Reacting to the Newest Autism Cause and Cure

a new area of research is suggesting that inflammation in the brain and M Cell Activation could play an important role in autism for some autistic people but is it just another attempt to cure autism and what even is a mast cell let's go welcome my stars vyan thank you so much for watching I'm ran Kelly that autistic guy I'm all about providing validation and support for autistic people and their loved ones okay some new research is shedding light on the role of masted cells a key part of our immune system in brain inflammation and autism

that's the research looking into the role mast cells play in immune system brain inflammation and autism but as promis ing as these findings May well be they raise big questions so let's explore the science behind masted cells and autism first up what are masted cells bloody good question my friend bloody good question now I'm not a doctor or a scientist or you know a researcher I'm just an autistic guy that is interested in things and what I found is mast cells are a type of immune cell that helps protect your body from infections and injuries

in case you're wondering in my accents weird spelled m a s t Mast and then cells you know what I'm saying cells right not seashells by the seashore I don't mean she sells I mean she sells no hang on not she sells but sells your her cells not she cells right forget it bottom line is mast cells are like guards stationed throughout your body including in your skin your gut even your brain now mast cells release chemicals like histamine and you know there's going to be words I'm going to try and say I might not

say them right let's go with cytokines so when they're triggered they release those types of chemicals now these chemicals they're important in allergic reactions like hay fever that must be why I take an antihistamine yes but also they affect inflammation and communication between the gut and the Brain I'm pretty sure as autistic people you may have heard of or may already know but not know it's a thing the gut brain connection that's a thing for everyone but having a different brain means you have a different gut brain connection that's a whole another topic but kind

of related to this so in autistic people it's being suggested that mast cells May overreact to certain triggers so stress infections environmental toxins these types of things may cause inflammation to our brain as autistic people M cells May overreact to these certain triggers so let's explore how Mast Cell Activation is connected to autism we'll start off with brain inflammation it's a common finding in autistic people as per this particular field of mast cell research so some of those Studies have shown that certain chemicals linked to inflammation are higher in the brains and spinal fluid of

autistic people I need a minute these chemicals can come from mast cells or microa microglia you know you take it or leave it it's just another type of brain immune cell okay and I should know I'm a doctor I'm not I'm not a doctor I'm not both of which may be overactive in autistic people here's another one unexplained allergy like symptoms so we're talking about the connection between Mas Cell Activation and and autism is there something you can relate to with regards to unexplained allergies or symptoms many autistic people actually can can talk about having

symptoms that seem like allergies so experiencing symptoms that seem like allergies okay so what's an example skin rashes digestive problems even food sensitivities but we don't always test positive for these allergies so it's like okay cool Let's test for these allergies no you're fine okay but I'm still experiencing the symptoms like I have these allergies so this is a massive barrier for autistic people research suggests these symptoms might come from mast cells being activated in nonallergic ways so possibly by stress or even certain foods now this could help explain why traditional allergy treatments don't always

work for us as autistic people let's bury on in to the world s of gut brain connection CU I love this world gut and brain are closely linked through What's called the gut brain Axis or the axis of Evil that's that's not true mass cells in the gut can release chemicals that make the lining of the intestines more leaky that's the scientific word leaky allowing harmful substances to escape into the bloodstream and reach the brain now this leaky gut I'm not joking by the way they actually put this in the research this leaky gut could

play a role in worsening behaviors and sensory issues in autistic people by triggering inflammation in our brain this particular connection might be something that will take your breath away for someone who is looking to potentially have kids or has given birth to kids who have gone on to be diagnosed autistic another connection between M Cell Activation and autism is stress that's right stress during pregnancy stress during pregnancy including high levels of a stress hormone called CR can activate mased cells in the babies developing brain now again just from research but think about this if this

was even remotely true being stressed while pregnant having high levels of stress hormones released including CR May well activate M cells not in yours in the baby's developing brain now this could disrupt brain development and in effect it's not my words in effect as the research States could increase the risk of autism it also talks about babies born prematurely or those exposed to stress in early life also seem to have a higher risk of ASD possibly because their gut and brain connection or whatever you want to call it their gut brain barriers are not fully

developed making them more vulnerable to toxins and inflammations I'm absolutely going to critique and react I'm just getting the stuff out here first okay the first thing some people would go is well Ary stress early in life can't make you autistic because you can only be born autistic you don't acquire it later in life so already there's a there's a big hole in there that's that's that's wrong okay this research is wrong in that particular state but it does make a really interesting point with regards to stress in pregnancy in basic terms summarizing the research

Studies have shown that kids with conditions involving overactive mast cells are much more likely to actually be autistic kids compared to the general population compared to their neurotypical peers in autistic children researchers have found higher levels of mased cell related markers and here's another word I'm going to try to say okay mitochondrial DNA mitochondrial GNA one of the other which can cause inflammation so environmental factors like air pollution heavy metals infections may act as triggers for Mass Cell Activation especially in kids with a genetic predisposition to inflammation the words of research not me but how

could the research actually help autistic people what does the research State as proposed benefits of even knowing this connection or looking into this connection number one research says by targeting mast cells you can Target mass cells to reduce inflammation so natural compounds have been shown to calm down mass cells in lab studies and these substances can actually reduce inflammation in the brain and gut potentially improving your life as an autistic person what are those compounds well um lalin I believe is one and the other one is a c or something anyway it doesn't really matter

I'm just reading it from the research another benefit preventing problems during pregnancy okay so the benefit would be lowering stress and inflammation during pregnancy might help protect the baby's brain development this could include managing maternal anxiety reducing exposure to toxins and ensuring proper prenatal care of course this may well sound to a lot of autistic people certainly late diagnosed autistic people as some would say Eugenics as a form of do this and you probably won't have an autistic kid now of course that's ridiculous but what's the benefit the benefit seems here to be based on

benefiting the pregnant woman not benefiting the child you go well hang on a second unless stress is good for the child yes that's right but then with that's based on a connection that in in stopping this then then you won't have an autistic child that's obviously not the case Okay so another purported benefit by the research protecting the brain's defenses so the blood brain barrier BBB acts like a shield prevents harmful substances from reaching the brain Mast Cell Activation can make the BBB leaky again with leak they love leaky leading to inflammation so medications or

supplements that protect the BBB could reduce brain inflammation in autistic people breathe breathe take a breath breathe it's time to react respond critique while the mast cell theory provides an exciting angle on autism research it's important to consider alternative perspectives and limitations so let's talk about correlation versus causation so just because mast cells and inflammation are linked to autism doesn't mean they cause it it's possible they're a result of another underlying process rather than the root cause for instance increased in inflammation might be a byproduct of stress infections or other immune system disruptions diverse causes

of autism is another argument here autism is a spectrum every autistic person is different no autistic person is more or less autistic we may have more or less daily support and Care needs but we're either Autistic or we are not the condition varies greatly between all of us so what might be true for a subgroup like those with masted cell hypers sensitivity may not apply at all to other autistic people genetic factors brain development differences and environmental triggers are all involved in autism focusing too much on just one path way oversimplifies the complexity of autism

another counterargument is this lack of large scale studies now most studies linking mast cells and autism are small or observational many studies rely on markers of inflammation or parent reported symptoms which as we know can be subjective or inconsistent the idea of treatment or cure is another core counterargument here okay so this idea of treatment and and this research definitely talks about you know if we can utilize the mass Cell Activation and you know do this and do that to it and fix it or whatever you know we can decrease the symptoms of autism so

the idea of treatment or cure for autism it's complex it's controversial and the autistic Community as a rule don't even see the need Okay so if you said you know ory is life good is life easy being autistic no no it's not would you like some help that' be bloody great okay great so that means you want to cure no I didn't say I want a cure like this is me if you cured me I wouldn't exist right I wouldn't be here I wouldn't be me I'd be I don't know who I'd be I don't

want to this is me I want to be me but you want your life to be better yeah that's right so you want me to give you medicine for your symptoms what symptoms there's no medicine for my symptoms you're saying you can give me medicine so when I walk out into the outside world it will tell my brain the non-verbal cues the communication the interaction challenges it'll all go away or if I go into a noisy crowded environment the sensory sensitivities The Sounds the smells is that what you're saying I won't feel disregulated by every

little thing what medicine are you talking about there's no medicine that what do you mean right so there's no treatments for autism there's no cure for autism it is not a disease it's a neurodevelopmental condition medically recognized worldwide as a disability and yes being autistic disables my life when I go into the outside world and the world don't give a about me being autistic so while some treatments May aim to address medical symptoms or even improve quality of life the concept of treatment is problematic the treatment is the world accepting there are autistic people who

are different and actually allow that just allowing it you don't have to give us an award don't have to clap no standing ovations so you need to look at how you view autism many autistic people like me see autism as an inherent part of us so it's not something that needs to be fixed it is us we are autistic we don't have autism we are autistic see what makes you autistic is your brain if you don't have a brain you are dead my friend okay so I have this with coffee in it right I have

a cup with coffee in it bloody delicious I don't have autism in a cup or a bag I am autistic the efforts to treat autism risk erasing the very identity the very person that we are the way we experience the world you know there's this neurodiversity movement okay well is it neurodiversity I don't know um I'm getting agitated now I apologize so okay so this movement there a movement that basically promotes the idea that we have neurological differences now so people go I'm autistic I'm neurodiverse well you're not unless you have two brains diversity needs

two things if you invest all your money in one thing you that's not a diversity of investment so if you have one brain you're not diverse if you walk into a room with a neurotypical person both of you together have created a neurodiverse environment but neither of you can do it alone okay so you are not neurodiverse if you're autistic you could be neurod Divergent if that word works for you or you could just be bloody autistic I mean there's a word for everything I'm me really agitated man anyway I'm I apologize so autism is

part of humanity it's a natural part of human diversity some might argue Evolution either way it's not new it's not you could AR just as much as you could argue mass cells or a thing you could argue that neurotypicals are homosapians and autistic people are Neanderthals well they're gone iron they they're gone mate that's true but it could be argued that at some point though during that period they did cross mate so it's in the system and in addition to that why well they weren't so big about groups big groups or you know herds they

kind of like to be alone in small groups by themselves they very you know peaceful and quiet and quite smart with tools and they in effect you know just got ganged up on by an angry mob uh you could argue that regardless what we look for is acceptance understanding inclusion support that's what we're looking for see we're not saying hey we're autistic people can you guys please do some studies on Mas cells and try and cure us like we're just not we're just not we're not that's the counterargument to that on but all the money

the governments give all these organizations across the planet all they're doing is using all that government money taxpayer money to come up with a way of curing autism or treating autism okay but last time I checked most autistic people aren't looking for that so why are you spending money trying to create something that isn't actually wanted it's bloody stupid another counterargument is harmful practices historically many autistic people and even their families their loved ones are very wary absolutely are aware of treatments historically that were harmful that were unethical aversive therapies forced normalization experimental treatments and

cures this is another counterargument to the mere idea that this is where our money should be going oh it's the mast cells and brain inflammation and we can we can reverse it another argument I want to bring up is this focus on compliance over authenticity there are behavioral therapies you will know that are criticized because they prioritize not actually providing therapy for an autistic person but teaching an autistic person making an autistic person learn how to fit in with neurotypical standards it's dehumanizing it's dismissive it's not natural just like I can't get you to be

autistic today as a neurotypical person you can't get me to be neurotypical it's like me saying okay tell you what let's swap today I want you to experience the world as an autistic person you got to hang on I've got a neurotypical brain I can act but I I can't really do that I can't do that yes I know but then here's the thing you community at large are telling me an autistic person that's actually what I have to do but you know you can't do it so why why do you think I can it's

just comply you must comply what does that mean be neurotypical but I've got an autistic brain we don't care right can you do it no okay but you want me to do it yes okay individual needs autism is a spectrum not every autistic person experiences the same challenges we have different care needs support needs challenges one thing we are in common is autistic so yep some can face some pretty severe medical issues we may have other co-occurring conditions because none of these issues are part of autism right so we may have other co-occurring conditions fair

enough no worries but blanket treatments are inappropriate they don't actually help because the blanket treatment says all autistic people must be treated must be cured are broken must be fixed but last time I checked where's the autistic Community saying please fix us where the problem please fix us no we have unique abilities many autistic people actually attribute their unique abilities creativity Focus problem solving abilities to being autistic yes it's actually a fear of some autistic people that if the Science World can progress enough there may be treatments that actually change their attributes their skills their

passions like some sort of medicine that will turn off my ability to be creative in other words there's a fear that science creates some sort of treatment or cure medical treatment or cure that all really does is dull numb our strengths our attributes our individuality what makes us in our minds special that's not useful let's talk about pathologizing traits okay so autistic people we view traits like our ability to focus intense Focus sens sensory sensitivities these different things way of looking at things differently problem solving seeing patents blah blah blah as advantages obviously in the

right context I don't see my sensory sensitivities as an advantage all the time but sometimes it helps if you can hear something or smell something before everyone else right and sometimes intense Focus is great and seeing patterns and right and wrong is great not always especially if they don't want to hear it but you see what I'm saying but no The World At Large sees them as deficits as challenges which merely invalidates everything we actually viewed as positive useful traits so nothing we do is good it's all a challenge or a deficit we really have

to shift Focus from treatment to accommodations and this isn't hard by the way so instead of trying to change autistic people we need to start to look at how we can help make the world more accommodating this just means understanding a little bit more about autism and autistic people the person in your life and working out how you can help them is it about the environment is it about how you communicate is it about some understanding and acceptance in other words accepting they are different and this is what's good about it this is what you

don't like about it but understanding why it's like that autonomy is a big thing for autistic people and no it doesn't only mean what some would class as low care and support needs autistic people no no all autistic people seek and want autonomy to some degree we often emphasize the importance of autonomy why because the World At Large don't see us as valid we're not entitled to freedom of choice to autonomy so as a result you the World At Large will decide what we need what we get you will decide the treatments that we get

not us so what's helpful for one autistic person isn't helpful for another let alone a neurotypical person saying I'm going to work on this to help everyone we have to differentiate too between medical and social needs so in the autistic Community you're going to find a lot of people have co-occurring medical conditions and they treat them they treat them maybe it's epilepsy maybe it's anxiety gastrointestinal problems it really the list goes on okay but we we've well and truly drawn the line there is no line below we've never occurred to us that we should also

treat autism it's not a medical condition that can that requires treating or fixing right okay so it is a condition absolutely and it's medically recognized disability it's a medically recognized disability it's not a disease there's a difference so it doesn't require intervention and by the way not only doesn't require intervention but we're told we are intervening and here's how we're going to intervene and we don't care what you think then it comes down to well who told you you could Define the treatment in the first place non-autistic people are defining the science the research the

approaches the approaches the treatment so non-autistic people for the most part are setting the agenda they are defining working on providing what they think is right for autistic people people so decisions made about treatments cures therapies anything to improve the lives of autistic people made by non-autistic people non-autistic researchers clinicians parents don't get off scot-free rather than autistic people speaking for themselves in the way that works for them the need for autistic voices in shaping treatment priorities and policies of any kind is past the point of getting there we're past the point we've got there

and we've gone past it you enough is enough it's one thing just to look at new and exciting research but it's another thing to just go yep that's great you've got it and that's what we've done today you've got to dig deeper and go what is this actually trying to say what is it actually trying to do last time I checked from reading all this this seems very much aligned to treatment and cure and again where's the autistic benefit in this there is none you know autism manifests in many different ways and autistic people must

navigate through a forest of co-occurring conditions so let's go on a Choose Your Own Adventure my friends to learn more you need to choose your next PATH will it be my playlist autism diagnosis for adults or my playlist co-occurring conditions