Doctor Dad

Dr. Bryan Jepson is a father to a child with autism. It saddens me that it took the reality of this disease being injected directly into the lives & homes of doctors & scientists to force some of them to look beyond what the medical establishment was telling them to believe...but I am ever so grateful that physicians such as Dr. Jepson have taken the biomedical ball and run with it.

He dicusses his journey here: http://www.thoughtfulhouse.org/bjepson1.htm

Prior to autism, Dr. Jepson was a board certified emergency medicine doc.When his son was diagnosed, he quickly began to see that the paradigm to which the majority of doctors subscribe is faulty. He now treats children through Thoughtful House in Austin. In addition, he has written the book Changing the Course of Autism, which is a fabulous book to take to your pediatrician (I did!). The book backs up its assertions with science- and LOTS of it.

You can order it at this link:
http://www.thoughtfulhouse.org/pr/jepson_book.htm

In his talk, he discredited some of the lame explanations for the current epidemic we now face. He showed that there is indeed an epidemic, and that it is NOT due to changed diagnostic criteria. In 1994, the DSM criteria were actually NARROWED rather than broadened! Some have also argued that autistic children may have previously been misclassified. A MIND Institute study appears to debunk this claim. At the claim that maybe physicians now may be more skilled at diagnosing autism, there was audible laughter in the audience of parents, because those of us who have been through this know that is quite a laughable assertion.
Numbers are rising all over he world, and we do not even know our own current rates. The 1 in 150 statistic we hear batted around was from kids born '92-'94.
Dr. Jepson then laid out the evidence that autism is an autoimmune, inflammatory illness. The gut is a primary source of the problems these children face.
He also discussed the role of thimerosal, and discussed the fallacy of relying on epidemiology for answers. Mercury IS known to cause some of the negative physical changes we've observed in these children such as autoimmune reactions, immune suppression, and inhibition of the methylation cycle & glutathione production. His hypothesis seems to mirror my own- these kids may have had a prediposition & other toxic exposures, but adding mercury to he mix SURE DIDN'T HELP!
He finished by discussing the good news- autism IS treatable. It boils down to 1)treating deficiencies, 2)getting rid of what is causing harm, 3)breaking the inflammatory cycle, and
4)rebalancing neurotransmitters. I urge you to click on the power point presentation link to the right of this blog to get more details on the treatment aspect.

Here also is another presentation of his:
http://www.thoughtfulhouse.org/0405-conf-bjepson.htm

And by the way, I must admit frankly that it took autism being injected into my home for me to open my own eyes. I wish I could say I would be fighting the injustice of a generation of poisoned children just because I saw what was happening. But here I am with you, Dr. Jepson. And I am proud to stand beside every person who is trying to save these children and prevent more cases. Onward.