On the front page of Yahoo today there is an article detailing the finding of a gene that could explain why boys are four times more likely to develop autism than girls.  The gene, CACNA1G, regulates the excitability of nerve endings and is more likely to be a variant (turned on incorrectly) in boys than in girls.    This is not the only gene that researchers believe contribute, there are a large number of genes that contribute to nerve excitability; this helps to explain the wide variability in autism’s symptoms among children.  Different genetic combinations produce varying expression in individual children. 

This article intrigues me in a couple of ways.  First is the belief that faulty excitability of nerve endings leads to autism.  As an office who sees a number of children who have been diagnosed as “autistic”, and who sees marked improvement in these children almost immediately following adjustments, this doesn’t suprise me at all.  For any function of the body to work properly the proper signals must be sent from the brain to the body.  If the nerves that these signals are sent down aren’t transmitting them properly then of course the body isn’t going to work like it should!  Chiropractic has know this for over 100 years! It just so happens that these kids are predisposed to this because of the faulty expression of genes like CACNA1G.  When we adjust the spine we are stimulating nerve pathways and reseting this communication.  We’re not “treating” autism or MS or back pain or anything thing else.  We’re just allowing the body to work like it should.

The second point I would like to make about this discovery relates directly to our views and misconceptions about genetics.  Some of the newest and most exciting discoveries in the field of genetics are coming from researchers studying something called epigenetics.  Epigenetics refers to the expression of the gene – basically how genes are turned on and off.  Here is a great video (just hit play) from PBS’s NOVA that explains epigenetics in detail.  What they are finding is that your genes don’t determine how healthy you are.  You can have the genes for a certain type of cancer, but never get that cancer.  What determines how genes express themselves is your lifestyle and environment.  Exposure to a poor lifestyle will turn these genes on, leading to their poor expression, and leading to less health and more disease. 

How does this fit in with these new discoveries about autism?  One, it helps explain massive increase in the rates of autism.  Kids, and their parents, are exposed today to more pollutants, toxins, drugs, and poor lifestyles, then at any point in history.  Our genetic code hasn’t changed over the past 20, 100, even 1000 years.  What has changed is the increased expression of genes like CACNA1G due to these poor lifestyle and environmental factors. 

Two, it helps explain why the chiropractic profession is seeing amazing improvements in kids with autism, epilepsy, ADHD, and a myriad of other conditions thought to have a genetic component.  Beyond the fact that chiropractic wellness patients, and their families, live a healthier lifestyle than the average person, studies show that the chiropractic adjustment directly affects gene expression.

Finally, this study gives me hope.  By finding the genes that links to autism, and knowing what we know about the epigenetics involved, we can help to prevent it by ensuring that the children, starting in the womb, are living as healthy as lifestyle as possible.  We know that every couple that is thinking of conceiving should be adjusted to give the embryo the best chance of starting life properly.  We know that every pregnant women should get adjusted so the signals from her to the baby are transmitted fully, so the baby has the room to develop without outside constraint, and so the mother can have a natural birth, giving the infant the best chance of a healthy life from the moment of birth.  And we know that kids should be adjusted so their genes can be properly expressed as they growth.  We have to make sure that, starting in the womb, kids are not exposed to the toxins that cause the negative gene expression that lead to autism and similar conditions.  Toxins like drugs, vaccines(without wading into that controversy at a minimum we need more research into all the components of our vaccines, whether their is a safer alternative, and which vaccines, if any, are truely necessary), processed and syntheic foods, and environmental pollutates.  This articles confirms everything we have been talking about in regards to autism and health in general.  I can’t wait to see what the future holds for epigenetics and chiropractic’s role in it.  I know that we will find a “cure” for autism, and that it won’t be a drug or a surgery, but that it will be the proper expression of the body’s innate need to be healthy!