Westhampton Beach doctor believes that autism can be cured

by Vera Chinese

Dr. Andrea Libutti can still recall how she felt the day she found out that her now 4-year-old son, Jack—who, up until he was 17 months old, was babbling and interacting with his peers like a typical toddler—was diagnosed with autism.

“I cried for three weeks,” said Dr. Libutti, who lives in Remsenburg and now works with children with autism at her practice in Westhampton Beach. “It’s like you’ve been handed a death sentence.”

Jack had just received his diphtheria and tetanus shots about two years ago when Dr. Libutti said her son’s personality began to change and he lost interest in speaking and interacting with others. Dr. Libutti was devastated to later learn that her son was diagnosed as being severely autistic.

Though she and some other professionals believe that autism can be traced back to the inoculations that children receive—a claim that officials at the Centers for Disease Control continue to dispute—Dr. Libutti believes she has found a way to cure children like Jack.

At her Westhampton Beach practice, the Spectrum Healing Center on Mill Road, Dr. Libutti works with children with autism and their parents and tries to find ways to reduce—and in some cases reverse—the disease’s effects. “There have been very severe kids who have been reversed,” she said. “The younger kids have the best chance.”

According to Dr. Libutti, who is now attempting to publish a book on the subject titled “Prevent Autism,” some children cannot process toxins, such as mercury, as well as other children. She says that those toxins can lead to inflammation in the brain and the digestive system and attack the immune system. She said that the agitation of these areas can cause speech and social problems for autistic children.

She points to her own son, who was diagnosed before his second birthday. Dr. Libutti, who earned her medical degree at the University of Southern California, said that after three years of treatment, which includes following a dairy- and gluten-free diet, Jack has significantly improved his verbal and social skills.

“A lot of it is correcting nutritional deficiencies,” she said. “A lot of it is luck.” She added that treatment is a long process that can take several months or years.

Dr. Libutti maintains that environmental factors and pesticides found in food, and most importantly vaccines, can cause autism in a child who is genetically susceptible. She added that an increase in environmental pollutants and toxins, as well as an increase in the number of vaccines that infants receive, are responsible for the increase in children diagnosed with autism in recent years.

Today, one in every 150 children born is on the autism spectrum, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Dr. Libutti said that number was closer to 1 in 10,000 in 1994.

“It’s multi-factorial,” she said, explaining why autism is such a common disorder.

According to the CDC’s website, an Institute of Medicine scientific review rejected the notion that there is a correlation between autism and vaccines. The CDC supports the Institute of Medicine’s findings.

Dr. John Pomeroy, the director of the Cody Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities at the Stony Brook University Medical Center, said that, at this time, no single source can be blamed for causing autism. “We don’t know the real cause,” he said.

However, Dr. Pomeroy said that he agreed that the dietary changes Dr. Libutti suggests has helped many autistic children. “I wouldn’t rule out that they have some benefit,” he said.

Dr. Pomeroy stressed that more research must be completed on the relationship between vaccines and a diagnosis of autism. He said that it is possible that the onset of autism occurs at the same time as children receive many of their vaccines.

“You can’t rule out these theories altogether,” he said. “But we may be looking at correlation, not causation.”

For those who remain skeptical that autism can be reversed, Dr. Libutti recommends speaking with families who have benefitted from treatments like the ones she advocates. “Get online and talk to people who are living proof,” she said.

Courtney Cesario, whose 4-year-old son, Paul, was diagnosed as autistic last year, said she noticed results almost immediately after starting her son on a wheat- and dairy-free diet.

“We saw huge results with that,” said Ms. Cesario, who lives in Southampton. “Paul had a huge sound sensitivity. He wasn’t able to go out in the community or go to the park.”

Paul also takes dietary supplements and vitamins to soothe his digestive problems. Although Paul has not completely recovered, his mother said that he has made huge strides. “He is much more focused and engaged,” Ms. Cesario said. “He’s become more social.”

She also cautioned that implementing the treatment ordered by Dr. Libutti is no easy task. “It’s very hard,” she said. “It takes a lot of work.”

Treating autism as Dr. Libutti suggests also comes with some hard decisions for parents. When she had her second son Sam, who is now three, Dr. Libutti said she waited two years before he received a single vaccination. To date, Sam has shown no signs of autism. She plans to do the same with her third child who is due next month.

“I think the [vaccine] schedule needs to be revisited,” she said.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends that infants receive a Hepatitis B vaccines at birth and subsequent inoculations at 2, 4, 6 and 12 months.

In Dr. Libutti’s opinion, she feels that not enough research has gone into the relationship between autism and vaccines out of fear of how it will upset the medical industry. “That’s what it comes down to,” she said. “Pharmaceutical companies.”

The CDC recommends that all parents keep their children on the vaccine schedule in order to prevent an outbreak of diseases. In 2005, a polio outbreak occurred among Amish families in Minnesota. The Amish do not typically vaccinate their children.

Although she was originally trained as an emergency medical doctor, Dr. Libutti explained that she became a Defeat Autism Now or DAN-certified physician after Jack’s diagnosis because she wanted to help children and their parents. She added that although the effects are not as profound, adults with autism can benefit from treatment as well.

“There are many adults who have improved significantly,” she said. “They can certainly improve their quality of life.”

Source: http://www.27east.com/story_detail.cfm?id=199017

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