sheltered workshops and more likely to be in contact with the community.
  • Many adults with Down syndrome live independently, either in group homes, with roommates or with their spouse.
  • Experts in education for individuals with Down syndrome stress inclusion with typical peers beginning in preschool, and continuing through elementary school, middle school and high school. The performance of both typical children and children with Down syndrome improves with inclusion.
  • Children and youth with Down syndrome should be offered the opportunity to participate in sports, dance, theater, music and art. Participation will help these individuals to develop friendships and self-confidence.
  • As parents, you will need to be strong advocates for your child with Down syndrome to ensure that he/she will be able to reach his/her potential.
  • As parents, you will love your son or daughter with Down syndrome and you will be proud of them. You will feel that your outlook on life will be more positive because of them. You will feel that your typical children have a good relationship with their sibling with Down syndrome.
  • Your typical children will love their sibling with Down syndrome and will be proud of them. They will think that they are better people because of their sibling with Down syndrome. They will be committed to their sibling with Down syndrome and remain a part of their life through adulthood.
  • Your child with Down syndrome will be happy with his/her life, like who they are, and like the way they look. They will love their parents and their siblings. They will make friends easily. They will have similar hopes and dreams to those of your typical children.
  • Your child with Down syndrome will look more like their parents and siblings than like other children with Down syndrome.
  • Each individual with Down syndrome is unique and has particular strengths and talents.
To see what life is like for individuals with Down syndrome, please check out the following links to websites:
I highlighted the bullet point above because the unawareness that exist world wide about the possibilities that some kids with Down syndrome can achieve educational standards as their typical peers. The key is to find the proper treatments that can facilitate physical, emotional and cognitive growth. Howsoever, there are not proper treatments developed for our kids yet.  

Due to son's coexistent conditions, things are harder than just having Down syndrome alone. But I won't stop fighting for giving him the opportunity to reach his true potential because he is my son first and the labels are second. Nobody can give me a lecture about Down syndrome or Autism because I live it 24/7 all year around. Parents should know that there is more that neuroscience can do for our kids and we need to work together, doctors and parents, for a better outcome and quality of life of all kids with Down syndrome. The work we have ahead of us as parents is enormously, but not impossible. We will keep breaking the paradigms that surround our kids.




Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Brain Inflammation and Candida

Candida is a fungus that we all have in our stomach, but if it overgrowths, it creates many health issues because it produces about 180 chemical toxins. Toxins in general pool the trigger for brain inflammation, which is very common in kids with Autism. Many of the symptoms for candida overgrowth are the same symptoms for Autism. Here are some symptoms of candida/Autism:
  • Fatigue and loss of energy/motivation
  • Inability to concentrate
  • Irritability
  • Bloating and gas
  • Diarrhea or constipation
  • Inappropriate laughter
  • Unexplained intermittent crying episodes
  • Belly aches
  • “Fogginess”
  • Lack of attention
  • Anger, aggression
  • Increased self-stimulatory behavior
  • High-pitched squealing
  • Increased sensory defensiveness
  • Climbing/jumping off things
  • Confusion
  • Inability to potty train, or loss of this skill
  • Eczema around the mouth
  • Food sensitivity or food allergy
We started to treat Candida overgrowth in June, 2014. We have been working hard in controlling Tommy's candida overgrowth/brain inflammation. We will retest Tommy for Candida to see if it has improved. Even when we don't have the test results, I have seen some improvement:
  • Less issues with Diarrhea
  • Flatter belly, so it looks less bloated.
  • Better auditory processing, so he is not getting so irritated with some noises. He jumped two digit span in Auditory processing without working on it, so auditory processing is a little faster than before. Every time he is able to process to a higher digit span, the closer he gets to auditory processing as a child of his age. 
  • More energy
  • More awareness at school
  • Better attention
  • Skills he lost are coming back without the involvement of therapy. For example: He is able to eat with the fork again, looking at books, blowing his nose.
  • Less aggression/irritability.
Treating brain inflammation has to be on hand with treating candida. So it is hard to separate on from the other. Reducing brain inflammation is the ultimate goal because it is what it causes many of the Autism issues. If we heal the gut; then, we heal the brain and vice-versa. Brain/gut is one system rather than separate systems as is commonly believed. 

Diet plays a huge role in controlling brain inflammation/candida overgrowth. So we have eliminated foods that feed the candida and foods that increases dopamine,which is resulting in A happier child because he is not engaging in self hurting behaviors anymore. Tommy's diet is not as complicate as many people think; howsoever,  It is not junk food or empty calories food. Here is a list of some of the organic vegetables, meats and spices/herbs Tommy's eats that work to treat candida overgrowth and brain inflammation:

VEGETABLES
- Spinach
- Zucchini
- Onions
- Garlic
- Asparagus
- Carrots
- Cucumber
- Lettuce
- Ginger Root
- Kale
- Swiss Chard
- Chard
- Green Peppers
- Red Peppers
- Yellow or Orange peppers
- Celery
- Sweet Potatoes
- Scallions

FRUITS
- Avocados

- Purple Grapes
- Pineapples
- Cantaloupes
- Bananas
- Apples
- Lemons
- Grapefruits
- Kiwis
- Mango
- Blueberries


HERBS/SPICES
- Thyme
- Oregano
- Turmeric
- Cinnamon
- Kelp Powder
- Ginger Powder
- Cayenne Pepper
- Parsley
- Bay Leaves
- Basil
- Black Pepper
- Sea salt

GOOD FATS
- Olive Oil
- Coconut Oil
- Flaxseed
- Cod Liver Oil
- Coconut Butter

MEAT/PROTEIN
- Chicken
- Bison
- Turkey
- Eggs (He overcame his food sensitivity to egg, howsoever, we don't give it to him regularly).

GRAIN (I could them from scratch, so I don't have enough time to cook them regularly).
- Red beans 
- Lentils 
- Quinua
- Brown Rice

I just listed some food, but the variety of food Tommy's eats is very extensive. Even at school, they are very surprised of the extensive variety of food Tommy eats because that it is not the norm for most kids of his age. So he truly doesn't have issues with what type of food he eats because he is not a picky eater. He has learned to eat really good and it became a life style for him to the point he quit eating cookies. Even when the cookies were really tasty and he could eat them because they were gluten, dairy and egg free, he just suddenly didn't like them anymore. 

As I mentioned above, TOXINS pool the trigger for brain inflammation. So it is not enough to control toxins that are produce inside Tommy's body, we also has to pay attention to the toxins that come from the environment. Once environmental toxins are in his system, his body struggles to get them out and all these toxins travel to brain increasing the neuro-immunity/brain inflammation as well as interfering with the normal function of the mitochondria. So now we are in the process to control toxins in his environment, we also has revised that there are environmental toxins that promote candida overgrowth, which are commonly found in tap water and swimming pools,  those are: Fluoride and Chlorine. So we will quit swimming lessons after April 2015. He is also not very interesting in the swimming lessons anymore, so I think it is time to take a brake. Instead, I will take the adventure of swimming in the lakes in our neighborhood which were designed for swimming and they are not treated with chlorine as the swimming pools. We will use sodium thiosulphate for the bathtub and water filter for cooking. 

There is a lot of changes that we will have to make in our lifestyle; howsoever, my son deserves we tried everything to help him to overcome his challenges due to his Autism diagnosis. He is the one that gives me hope when he shows me in one way or another that he is capable to learn more than what people think. He cannot verbalize it, but I discovered that he understands the concept 2D and 3D shapes and he can identified a large cylinder, short cylinder, sphere, pyramid, cube, cone, rectangular prism, triangular prism and hexagonal prism. He is here to change people's mind!

THE SKY IS THE LIMIT!