Nutritional - Cod Liver Oil

Cod liver oil contains omega-3 fatty acids, Vitamin D and is an excellent source of vitamins A.

Vitamin A is an antioxidant and immune enhancer. Vitamin A is called the "anti-infective vitamin" and has been used to successfully treat the measles virus. Vitamin A has also been shown to be benificial with autistics but be cautioned too much Vitamin A and Vitamin D can be toxic. Liver, kidney, milk fat and cod liver oil are natural sources of Vitamin A. While Vitamin A is added to milk, infant formula and breakfast cerals, it is the palminate form of Vitamin A and it does not offer the same benefits as the natural form.

Dr. Mary Megson, a pediatrician from the US, has used Vitamin A therapy on her autistic patients with exciting results. She reported patients started speaking more frequently and clearly then before. Others made gains in eye contact which suggested this may be related to better eye rod function.

Dr. Mary Megson also showed that certain children susceptible to autism are genetically at risk from a G-alpha protein defect. Dr. Megson theorized that susceptible children regress with wheat exposure followed by the exposure to the measles antigen and then the pertussis toxin. This sequence takes these susceptible children into a disconnect of the G-alpha protein pathways. The retinoid receptors pathways are critical for vision, sensory perception, language processing and attentiveness. If your child is doing sideways glancing it may be an indicator of poor rod function and a indicator of a G-alpha protein defect. Please refer to Dr. Jaquelyn McCandless' book and your Physican for more information.

References

• The Merck Index 12th Ed., Merck & Co., Whitehouse Station, NJ (1997) entry 10150 pg 10150.
• Mary N. Megson, M.D., F.A.A.P., The Biological Basis for Perceptual Deficits in Autism: Vitamin A and G Proteins, audiotape of a lecture presented ar rhe DAN! Conference in Cherry Hill, N.J., October 1999.
• Megson, M.N., "Is Autism a G-alpha protein defect reversible with natural vitamin A?" Med. Hypotheses (200) 54 979-983s.
• McCandless, J., Children with Starving Brains 3rd Edition 2007, p 121-122.