two moms warn against alternative treatments

About 700,000 people in France suffer from autism spectrum disorders: among them, 100,000 are under 20 years of age according to Inserm. There is currently no cure for autism, but it is possible to cure some symptoms with specific therapies. For several years, alternative methods have emerged, including changing diets. Some parents use cannabis to treat their children. Two moms of autistic children, Olivia Cattan, President of SOS Autism and Estelle Ast, speak in a forum on the Huffington Post website to warn of these alternative treatments.

"Families tempted to believe in anything and everything"

"We want to alert families who have just been diagnosed with their child, and who are sometimes so desperate that they are tempted to believe in everything and anything, "say the two women. Both believed in these methods and tried some of them. Estelle Ast, for example, tried the gluten-free diet for her son. Some researchers consider that children with autism suffer from an alteration of the permeability of the intestines that is due to allergies or food intolerances. Eliminating gluten would help reduce symptoms.

In the case of Estelle's son, "it did him good, but did not 'cure autism' because autism is a neuro-developmental syndrome," he says. -she. The use of antibiotics has aggravated the symptoms. Olivia Cattan tried to help her child by giving him a magnesium cure, stopping drug treatments and focusing on educational methods.

Side effects

The two women went through Facebook groups of parents of children with autism and identified the different alternative methods: diuretics, antibiotics, cannabis, magnesium, probiotics, paracetamol in high doses, etc. Therapies also include the removal of toxic agents from the body, called chelation, in the form of sprays, capsules, suppositories, etc. In France, the MMS for Miracle Mineral Supplement, already widely used in Latin America, is composed of chlorine dioxide. This "miracle" product has no proven medical efficacy. Estelle Ast and Olivia Cattan have even compiled several reports of side effects such as diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, fever, and anorexia.

Warn the public authorities

Families, sometimes "so desperate", even take the risk of being outlawed to obtain cannabis-based oils, for example. "This forum is not meant to judge one or the other, but to break the omerta that prevails in the autism community, since doctors and other officials encourage and organize these practices," said the two women. Their text is an alert message sent to the public authorities. Olivia Cattan and Estelle Ast today request to be received by the Minister of Health, Agnès Buzyn.