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Wednesday 13 March 2013

Nom de guerre, Mon frère - Manchopathy


Today’s post had better be a quick one.  The desk research in the background is getting complicated and I have just ordered a 900 page book on Human Physiology, so as not to spout complete nonsense.  Worse still, a couple of days ago, I received in the mail, a big brown envelope from Tokyo with a juicy report on the use of Ceredist, a TRH analog.  It is 20 pages long, and the bad news is that 18 pages are in Japanese.  The good news is that I had expected all 20 pages to be in Japanese.

To business.   You are slowly being introduced to the cast members of this blog.

The star of course is “Monty”, aged 9.

His supposedly “typical” big brother, aged 12, is going to be called “Ted”.

Head of Applied Research, part-time biker and Speech Therapist will be called Dule (“Doolay”)

Last week I decided that it was time for some good old fashioned primary research, to test a hypothesis that I had formulated.  This is what we presented to the in-house ethics committee, for approval:-

1.    Many children with autism exhibit what appears as sensory overload.  On hearing a moderately loud sound, they will cover their ears, almost as if in pain.  Bright lights, darkness, certain smells, even touch can trigger similarly strong reactions.  Entire books have been written documenting these odd behaviours, but I never read an explanation for them.

2.    In my trawl through the literature, I noted that a disorder with surprisingly similar symptoms has been documented -   Hypokalemic sensory overstimulation

This disorder manifests itself as an overwhelming feeling of sensory stimulation.  But then disappears 20 minutes after a dose of oral potassium.  A related, but much more severe, disorder that causes temporary paralysis also exists -  Hypokalemic periodic paralysis

3.    The recommended daily amount of potassium for adults is 3,500mg.  A typical banana contains 400 mg of potassium. A dissolvable tablet of Potassium Citrate contains 500mg of potassium.  So 500mg is a safe dose to experiment with.


4.    A laboratory experiment is proposed using an MP3 file of a baby crying. Dule will first establish a baseline volume (VB) at which Monty will cover his ears. Monty will be sitting in a fixed position in the lab. This test will be repeated over a few days to see if VB varies.

 
5.    Then the subject will receive 500mg of oral potassium and wait for 20 minutes. The MP3 file will be played again while he is sitting in the identical test position. Dule will crank up the volume and note the new threshold volume (VT).

 
6.    The same test will be repeated with Ted and Dule as subjects.

 
Prior to providing Dule with the oral potassium solution, Peter suggested to Dule that he would perhaps prefer if the test did not show up anything worthy of further investigation.  Since that would again drive Peter crazy, that no serious scientist had noticed this, done something about it and published their work.

Here is the raw data from the test:-
 

Volume * at which sound becomes disturbing
 
7-Mar-13
8-Mar-13
 
11-Mar-13
 
11-Mar-13
 
 
 
 
 
 
after K+
Monty
9
9
9
16
 
 
Ted
23
26
 
 
Dule
21
23
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
* sound level on digital display of Philips mini HiFi
room is about 20 m2, subjects were 2.5 m from HiFi unit

 
Discussion

As you see, Monty is far more sensitive to sound than both Ted and Dule.  Monty experiences a sharp increase in his capacity to cope with sound stimulation after drinking the potassium.  Ted and Dule show a small increase in capacity, that may be just down to measurement tolerance/error. (Dule was testing himself, after all)

Mon Dieu!  It looks like we have to do a serious follow on study with more subjects and some flashy equipment.  Worse still, now I have to be able to explain scientifically why this is happening !
 
The cause is related to something called VDCC (voltage dependent calcium channels) these are like little valves that open to let  Ca2+ ions in or out; they are misbehaving.   Recall that Bumetanide works in a similar way by triggering NKCC1 and NKCC2 (Sodium, Potassium, Chloride Cotransporters) to let in/out  Cl- ions.  The subject of misbehaving ion channels has already been given a fancy name by scientists, its Channelopathy.  Now I was wondering how I was going to explain my use of French in this post.  It's all about the English Channel or should I say la Manche, and so we'll call it Manchopathy.
 
 
 

16 comments:

  1. Funny, but serious and truthful.

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  2. I am going to read your blog from entry one when I get the time.. I am an individual who came across Dr Segals work and through reading it came to the conclusion that I had one of these channelopathies that Dr Segal describes in his work. I have Andersen Tawil syndrome and have had my diagnosis clinically diagnosed and am being treated via diet which I'm not great at large supplementation of potassium daily along with a medication to help hold my level in the high normal range.. I would love to talk to you about observations that I and other folks with this condition have made.So many family members with autism spectrum disorders disordered thinking along with some very serious medical issues ranging from gastrparesis to mitochondrial disorders.. symptoms of genetic disorders with out the genetic identifier being found you can visit my Andersen Tawil Pages on facebook if you would like to talk to me.. hormone problems too! Niece born euthyroid for example.. I truly feel you have hit the nail on the head with this one.. kcb

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for you comments.
      I wrote another post all about potassium,
      http://epiphanyasd.blogspot.com/2013/08/potassium-may-play-important-role-in.html
      and a brief follow up
      http://epiphanyasd.blogspot.com/2013/09/bumetanide-in-autism-potassium-and-dr.html
      What is odd is that you are the first person who has responded to me on this. It looks like most people who are ADHD or have ASD are likely affected and its really easy to make a trial at home.
      I thought early on in my blog investigation that channelopathies are behind many problems in autism, along with hormones being out of balance and also the oxidative stress/inflammation issue. In fact all of these issues are inter-related and self perpetuating.
      I also just wrote about central hypothyroidism, which you may be interested in:
      http://epiphanyasd.blogspot.com/2013/09/central-hypothyroidism-or-low-brain-d2.html

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  3. Dear Benjine

    Thanks for your three comments. It is very interesting both that potassium/magnesium reduce sensory overload and that virtually nobody has noticed.

    Hopefully, as we talk more about it, others will follow us. I did note that some American doctors use Spironolactone to treat autism.
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17150311
    They claim success, but not because of potassium. Spironolactone is a potassium sparing diuretic, it reduces the loss of potassium from the body. I think they have found the right drug, but for the wrong reason.
    Maybe it is safer to reduce the loss of potassium, rather than to keep adding more ??

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  4. My hunch is there's nothing wrong with the channels. Potassium is one of those minerals that gets burnt through a lot faster when you have a high body toxin burden and impaired detoxification pathways... and the Autism Research Institute has not yet tested an autistic in the thousands that they've supported who did not have both impaired detox and high body toxin load. I expect that if you did a challenge test, Monty would scare you with what shows up in his blood and urine, in which concentrations. My hope is that at this point, you would optimize his digestive function so a supported detox would actually have someplace to safely dump things, and then help him remove toxins so he stopped burning through K+ (and other critical nutrients) so quickly.

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  5. Also, I read this article today, and I tried taking a couple potassium supplements. I think it really helped. Thanks for the information.

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  6. I was thinking along the same lines, approaching from another angle. Growing up on a Pedigree Seed Farm, I was aware of the minerals and vitamins in wheat. I was recently reminded of the function of Potassium in nerve function, and wondered if there was a connection with autism. White flour has no minerals in it, and if most of our society is vastly missing their potassium intake through whole wheat products, or are eating vegetables grown in soils that have low potassium levels, or are not at all eating vegetables - then how are they to get potassium?

    Foods containing potassium include: almonds, artichokes, avocado, bananas, beet greens, broccoli, Brussel sprouts, kale, lentils, lima beans, oranges, papaya, pinto beans, prunes, raisins, spinach, sunflower seeds, Swiss chard, tomatoes, wheat germ, winter squash, and yams. How many of these do your children eat?

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  7. Remember You are a high frequency being coming into a body form that has been already programmed with a low frequency perception/belief structure..
    THE OVERLOAD IS TRACED TO LACK OF RECEPTOR Cells WHICH IS TRACED TO an incomplete structural belief structure [low frequency unable to accommodate your high frequency.] I suggest Begin with Choosing "Energy Based language". and research all you can on Energy Interaction, energy exchange, energy flow. and at the same time you're body will be building receptors for your high frequency Beingness.[replace low frequency wording [material based] with high frequency {Energy based} get closer to understanding the five elements of nature. also take Qi-gong which in doing so will teach you energy flow, and communication with your own body, not opinions of others who are not in your body ....You Are

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  8. Do you have any more info on potassium?

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    Replies
    1. Nancy there is a lot in this blog about potassium.

      The best way to find it all is to go to google and then type in the search box:

      potassium "site:epiphanyasd.blogspot.com"

      That will give you the posts that refer to potassium.

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  9. Very interesting! I did an internet search about this topic today because I noticed that I was showing signs of potassium deficiency and I also seemed to be rather distracted from work at the same time, and I wondered if there was a connection. I also, at times, am quite noise sensitive, although I am not autistic (nor, I think, do I have ADHD, though I haven't taken any tests for that, so I am less certain about that).

    What I wanted to point out was that I have a CO2 meter, and it seems to me that when I am short of breath (which I attribute to my being potassium deficiency) my CO2 meter shows a very abnormal, rapid rise in CO2 in the room - like 1ppm *per second*! Whereas, some time after I have eaten some potatoes and am no longer potassium deficient, the CO2 meter doesn't show that, and may even actually show a decrease in CO2 (due to the window being open and air being exchanged).

    Do you have a CO2 meter by any chance? Have you noticed any such connection between rate of CO2 exhalation and potassium deficiency (or found any research about such a connection)?

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  10. I have been to the ER with low serum Potassiun 3 times now. Each time it was after a huge panic attack including high blood pressure and heart rate. I was told that the adrenal glands can sometimes overproduce aldosterone which depletes potassium. I was given a potassium drink each time.

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    Replies
    1. How much potassium is there in a "potassium drink"? More than you would get from something at home (like coconut water)?

      /Ling

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  11. At least someone else seems to have looked into potassium and hyperacusis:

    "Since hyperexcitability disorders can be controlled by drugs that regulate potassium channel permeability, we will test the hypothesis that potassium channel modulators can suppress noise- or drug-induced hyperacusis and enhanced central gain"
    https://grantome.com/grant/NIH/R01-DC014452-02

    Unfortunately I can't find any published paper on it, it would have been nice to know what potassium channel modulators could be helpful.

    /Ling

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  12. Hello Peter, I have noticed that my son receives a lot of sensory visual stimulation, when we go to shopping centers and he sees the illuminated screens, he approaches them no matter what, and he begins to jump and sway, the same happens with traffic lights. I want to try potassium, so 2 days ago I performed a serum potassium test, showing 4.8 mmol/L. I understand with these values that it would not be a case of hypokalemic disorder. What is the molecular mechanism of action of potassium on Monty that calms him sensorially? I'm asking this because I read in the controls that your son also had normal-high values of serum potassium.

    He consumes 1 banana daily, he is 3.7 years old and has ASD and ADHD, suggested dose to do my experiment?

    Thank you,

    Nicolas - Perú

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    Replies
    1. Nicolas, the recommended daily amount of potassium for a child like your son is 2,000 mg. I would try a dose of 10%, which is 200mg. If you want to be cautious make it 100mg, but it may be too low to have any effect. It is likely that the effect is via one of the potassium ion channels, I cannot tell you which one.

      Ponstan effects some Kir (inward rectifying potassium channels), but this is very poorly documented in the research. It looks like people who get a short term benefit from potassium may get a longer lasting benefit from low dose Ponstan.

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