Autism, Yeast Infection

The incidence has risen from 1-2400 in the 1960s to 1-150 children now in 2005, it is now considered to be an epidemic. [more facts November 2007] Autism is estimated to touch the lives of over 500,000 families throughout the UK, with as many as 1.5 million Americans believed to have some form of autistic spectrum condition. These numbers can be expected to rise. Based on statistics from the United States Department of Education, autism is growing at a startling rate of 10–17 percent per year. The explosive growth tells us that the often quoted reasons namely “misdiagnoses” in the past and “genetic factors” for the increase in the diagnosis of Autism cannot be correct… There aren’t 1-150 adults suffering with autistic symptoms amongst us now.The explosive growth is confined to children and young people Genetic factors in any condition/disease are progressive over many years and just would not be a factor in any explosive growth in any condition.


These facts tell us that quite emphatically the cause is environmental.

The [flawed] Hygiene Hypothesis

The prevailing opinion on the cause of the downward spiralling of health in rich western societies is attributed childhood mollycoddling as dictated by the “Hygiene Hypothesis” In the late 1990s, Dr.Erica Von Mutius, a health researcher, compared the rates of allergies and asthma in East and West Germany. Her hypothesis was that children growing up in the poorer, dirtier, and generally less healthful cities of East Germany would suffer more from allergy and asthma than youngsters in West Germany, with its cleaner and more modern environment. What was found was exactly the opposite” of her hypothesis. Children in the polluted areas of East Germany had lower allergic reactions and fewer cases of asthma than children in the West. What was going on?

“The Hygiene Hypothesis,” states that children who are around numerous other children or animals early in life are exposed to more microbes , and their immune systems develop more tolerance as for instance for the factors that cause asthma. Poorer areas, more microbes better immune system , less illness.

The hypothesis is deeply flawed. We all live in a soup of microbes, There is no point in trying to hide from bacteria , for they are on and around you always, in numbers you cant conceive of. If you totalled up all the biomass of the planet..microbes would account for at least 80% of all there is .

Because we are clever enough to produce and use antibiotics and disinfectants , it’s easy to convince ourselves that we have banished bacteria to the fringes of existence. Don’t you believe it.

The notion that wiping down a few surfaces with disinfectant will reduce the amount of microbes we are in contact with to the extent that it will make us much less susceptible to infection is ridiculous.

Children rich or poor have pets; those pets have plenty of microbes, children group together at school where infections are soon spread. Not all mothers are fastidious in cleaning the home some are downright unclean. We will never defeat microbes by eradication. The answer to infection is to harness microbes to work for us.

The hygiene hypothesis argument is spectacularly demolished when looking health statistics from the 150,000 strong Amish community

Within their community there is virtually no asthma or autism [3/10,000 Autism] or so called auto-immune disease. Do they live lives that bring them into contact with more immune stimulating microbes than the average American? The hygiene hypothesis dictates that this must be the case . The next question must be how do they manage to keep the precious microbes confined to themselves when considering that the Amish are not physically isolated from other communities. The answer is of course the mythical “priceless” microbes do not exist.

What is clear is that they have succeeded in eradicating the environmental factor[s] that cause much illness It’s true they shun most of the modern conveniences most would think of as essential, disinfectants, pesticides, antibiotics as growth promoters etc, etc.

But it’s no coincidence that Amish communities do not vaccinate their children or use antibiotics on the same grand scale as in other societies, in particular rich western societies.