Matching Items (4)
Filtering by
- All Subjects: treatment
- All Subjects: Vitamins
- Creators: Adams, James
Description
As the prevalence and awareness of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) increases, so does the variety of treatment options for primary symptoms (social interaction, communication, behavior) and secondary symptoms (anxiety, hyperactivity, GI problems, and insomnia). Various treatments, from Adderall to Citalopram to Flax Seed Oil promise relief for these symptoms. However, very little research has actually been done on some of these treatments. Additionally, the research that has been done fails to compare these treatments against one another in terms of symptom relief. The Autism Treatment Effectiveness Survey, written by Dr. James Adams, director of the Autism/Asperger's Research Program at ASU, and graduate student/program coordinator Devon Coleman, aims to fill this gap. The survey numerically rates medications based on benefit and adverse effects, in addition to naming specific symptoms that are impacted by the treatments. However, the survey itself was retrospective in nature and requires further evidence to support its claims. Therefore, the purpose of this research paper is to evaluate evidence related to the results of the survey. After the performing an extensive literature review of over 70 different treatments, it appears that the findings of the Autism Treatment Effectiveness Survey are generally well supported. There were a few minor discrepancies regarding the primary benefitted symptom, but there was not enough of a conflict to discount the information from the survey. As research is still ongoing, conclusions cannot yet be drawn for Nutritional Supplements, although the current data looks promising.
ContributorsAnderson, Amy Lynn (Author) / Adams, James (Thesis director) / Coleman, Devon (Committee member) / School of Nutrition and Health Promotion (Contributor) / W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Vitamins and minerals are, by definition, essential substances that are necessary for good health, and needed by every cell and organ to function appropriately. A deficiency of any one vitamin or mineral can be very serious. Although a very healthy diet rich in vegetables, fruits, and protein can provide sufficient amounts of most vitamins and minerals, many people do not consume an adequate diet. During pregnancy, there is an increased need for vitamins and minerals to promote a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby. Prenatal supplements are intended to supplement a normal diet to ensure that adequate amounts of vitamins and minerals are consumed. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has established Recommended Dietary Allowances for total vitamin/mineral intake from food and supplements, but they have not established recommendations for prenatal supplements. Therefore, there is a very wide variation in the content and quality of prenatal supplements. Many prenatal supplements contain only minimal levels of some vitamins and few or no minerals, in order to minimize cost and the number of pills. This results in insufficient vitamin/mineral supplementation for many women, and hence does not fully protect them or their children from pregnancy complications and health problems. Therefore, we have created our own set of recommendations for prenatal supplements. Our recommendations are based primarily on four sources: 1) FDA's Recommended Daily Allowances for pregnant women, which are estimated to meet the needs of 97.5% of healthy pregnant women. 2) FDA's Tolerable Upper Limit, which is the maximum amount of vitamins/minerals that can be safely consumed without any risk of health problems. 3) National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), which evaluates the average intake of vitamins and minerals by women ages 20-40 years in the US 4) Research studies on vitamin/mineral deficiencies or vitamin/mineral supplementation during pregnancy, and the effect on pregnancy, birth, and child health problems. In summary, the RDA establishes minimum recommended levels of vitamin/mineral intake from all sources, and the NHANES establishes the average intake from foods. The difference is what needs to be consumed in a supplement, on average. However, since people vary greatly in the quality of their diet, and since most vitamins and minerals have a high Tolerable Upper Limit, we generally recommend more than the difference between the RDA and the average NHANES. Vitamins generally have a larger Tolerable Upper Limit than do minerals. So, we recommend that prenatal vitamin/mineral supplements contain 100% of the RDA for most vitamins, and about 50% of the RDA for most minerals. However, based on additional research studies described below, in some cases we vary our recommendations from those averages.
ContributorsSorenson, Jacob (Author) / Adams, James (Thesis director) / Pollard, Elena (Committee member) / College of Integrative Sciences and Arts (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
Autism Spectrum Disorder is a disorder that makes learning, socializing and daily living much more challenging for affected children and adults because of their atypical behaviors. A few examples of these behaviors are repetitive movements, impulsive actions, inability to communicate in a social setting, and many more. There is a stigma behind autism that is caused by those who are not well informed on the disorder. These people lack information, and in the past, it was assumed that the disorder is caused by "bad parenting." The parents are then afraid of social shame brought upon them by their child and neglect or avoid a diagnosis for their child's disorder. This becomes a vicious cycle that has negative effects on the affected individuals and their loved ones. Neglect of a diagnosis may also be caused by misinformation interpreted by the parents as their child develops. The parents do not realize this child developing outside of normal behavioral patterns. Years of research have been done to attempt to alleviate the symptoms of autism and cure the disorder. The Autism and Asperger's Program at ASU has developed a year-long dietary plan that increases supplementation to alleviate nutritional deficiencies in participants with autism. These deficiencies include vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids, sulfate, carnitine, and digestive enzymes such as sucrase, maltase, and lactase. The participants were also put on a gluten-free casein-free diet toward the end of the study. To test the effectiveness of the treatment, the Severity of Autism Scale (SAS) and Social Responsiveness Scales (SRS) were used. The SAS tested the overall severity of ASD participants by rating them from one to ten, ten being "very severe" in terms of ASD symptoms. The results of this scale were compared at the beginning of the study (day 0) and at the end of the study (day 365). The SRS tested the social responsiveness of participants in the form of overall SRS and five subscales that included awareness, cognition, communication, motivation, and mannerisms. These results were also compared at the beginning and end of the study. After analysis of the data, there seemed to be no correlation between age and severity of autism/social responsiveness of participants. There was also no statistically significant data to suggest that there was a correlation between gender and severity of autism/social responsiveness of participants. However, there was statistically significant evidence that the treatment group did improve over the non-treatment/delayed treatment group in both the SAS and SRS. Neither age nor gender had a significant effect on the effectiveness of the treatment. These positive findings suggest that the integrated dietary
utritional therapy was beneficial, and future research on dietary treatments for autism and other disorders is recommended. This may also further discoveries of affected epigenomes with regards to nutritional treatments in disorders like ASD. The epigenome is the methylation and demethylation of the genome that mediates gene expression.
utritional therapy was beneficial, and future research on dietary treatments for autism and other disorders is recommended. This may also further discoveries of affected epigenomes with regards to nutritional treatments in disorders like ASD. The epigenome is the methylation and demethylation of the genome that mediates gene expression.
ContributorsGutgsell, Crystal Megan (Author) / Adams, James (Thesis director) / Pollard, Elena (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
When viewing vitamins and minerals, it is seen that they are essential for human life and vital for pregnancy. When paired with a healthy diet, prenatal supplements can allow for a healthy pregnancy and reduced maternal and infant health problems. Within this thesis, I was able to break down each vitamin and mineral necessary for a healthy pregnancy and birth. Further, I had the opportunity to dive into the addition of Omega-3 Fatty Acid during pregnancy to add more evidence to the study.
ContributorsSaad, Sophia Saad (Author) / Adams, James (Thesis director) / Haiwei, Gu (Committee member) / Coleman, Devon (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-12