Our team at the Toxicant-Induced Loss of Tolerance (TILT) Program at UT Health San Antonio wanted to share two important external videos on autism:
“Autism’s Rising Rates: A Deep Dive into the Data” by Jill Escher.
“Five Things You Must Know About Autism — Reality Check Edition” by Jill Escher.
Escher is a parent of two children who have autism. She also is president of the National Council on Severe Autism, past president of Autism Society San Francisco Bay Area, and a prominent autism research philanthropist through the Escher Fund for Autism.
This issue is important for people who suffer from chemical intolerance (CI), said Dr. Claudia Miller, allergist/immunologist, professor emeritus, and leader of the Hoffman TILT Program at UT Health San Antonio.
Parents with chemical intolerance scores in the top tenth percentile had 5.7 times the risk of reporting a child with autism and 2.1 times for ADHD compared with parents in the bottom tenth percentile, according to Dr. Miller’s 2024 research.
The new work builds on her 2015 research findings.
In the older study, Miller included 282 mothers of children who had ASD and 258 mothers of children diagnosed with ADHD. The control group consisted of 154 mothers whose children had no developmental disorders.
Results showed:
- Children with ADHD were 1.7 times more likely than control children (ASD were 4.9 times more likely) to have had multiple infections requiring prolonged use of antibiotics.
- Children with ADHD were twice as likely as control children (ASD were 1.6 times more likely) to have allergies.
- Children with ADHD were twice as likely (ASD were 3.5 times more likely) to have had nausea, headaches, dizziness or trouble breathing when exposed to smoke, nail polish remover, engine exhaust, gasoline, air fresheners or cleaning agents than control children.
- Children with ADHD were twice as likely as controls (ASD were 4.8 times more likely) to have strong food preferences or cravings for cheese, chips, bread, pasta, rice, sugar, salt and chocolate.
“Chemically intolerant mothers were three times more likely to report having a child with ASD and 2.3 times more likely to have a child with ADHD,” according to a news release about the study.
How can you find out if you are chemically intolerant?
Answer these three questions from Hoffman TILT’s Brief Environmental Exposure and Sensitivity Inventory (BREESI):
- Do you feel sick when you are exposed to tobacco smoke, certain fragrances, nail polish/remover, engine exhaust, gasoline, air fresheners, pesticides, paint/thinner, fresh tar/asphalt, cleaning supplies, new carpet or furnishings? By sick, we mean: headache, difficulty thinking, difficulty breathing, weakness, dizziness, upset stomach, etc.
- Are you unable to tolerate or do you have adverse or allergic reactions to any drugs or medications (such as antibiotics, anesthetics, pain relievers, X-ray contrast dye, vaccines or birth control pills), or to an implant, prosthesis, contraceptive chemical or device, or other medical/surgical/dental material or procedure?
- Are you unable to tolerate or do you have adverse reactions to any foods such as dairy products, wheat, corn, eggs, caffeine, alcoholic beverages, or food additives (e.g., MSG, food dye)?
If you answer YES to any question, take the Quick Environmental Exposure and Sensitivity Inventory (QEESI) and share the results with your doctor!