by catbirdsteed » Tue Feb 03, 2009 3:39 am
Adrenals and Autism
Adrenal glands and Autism: The adrenal glands are truly one of the primary organs sets of the endocrine system. In Chinese medicine, the pituitary and pineal glands are truly the "master glands" due to their extensive number of hormone-regulating hormones, and they do have a major impact on the adrenal glands. The adrenal glands however are patently able to pick up production of certain other hormones in the event of a particular endocrine gland failure.
Case in point, and one by design: female sexual hormones estrogen and progesterone, typically generated by the ovaries after the onset of puberty, do not cease to exist in an individual after menopause. The adrenal glands pick up the slack and generate it themselves. Conversely, prior to the onset of puberty, the adrenals will be generating some quantity of the same hormones. They will typically cease to do so between puberty and menopause. One issue that can manifest at menopause is the weakened state of the adreanals, which will lead to the usual array of mood and body temperature regulating swings. The better the state of the adreanal glands at the onset of menopause, the lesser the symptoms
Stress hormones: Glucocorticoids and mineralcorticoids are the main hormones that are secreted on response to stress, whereas adrenalin is typically released to INDUCE stress. it is not the input itself that is stressful, but our response to it. Observationally, autism is a condition that is fraught with stress.
Adrenaline is certain to be at work in almost any case of pain, the attempt to induce pain, the stiffening of the body (toe walking) arm/hand shaking, even profound glee, wild laughter and such similar excitement that many autistics experience. Severe autistics can relax for very limited amounts of time. It becomes necessary for such an individual to, quite soon after settling down, get up again, wander off to another activity, throw themselves on the floor, commence to hitting, rubbing or biting or any other of a number of stress-response type activities.
Literature on the adrenal glands and autism is limited, and like all research on autism, controversial and conflicting, but it stands to inference that the episodes listed above, which I observe numerous times weekly, are being mitigated in part by the adrenal glands. And the same glands are called to respond emotional and physiological stress will incite the stress response hormones listed above, sending the body into repeated cellular hyperactivity to produce and combat inflammation, swelling, tissue damage and pain.
Sugar handling and the adrenal glands: First a point for clarity’s sake. “Sugar handling” refers to blood glucose, not the ingestion of table sugar, fruit, or any particularly sweet foodstuff. An individual can in fact have a blood sugar problem without consuming any refined or concentrated sugar. Simply eating an excess of carbohydrates, especially in an absence of adequate fats to slow absorption, can lead to an excess of blood glucose and the following insulin spike, as long as the pancreas is still producing insulin.
First, though, what do the adrenal glands have to do with blood sugar regulation? Much. For starters, when the blood sugar is elevated, there is serious potential for numerous types of physiological stress to develop. Microvascular damage, so common in diabetes is really only the beginning, and it alone can be life threatening. Kidney failure, eyesight loss and lower extremity necrosis are the most common. However a host of digestive and circulatory inflammatory conditions can follow.
When the blood sugar is low the adrenal glands have the major role in bringing it back up. Epinephrine (adrenaline) is the hormone that is released when blood sugar is too low for comfort. This incites the glucagon stored in the liver and muscle tissues to be liberated into the bloodstream. When adrenal health is solid, this can be sustained for an extended period of time. When it is compromised, there is only enough epinephrine for emergencies, or when the emotional and/or physical stake becomes severe. For general maintenance of stable mood, we are otherwise inclined to eat something either patently sugary or easily converted to blood sugar.
We can, when endocrine health is normalized, keep our blood sugar at a sustainable rate without the continual need to snack.
Do autistic children have issues with blood sugar?
Again, one "simple" question, a million possible answers. The allopathic community in general may not even bother to ask the question, but community and family based situation-response treatment often suggests that, yes, there is a relationship. On a comparative basis, there is evidence to suggest that children have very different responses to the blood sugar spike/crash cycle. Adults have a more developed ability to utilize epinephrine to keep blood sugar stable after a sugar spike. Children are more likely to experience hypoglycemic periods after such an episode. Besides the other observations listed above, there are numerous studies that indicate that the blood glucose cycle is more erratic in autistic children. The other variety of metabolic and endocrine issues, similarly differentiated from non-autistic persons.
Here we hint back to the opening post in the thread, the ketogenic diet. Even though ketogenic diets are often highly medicinalized, to the extent that a dietitian is called in to weigh and measure most of the portions, and a phys-tech will be available to observe numerous aspects of the patient/client, there is a growing body of literature concerning modified ”soft” ketogenics wherein the diet has a bit more carbs that a traditional keto diet, is moved into somewhat gradually and is regulated primarily in the home and community setting. In this diet, the blood sugar is given less opportunity to spike severely and the pancreas is given a rest from producing so much insulin over and over again. And the cellular machinery is given a reprieve from the stress of dealing with excesses of both of those blood borne substances.
Another recent personal observation: One young autistic person I work with, in the midst of being fed less sweetened food by his primary caretaker, was sprinting for the sugar jar being kept on the counter in the family’s kitchen. It is not unusual for this person to lead me to the snack cabinet, or to reach for any carbo-laden snack or food that may be out, but this sugar grab was new to me. Curiously, that very day, after a week of less sugar, the child was noticeably less prone to hitting himself. He did seem to crave the stimulation that can be garnered from a quick handful of sugar.
The liver has a major role in blood sugar issues, largely due to its storage of large amounts of glucagon. With the overwhelmingly likely- yet still controversial- notion that toxicity is a factor in autism as well, we have another link in the sugar handling chain to understand, but more (perhaps much more) about the liver and autism in another post.