Raun Kaufman
In 1976, a ground-breaking book was published about an autistic child who was cured of his autism. Prior to that time, autism was thought to be an incurable disease. Raun Kaufman disproved the theory, whose own son “triumphed over autism.”
However, even today when parents are told that they have a child with “autism” they are almost always told that there is no cure. In fact, if a person diagnosed with autism improves, then most doctors still assume the diagnosis was wrong in the first place. But in a world where we regularly heal leprosy, cause the blind to see, the lame to walk and the deaf to hear, I think it is not very realistic to call anything “incurable.” We are beginning to understand that “incurable” just means “ignorant.” If we understand a disease, then we can cure it.
Symptoms
Autism is not a disease with a cause; it is simply a collection of symptoms. People who are diagnosed with autism meet certain criteria that include:
- Problems with social interaction, such as a lack of eye contact or not acknowledging others.
- Language delays, such as speaking, reading or writing.
- Repetitive behaviors, such as spinning things, flapping hands, or balancing things.
Fibromyalgia is not a disease; it’s a “syndrome” which means that is just a collection of symptoms. The problem is that there may be many different causes of the same symptoms so it is very difficult to diagnose and treat, but when the cause of the fibromyalgia symptoms is known, then the treatment can be very effective.
Josh is over 70 and has a wife twenty years younger. He first came in to the office because of diabetes, but after several visits he admitted he could no longer have a sexual relationship with his wife. “I’m impotent,” he stated in his matter-of-fact way. We discussed his problem at length and found that he just couldn’t maintain an erection.
It’s gone! Jeannie was so excited! Within a week, what had started out as painful shingles had just disappeared. She was pregnant, and since she was already having complications from the pregnancy she was really distraught over the possibility of adding the pain of shingles to her list of problems. She was obviously relieved when it went away so quickly.
“I think he has Alzheimer’s disease…” the wife of a man in his seventies began. Larry was having difficulty concentrating, had problems with memory and wasn’t able to work anymore. He seemed depressed all the time. We did some testing and found that all those years of welding had built up a large amount of heavy metals in his body – including lead. After a series of chelation treatments to “get the lead out” his wife said, “He’s like a teenager! He smiles again. He’s working, laughing, playing with the grandchildren and…” she leans forward and whispers, “We have sex again.”
Heather came in to the office with “fatigue.” She has felt tired for years. She has been to other doctors and found to have normal thyroid and other hormones. No cause of her fatigue had been found. She also had mild asthma and allergies, as well as some bloating when she eats. We performed a blood test for antibodies against gluten and they were positive, so she started on a Gluten-free diet. Over the next several months Heather was relieved of all her symptoms. She even had dry skin and hair that resolved on the diet. She was eating well, but was able to lose weight. She had the energy to get through the day, and was able to quit using her inhalers and nasal spray.
Why do people react to gluten?
Many people ask me if they might have migraine headaches — or is it “just” a tension headache? The amount of pain doesn’t determine the type of headache, but rather what is causing it. A tension headache is outside the skull and generally covers the whole head “like a tight band.”
Heartburn, indigestion, acid stomach, reflux… There are many terms for the burning in the esophagus that is common to all, at least occasionally. From historical records, it appears that gastro-esophageal reflux disease, or GERD, has been a problem for mankind from the beginning. Many remedies have been used over the centuries, some were even highly toxic.
