Clues to the Mystery: Following World War II, autism was virtually unknown with a prevalence of just 1 out of 10,000. Today, the rate in the United States is 1 in 68 and even worse for boys at 1 in 46. That's two percent for heaven's sake. The human genome has not changed, so a powerful environmental trigger must be at play. That trigger must have been rising for 70 years and it must still be potent the world over. The Brimstone Demons satisfy this condition.
Children with autism have elevated levels of sulfite in
their urine.
Elevated may be too weak a description as sulfite is 51 times normal. A
high level of sulfite has many negative consequences. An interesting
one is depression of an enzyme called AASA dehydrogenase which clears a
chemical that traps and inactivates bioactive B6. Sulfite interferes
with this enzyme and low PLP results. In addition to causing epilepsy,
this also affects the Moco Pathway as PLP is a necessary cofactor. In
turn, sulfite oxidase is impacted and a bad feedback loop established,
increasing sulfite even further. Sulfite oxidase clears sulfite by
converting it to sulfate. So, high
sulfite and low sulfate are two sides of the same problem. In many
respects, sulfate functions as a nutrient, deeply connected to tissue
growth including that required by brain development. It is also a key
player within the Sulfation Pathway which removes toxins and waste from
the body. Sulfate ions are attached to biological trash for
identification and removal. This includes environmental toxins which
stubbornly afflict all modern humans.
The
Brimstone Theory: Moco Pathway mutations have been around
for
hundreds, if not thousands of years. They upset body chemistry by
increasing sulfite, decreasing sulfate and interfering with vitamin B6
chemistry. But not so much as to cause outright disease or
developmental issues. Along comes sulfite in food and sulfur dioxide in
prescription drugs. They push susceptible children over the edge. Many
fastfood outlets serve french fries and instant potato flakes, adding
2,600 ug to our sulfite load. Sulfa drugs like Cotrim are prescribed to
children and pregnant mothers. They release a whopping 30,000 ug in a
typical dose. This bumps sulfite levels in autistic bodies to dangerous
levels, as high as 95 uM over baseline. Body chemistry is affected
including the temporary depression of bioactive B6. In turn,
this impacts 140 pathways and initiates epileptic episodes.Blood plasma levels of sulfate are depressed, as low as 30% of normal. So, the protective benefits of sulfate largely disappear for those with autism. The sulfate deficit may be estimated at 510 mg per day, looking at losses in urine. This can be corrected by drinking water with a high sulfate content, mineral water for instance. Pellegrino naturally provides 408 mg of sulfate in each liter bottle. Unfortunately, most tap water is not as sulfate rich. The EPA estimates that the median public water system provides only 24 mg/l. And this has been falling as autism has risen. Two trends are responsible. One is a shift from rural to urban water as people migrate to cities. Rural water is typically from mineral rich wells. Urban water is usually obtained from more prolific surface sources which contain less sulfate.
The second trend is a real eye opener. The Clean Water Act has empowered the EPA to force urban water systems to clean up dangerous toxins, certainly a noble goal. Of course, when you remove the bad stuff, sulfate gets reduced, too. I guess the baby got thrown out with the bath water. The medical community is not concerned about sulfate, considering it a mild nuisance. It is recommended to stay below 250 mg/l for flavor and below 500 mg/l to avoid diarrhea. For most people, sulfated water has no obvious benefit. But for those with autistic chemistry, sulfated water can make up for sulfate lost in the toilet. These are bold assertions. Can they be backed up with evidence?
IDEA legislation (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) requires tracking of autism in our public schools. If you extract data for 6 through 11 year olds with autism, you can calculate prevalence numbers for each of the 50 states. This shows large differences between states. The worst states are Minnesota, Maine, Oregon and Connecticut with rates as poor as 1 in 62. The best states are Iowa, Louisiana, Colorado and Oklahoma with rates above 1 in 200. What about sulfate in the water? For each of the best and worst states, I created a list of the most populous cities. I searched the internet for water quality reports and weighted sulfate levels against population to get an idea of the mean level of sulfate in each state. I compared sulfate to autism and the correlation was striking. The worst states had an averaged sulfate level of only 13 mg/l. The best states averaged 113 mg/l.
Most people drink about 2 liters of water per day. This means citizens in the best states were getting an additional 200 mg of sulfate compared to the worst. This extra sulfate reduced the rate of autism by a factor of 4. What would happen if you increased the sulfate even more, say double? A conservative guess might be a reduction in autism by a factor of 8. What would autistic birth numbers look like in the United States under these improved conditions if the Brimstone Theory is true:
