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On 9/1/95 EST, Kevin J. McMahon <[log in to unmask]> wrote (in part):
 
>The mission of the DDR is to find healthy options for those supporting
>children with developmental delays and to prevent more children from
>being affected.
 
A positive way of saying less meds.
 
>A new, nationwide survey of nearly 700 children is showing a disturbing
>link between children with developmental delays and the amount of
>antibiotics they have taken.
>
>The survey, which included youngsters between the ages of one year and
>12 years found that those who have taken more than 20 cycles of antibiotics
>in their lifetime are over 50% more likely to suffer developmental delays.
> Children who have had three or fewer found of antibiotics were half
>as likely to become developmentally delayed.
 
Are cause and effect in the right order? Or are the antibody cycles just
another "symptom" of the same primary biological cause?
 
>The survey's other findings:
>
>o Nearly 75% of the delayed children were reported to be developing
>  normally in their first year of life.
 
Which would be before gluten and casein were entered into the diet.
 
>o Developmentally delayed children were 37% more likely to have had
>  3 or more ear infections than unaffected children.
 
Here's an article linking IgA antibodies and increased ear infections:
 
From:    [log in to unmask] (Kalle Reichelt)
Subject: ear infections, allergy, autism & gluten
Date:    19 Jul 1995
 
Jack Challem, Editor of The Nutrition Reporter (TM) newsletter, wrote:
 
>       I'm sure you'll hear a lot of opinions. But I'll point to you to a
>specific journal citation that confirmed what people have been saying for
>years. The fundamental cause of ear infections is allergy, which causes fluid
>retention in the ear, which creates a great breeding ground for bacteria. The
>most common allergens for small children are milk and wheat.
 
>Nsouli TM, "Role of food allergy in serious otitis media," Annals of Allergy,
>September 1994;73:215-219.
 
This is quite interesting because the IgA antibodies formed in the gut are
transported to all mucous membranes in the body and may react with
appropriate antigens. Because intact antigens are taken up into the blood
postprandially (1) and we have also demonstrated increased levels of IgA
antibodies to gluten, gliadin and casein in some autistic patients (2,3); I
can easily see a possible connection, where all mucosal membranes are
irritated by the circulating antigen reacting with deposited IgA
antibodies.
References:
1: Husby S et al (1985) Scand J Immunol 22:83-92.
2: Reichelt Kl et al (1990) J Applied Nutr. 42:1-11
3: Reichelt KL et al (1994) Develop Brain Dysfunct. 7:71-85
 
[end of quoted article]
 
>o Affected children were nearly four times as likely to have had
>  negative reactions to immunizations.
 
What sort of negative reactions? Is this something that undiagnosed celiacs
have a problem with?
 
>o Affected children were twice as likely to have had ear tubes than
>  unaffected children.
 
Presumably as they had more infections. See Reichelt article above.
 
>The incidence of children in the United States with developmental,
>behavioral and mental disorders is dramatically increasing.  Conservative
>estimates show that in the last four years the number of children under
>age 18 with these disorders has grown from 4.8 million to 7.5 million.
 
Gluten and casein consumption are also increasing. The dairy industry spends
$40 million a year on marketing. Low-fat pasta is in.
 
>Included in these pervasive developmental disorders are autism, speech
>and language problems and multi-system developmental disorders.  Symptoms
>range from skin irritations and sleep disturbances to repetitive
>behavior and loss of language.
 
Which could be gluten intolerance symptoms. Gliadin does cause skin
irritations due to antibodies collecting under the skin. Dr. Reichelt has
written about links between gliadin/casein and many of the others listed.
His collected articles can be found at:
 
 http://www.demon.co.uk/webguides/nutrition/diets/glutenfree/menta.html
 
or I can e-mail out the (now) 49K file.
 
>According to Patricia Lemer, a National Certified Counselor and co-founder
>of the Developmental Delay Registry, "The difference in the occurrence
>of developmental delays between children who take high doses of antibiotics
>and those who don't is astounding.  We are urging the medical research
>community to conduct scientific, longitudinal studies to help us find
>out what is going on here."
 
Sounds good to me.
 
Don Wiss in NYC.