Autism Spectrum Disorder or ASD is a condition associated with brain development. ASD affects the way an individual perceives others and socializes with a group of people. This disorder shows up in early childhood; it includes repetitive and limited behaviour patterns and thus, makes it difficult for the affected child to interact or communicate with others.

The word  spectrum  in ASD refers to a range of signs related to the condition. Some children develop the symptoms of the disorder right from infancy, while others exhibit the same within 12-36 months of birth.

Signs to Watch Out for-

Early signs of Autism Spectrum Disorder in toddlers include-

  Reduced eye contact
  Lack of response (to their name)
  Difficulty learning things
  Trouble communicating
  Speaking in an abnormal tone
  Repeating words, not knowing where to place them in a sentence
  Inability to express feelings/emotions
  Inappropriate approach to social interaction   being aggressive, destructive, or passive
  Difficulty recognizing non-verbal cues
  Lack of coordination
  Oversensitive to touch, sound, or light
  Repetitive movements - spinning, rocking, hand flapping

Every child with ASD has a unique behaviour pattern.

If you notice the above traits in your child and are concerned about his/her development, then you should visit a doctor right away. A specialist can recommend an appropriate line of treatment to manage the symptoms and help your child thrive despite being autistic.

Autism and Nutrition   Is There Really a Link?

Caring for an autistic child can be challenging on many levels, and healthful eating is no exception. A child living with Autism Spectrum Disorder may not be getting enough nutrients, primarily because they are not patient enough to sit through their meals.

If your child has ASD, you should definitely reach out to a paediatrician. He/she will most likely prescribe a  special diet  to provide your child with the essential nutrients.

  Switch to a casein-free, gluten-free diet. Exclude foods such as   fishes, eggs, seafood, soy products, nuts etc. Children with ASD have an abnormally leaky gut, and these food items often cause inflammation in the gut. This further deteriorates the symptoms.
  The doctor may recommend a low-fat, high-protein ketogenic diet   cottage cheese, avocados, poultry meat, coconut oil etc.
  Serve your child a good portion of vitamin-rich foods   cereals, fruit juice, oatmeal etc. However, make sure that you are aware of any allergic reaction your child may have before incorporating these in their diet.

Health experts state that for children living with this condition, a balanced, nutritious diet can make all the difference in the world   it can improve their learning ability, help them to express themselves more and process information better.

Early Signs Of ASD In Toddlers!

As parents, it is important that you should arrange for an early intervention if you notice that your child is suffering from any of the below-mentioned signs as they can be an indicator of autism in your child:

Not being able to utter a sound even after 6 months
Unresponsive to stimulants, whereby the child fails to make any gestures
Incoherent blabbering which fails to make any sense even after the child is 24 months old
An autistic child is way more sensitive than other children. Dealing with them can be challenging for the parents but it is not impossible. To deal with an autistic child effectively, follow these tips:

Early intervention is a must: As soon as you detect that your child is suffering from autism, seek help. There are various methods to treat autism like behavior therapy, speech-language therapy, play-based therapy, occupational therapy amongst others. As parents, you have to figure out which therapy is better for your child or to which therapy is your child responding to. Based on your observation and the evaluation of the therapist, you need to engage your child and encourage changes.
Repeat at home what your child learns at school: Often an autistic child learns certain skills at the school but fails to apply them in other environments, both social and personal. You need to get acquainted with the kinds of therapeutic methods that are being taught to him/her and repeat them in your home or within a social milieu to encourage proper implementation.
Reward them: An autistic child needs a lot of support from the parents in order to function in a healthy manner. Therefore, reward his/her positive behaviors with items that the child cherishes, like his/her favorite toys or stickers. Show the child that you care, in whichever way you find it fit.
Observe the body language of your child: Autistic children will make certain gestures to convey their feelings. You need to observe your child and understand what kind of stimulus irks him/her and what kind of stimulus makes him/her happy. Based on your observation you need to keep your child away from negative spurs and bring in more positive impetuses in his/her life.
Engage your child in recreational activities: An autistic child is no different from a normal child as far as his/her need for fun time is concerned. Maintain your child s schedule regularly and allocate time for recreational activities, most preferably games. Let your child mix with other autistic children. A happy disposition will help your child turn his/her obstacles into opportunities.

Autistic Children - 5 Effective Ways You Can Handle Them!

Alzheimer's disease is a dynamic disease that causes loss of memory and other vital mental functions. To start with, someone with Alzheimer's disease may witness light confusion in the beginning and trouble recalling. In the long run, individuals with the disease may even overlook important individuals in their lives and experience emotional identity changes.

Dementia: Alzheimer s disease is the most widely recognised reason for dementia   a gathering of brain issues that causes the loss of intellectual and social abilities. In Alzheimer's disease, the brain cells deteriorate and die, bringing on an enduring decrease in memory and mental capacity.
Brain Cells: Despite the fact that the reasons for Alzheimer's is not yet completely comprehended, its impact on the brain is clear. Alzheimer's disease harms the brain cells. A mind influenced by Alzheimer's has fewer cells and fewer associations among surviving cells than a solid mind.
Brain Shrinkage: As more brain cells start to die, Alzheimer's prompts critical brain shrinkage. At the point when specialists inspect Alzheimer's brain tissue under the magnifying instrument, they see two sorts of irregularities that are considered to cause Alzheimer s. These are:
Plaque: These clusters of a protein called beta-amyloid may harm and crush brain cells in a few ways, meddling with cell-to-cell functioning. In spite of the fact that a definitive reason for brain cell passing in Alzheimer's is not known, the accumulation of beta-amyloid on the outside of brain cells is a prime reason.
Tangles: Brain cells rely upon an inner support and transport framework to carry the supplements and other fundamental materials through their long extensions. This framework requires the typical structure and working of a protein called tau. In Alzheimer's, strings of tau protein turn into strange tangles inside the brain cells. This may also cause the decrease of brain cells. 
Here are some more causes that can lead to this disease:

Age: Age is a most critical cause in the development of Alzheimer's disease. The probability of building up the condition increases after you reach sixty-five years of age.
Family history: The qualities you acquire from your parents can add to your danger of building up Alzheimer's infection. This may also contribute to the environmental factors which can cause this condition. In some families, a single gene creates Alzheimer s disease and the dangers of the condition being passed on are much higher.
Head injuries: Individuals who have had serious head damage have been observed to be at higher risk of building up Alzheimer's disease.
Cardiovascular diseases: Research demonstrates that few lifestyle components and conditions connected with cardiovascular disease can build the danger of Alzheimer's disease. These include smoking, obesity, diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol.


Alzheimer's Disease - Reasons That Can Lead To It!

Migraine is a type of headache which can occur in varied intensities; the pain resulting from a migraine is pulsating and throbbing. This sort of a headache is usually accompanied by extreme sensitivity to sounds and light as well as severe nausea. One feature that significantly differentiates between migraine and any other type of headache is that the headache resulting from migraines usually develops on any one side of the head.

Causes of Migraine

The exact cause behind migraine is yet to be fully understood. Migraines are thought to be a result of combination of genetic and environmental factors.In majority of cases, migraines tend to run in families . There are few well known trigger factors for migraine. These are   stress, exertion, gastric disturbances, eating heavy food stuff, taking alcoholic drinks, coffee intake, hormone changes in females.

Symptoms of Migraine

The most characteristic symptom of migraine is one sided headache mostly of violent, throbbing and pulsating in nature. The accompanying symptoms include nausea, vomiting, blurring of vision, flashes of light before eyes, double vision, light/sound sensitivity, confusion and weakness.

Homeopathy is not in the favour of using temporary treatments like popping a painkiller to alleviate the throbbing, pulsating and often intolerable pain caused from migraine. Homeopathy aims at going deep down into the root of the problem and entirely removes the tendency of any patient to be shot with migraine headaches every now and then. That is why homeopathic medications may take some time in showing results. They do not offer any temporary relief like most allopathic treatments do. On the other hand, homeopathic medicines offer a long term relief and can cure the migraine problem permanently.

Though homeopathic treatments vary from person to person, there are a few homeopathic medicines, which are very effective in relieving migraine headaches.

Belladona for throbbing migraine attack: Belladonna is one of the most effective homeopathic medicines for treating migraine headache that is throbbing and violent in the temporal region of the head. If pain gets triggered without any prior prodromal symptoms and worsens by noise, touching and light, then Belladona is potent in removing the pain. This medicine is also good if you are unable to lie down because of pain and if your face turns red and hot when you are struck with excruciating pain. Have a few drops of Belladona and apply a mild pressure to feel better.
Glonoine for migraine with congestive headache: When you are struck with congestive headache, a rush of blood reaches the head region causing redness in face and head area with intolerable throbbing pain. You may even feel shocks around the head which get aggravated when exposed to heat or sunlight. It becomes impossible to tolerate any kind of warmth, and you may feel a bit relieved when you uncover the head. If you are affected with congestive headache, then consuming Glonoine can be of immense help.
Natrum Mur for migraine from grief and stress: This medicine is widely used for alleviating migraine caused from stress and grief. Natrum Mur is also effective in alleviating anaemic headaches, which mostly affect young women. It often leads to temporary sightlessness, and the pain feels as if thousands of small hammers are being throbbed within the brain. The pain tends to rise up after through the day, and the patient may feel better after sunset. If the pain gets triggered when the eye is strained, then Natrum Mur is the medication for you.
As you see, homeopathic treatments are great for reducing migraine attacks and your doctor will be able to guide you better on this matter. Homoeopathy treats each patient of Migraine by individualization and thus treats the root cause of migraine which could be Sun, stress, exertion etc.

How Homeopathy Helps In Handling Migraine!

A brain tumor can occur at any age and it generally occurs in people in the age group of 40-60 years. The common types of brain tumor are termed as meningioma and gliomas. These supratentorial brain tumors generally occur above the covering of the cerebellum tissue. In children, brain tumors occur at the age of 1-12 years and the most common tumors are ependymomas, astrocytoma and meduloblastomas. Brain tumor is the common cause of death even in children.

Tips to Detecting a Brain Tumor

The general symptoms that are indications of a brain tumor include severe headaches, memory changes, nausea, drowsiness, sleep problems, fatigue and sudden involuntary movements of muscles of an individual. The symptoms can be either specific or generic and the general symptoms are mainly caused by the pressure of the tumor on the brain. The specific symptoms on the other hand are caused when specific parts of the brain does not function properly. Many people even experience loss of control of body functions.

The other problems that are experienced by individuals include changes in the ability to perform daily activities and loss of balance. They find difficulty in hearing, speech and at times are very aggressive. If these symptoms exist, then your doctor would recommend a physical examination and ask about your health history and that of your family.

Tests to Detect Brain Tumor
The tests that are advised by doctors to detect a brain tumor include MRI, neurologic exam, CT scan, biopsy, angiogram and spinal tap.

In the neurologic exam the vision, alertness, hearing, coordination, muscle strength and reflexes are checked by the doctor. The doctor also checks for any swelling in the eyes which can be caused by the pressing of the nerve which connects the brain and the eye.

The CT scan done for detecting brain tumor provides detailed pictures of your head and it is done through an X-ray machine which is connected to a computer. The contrast material is injected into the blood vessel of your hand and abnormal areas can be seen easily.

Biopsy
In this method tissues from the brain are removed and tested for tumor cells. The cells are observed by a pathologist under a microscope mainly to check for abnormal cells. The biopsy method is used to show tissue changes that can further lead to cancer. Brain tumor can be easily diagnosed with this method.

MRI:
Magnetic Resonance Imaging or MRI as it is commonly referred to is of great use as it helps to diagnose brain tumors. In this procedure, a dye is injected through a vein in the arm using which the variances in the tissues of the brain can be identified.

Consult your doctor today for more information on the same.

Tips For Detecting A Brain Tumor!


Autism is defined as a neurobiological pervasive development disorder that includes lack of social skills and inability to reciprocate to social interactions. The patient may also have intellectual and cognitive deficits and problems in communication (verbal as well as non-verbal).

Ayurveda is the oldest study of medicine and has proved to be very effective when it comes to managing and treating those affected by autism. The earlier an autistic person resorts to ayurveda, the more effective it is.

Ayurvedic drink recipe for treating the symptoms of autism: (should be taken daily)
1.1/3 cup of yogurt
2.3/4 cup of water
3. Cumin
4. Coriander and
5. Ginger
Or
Diluted fresh pomegranate juice

Ayurveda in curbing aggression:
Autism includes heightened aggression and aversion from social interaction due to a neurological condition that impairs the functioning of the brain. Not all autistic patients are violent towards others, but may express their frustration by self-harm and emotional outbursts. One can curb these emotional outbursts by taking herbal supplements. An ayurvedic herb called brahmi (bacopa monnieri) which is known for its, anti-anxiety, neuroprotection and antioxidant properties can help considerably.

Regular massages using sandalwood, rose, lavender and gotu kola oils are also very calming and relieving, because it stimulates the blood flow and neuronal responses. Massage also helps in increasing eye contact and social relatedness, less stereotypical behavior and improved sleep.

Ayurvedic herbs for autism:
1. Brahmi- scientifically known as bacopa monnieri, brahmi is an important herb that delays the process of forgetting and improves memory. Not only does brahmi improve memory, but also increases the grasping power, intellect and speech and also corrects the abnormality of emotions, personality and mood of an autistic individual. It also helps in performing complex tasks such as comprehension, reasoning and learning.

2. Ashwagandha- scientifically known as withania somnifera, ashwagandha has high affinity for gamma aminobutyric acid (gaba) receptors. Low gaba activity is related to cognitive impairment.

3. Shankhapushpi- scientifically known as convolvulus pluricaulis, shankhapushpi is very effective in improving learning and memory and is highly effective in treating insanity and epilepsy. 

4. Centella asiatica- this ayurvedic herb is used as a medication for insanity, speech disorders and epilepsy, making it a very useful drug for treating autism.

Top 5 Ayurvedic Medicine for Autism Treatment

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