Transcript
Speaker: I will start this video with the following quote from a study. Increased glutamate may be linked to some of the behavioral problems and features commonly associated with autism. Glutamate is the most abundant neurotransmitter in the central nervous system.
Speaker: It plays important roles in brain development, learning, memory, gene expression, even taste and skin, pain sensation. So there's just a few of the things that it's important for. But the problem with glutamate is when there's an excess of it, it has been shown to be a potent neurotoxin. And neurotoxin basically means it's toxic or damaging to brain cells and nervous system cells.
Speaker: Many studies have reported elevated glutamate levels in autistic children, and some researchers even consider disrupted glutamate metabolism to play an important role in the development of autism. Here's another quote from a paper.
Speaker: Moreover, we suggest that the increasing prevalence of ASD during the last decades might reflect the synergistic action of increased burden of new ecotoxicological factors, which include excitotoxic amino acids, mainly glutamate and aspartate, fluoride in combination with aluminum, mercury, and the increasing number of vaccines in the period of rapid post -NATO brain development.
Speaker: So, elevated glutamate levels have also been reported in other conditions, including major depressive disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, social anxiety disorder, and epilepsy. Coincidentally, these are common comorbid conditions with autism.
Speaker: Now, the thing about glutamate is it can get converted to GABA, also known as gamma -aminobutyric acid, which is another neurotransmitter, which is the opposite of basically what... So GABA is an inhibitory neurotransmitter, whereas glutamate is an excitatory neurotransmitter, right? So GABA is more calming and glutamate is more excitatory.
Speaker: So glutamate can get converted to GABA, but some studies that I've read have reported that there's often a failure to make this conversion in autistic children. And this imbalance can lead to stimming behaviors due to too much neuronal excitation. So the neurons, the brain cells or the nervous system cells are too stimulated. And it can also contribute to speech impairment in some kids due to too little GABA.
Speaker: Other potential problems that excess glutamate can cause include glutathione depletion, and of course it's many knock -on effects. So when this antioxidant glutathione is depleted, it can leave us susceptible to oxidative stress, to increased infections, inability to detoxify chemicals, metals, etc. Glutamate can also be a cause of refactoring seizures, it can disrupt the blood -brain barrier,
Speaker: and it can inhibit the release of melatonin which is you may know it as the one of the primary sleep regulating hormones in the pineal gland. So too much glutamate in the brain and central nervous system can lead to what is known as excitotoxicity. This is a process that can cause damage to or even kill brain cells and nervous system tissue. So excitotoxicity causes oxidative stress
Speaker: mitochondrial damage and can play a role in neural degeneration.
Speaker: Factors that can disrupt glutamate balance or trigger excitotoxicity include excessive immune activation, which can cause chronic brain inflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction, elevated copper and low zinc again. Dietary excitotoxins can also contribute to this. So MSG or monosodium glutamate, aspartame, mercury, aluminum and fluoride.
Speaker: A magnesium deficiency can contribute to these, and certain kids just have genetic susceptibilities that can also contribute to this. But as you can see, we have high copper, low zinc, it can contribute to this, toxins like mercury, aluminum, fluoride, certain additives in the diet, so MSG, aspartame in all the artificial sweetener, magnesium deficiency, which is very prevalent in the population in general, not just in children or autistic children.
Speaker: And of course, mitochondrial dysfunction. Again, we're talking about energy production. And once energy production is affected, many things can happen in the body that can have negative consequences. And again, we look at excessive immune activation. This is another thing that can cause us a number of health problems, which is why it needs to be managed with the help of your practitioner.
