Autism Spectrum Disorders
Autism spectrum disorders include: autistic disorder, pervasive developmental disorder, Asperger’s syndrome and childhood disintegrative disorder.
This is a condition that begins in a child’s early life, and lasts throughout the rest of its life. An autistic spectrum disorder affects one’s social life and normal development – the symptoms that occur affect one’s communication and learning skills and the way that person interacts with other people around him/her. The most commonly used description for these patients is as if they are living their life in their own little world.
What causes autistic spectrum disorder?
The causes of autistic spectrum disorder are unknown. There have been some theories about these potential causes, but nothing can be said for sure. It is suggested that family history and genetics play a huge part in the development of autistic spectrum disorder. The recurrence rate in siblings is somewhere around 2-8%. But genetics might not hold the whole blame for the occurrence of this condition. We also have environmental factors to discuss. Prenatal infections with rubeola and the cytomegalovirus are held responsible for a few cases of autistic spectrum disorder.
What are the symptoms of autistic spectrum disorder?
When we are talking about an autistic spectrum disorder, we should expect to come face to face with a variety of symptoms. And we really do think of a variety when we say it in this case. A lot of different symptoms with a different severity can be present, and unfortunately, there is no way to find out which symptoms can and which symptoms cannot be expected.
Most common symptoms within the patients with an autistic spectrum disorder.
- Inability to make and keep eye contact with talking
- Lack of facial contact
- Fail to respond to his/her name being called out
- Does not speak or has delayed speech
- Repeats phrases or words
- Does not express feelings and emotions
- Approaches social interactions with no interest, aggression, irritability and is being passive
- Has lower than normal or higher than normal intelligence
- Inability to recognize and read body languages such as facial expressions, tone of voice and body posture
- Fixates on a certain activity with abnormal interest and focus
- Specific food preferences such as eating some foods while refusing others
- Unusual sensitivity to light, sound, and touch
- Coordination problems
- Presence of self-harm such as biting, scratching, etc.
- Repeated movements such as rocking as the most commonly present example
It is important to remember that not all of these symptoms occur within every child with some of the types of autistic spectrum disorder. Every single child develops a certain combination that includes these symptoms with different severity; this what makes these cases different. This is one of the reasons why finding a cure has been proven to be so difficult when it comes to autistic spectrum disorder.
Scalp Acupuncture for Autism Spectrum Disorder
For the last 50 years, the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders, or ASD, has been gradually increasing. In 160 children, one suffers from this disorder.
A conventional method to successfully treat or cure ASD doesn’t exist yet. Fortunately, there are a couple of treatments that claim to bring positive effects and to aid people in recovering from this condition. These treatment modalities include:
- Psychopharmacologic interventions (taking medications to treat mental disorders)
- Educational interventions (encouraging patients to use proper management skills)
- CAM (complementary and alternative medicine)
Scalp acupuncture is part of CAM interventions. It is considered a safe and natural treatment option for individuals with ASD.
So, how can scalp acupuncture help with ASD, what are the benefits of this treatment, and what does it have to offer for overall health? Let’s take a look at the statistics of this study and the data for its effectiveness against this serious neurodevelopment disorder.
Why Scalp Acupuncture?
Acupuncture can be traced back to ancient China. It has long been the go-to treatment for many health practitioners.
Scalp acupuncture (SAT) uses unique techniques that work on various acupoints in every zone of the scalp. This particular acupuncture technique is a solid treatment for ASD because it improves the cerebral blood flow and stabilizes hormone levels. These are all important factors for managing disorders such as ASD.
What Does Research Say about Scalp Acupuncture?
For a long time, ASD has been a serious issue, particularly in children. One recent study, published in 2019, may change the tide and bring about a different, more useful treatment for this disorder.
The main focus of this research was to study the effects of scalp acupuncture and its potential to treat ASD symptoms. The data was from 6 different databases and 968 participants from 1980 to 2018.
Based on reviews from 11 different studies, this form of treatment is efficient and has plenty of beneficial properties.
To evaluate the effectiveness of SAT for anyone with ASD, many controlled and randomized trials were issued.
Based on the results, SAT proved a solid efficiency with a 95% confidence interval in reducing the childhood autism rating scale, which resulted in improving physical activity, communication scores, and behavior.
The Benefits of Scalp Acupuncture in Children with ASD
There are very few theories that focus on the mechanism of scalp acupuncture on patients with autism. However, there is enough research that supports the benefits of this treatment and the way it affects certain brain areas.
It has proven beneficial for brain diseases and for improving brainwaves that are defective in patients with ASD.
Based on clinical observation by the Baptist University in Hong Kong and the School of Chinese Medicine, SAT can have numerous health benefits in children with autism. In this clinical study, 66 out of 68 participants experienced a general efficacy rate of 97% after getting scalp acupuncture treatment for ASD. The best effects of this treatment were noticed among younger children. The scalp acupuncture treatment proved significantly effective for 75% of the participants, generally effective for 22%, and ineffective for 3%.
From all the positive data gathered, the benefits of this treatment include:
- Improving behavioral disorders
- Dealing with social issues
- Improving verbal communication
- Being less selective with food
- Soothing noise sensitivity
Once this treatment is introduced, patients show significant improvement in different areas, including successfully dealing with anxiety, nightmares, inability to fall asleep, and more.
Improving Behavioral Disorders
Emotional-related problems can greatly benefit from scalp acupuncture. Patient’s behavior can greatly benefit from SAT since this treatment can help reduce behavioral problems by 27.6%. The patient’s age is a major contributor to ASD symptoms. In other words, the younger the child, the better the therapeutic effects of this treatment.
Dealing with Social Issues
Since scalp acupuncture can make people less susceptible to anxiety attacks, those with ASD will have a much easier time dealing with their social issues and establishing stable social connections.
Improving Verbal Communication
Scalp acupuncture can help children with ASD express themselves better, thus improving their verbal communication and language abilities. Children will pay more attention to their surroundings and be more receptive.
Being Less Selective with Food
Autism can make children incredibly selective with their food, but scalp acupuncture can help reduce that problem by dropping the sensitivity level by 17.2%. This is more than enough for children with selective tastes to overcome their fear of trying out different kinds of food.
Soothing Noise Sensitivity
Since SAT can help children with autism be less susceptible to noise by decreasing their noise sensitivity by 17.2%, it can also help them sleep better and be less prone to anxiety attacks.
Conclusion
Even though scalp acupuncture is not a cure for autism spectrum disorders, it shows positive results when it comes to dealing with this condition, particularly in communication and cognitive development. These results are promising and could be the hope many patients are looking for.
Sunrise Neuro-Acupuncture Integrative Clinic is an acupuncture and Chinese medicine clinic in Westboro, Ottawa. We provide care and scalp acupuncture for Autism Spectrum Disorders. If you would like to receive more information about this treatment, you can call us at: 613-853-9099
References
- https://medicalxpress.com/news/2017-10-clinical-scalp-acupuncture-effective-autistic.html
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6003091/
- https://journals.lww.com/md-journal/Fulltext/2019/03290/Scalp_acupuncture_treatment_for_children_s_autism.12.aspx
- http://www.scalpacupuncture.org/services/what-do-we-treat/autism/
- https://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/patient-caregiver-education/fact-sheets/autism-spectrum-disorder-fact-sheet
- http://www.thestandard.com.hk/sections-news_print.php?id=188532