metabolic disease

Dr. M’s SPA Newsletter Volume 16 Issue 18 – Autism and Microbiomes

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Autism and Diagnosis

Metabolites and Phenotypes

In a brand new paper entitled. “Elevated Microbially-Derived Metabolites in Autism: A Possible Diagnostic Screening Test for a Distinct ASD Phenotype,” Dr. Flynn and colleagues investigated whether specific urinary metabolites produced by intestinal microbes could serve as predictive biomarkers for autism spectrum disorder. The study proposes that a large subset of children with autism may represent a biologically distinct phenotype characterized by markedly elevated microbial metabolites, which the authors term ASD-MDM (Autism Spectrum Disorder associated with Microbially-Derived Metabolites).

The investigators analyzed urine samples from 52 children with ASD and 47 typically developing (TD) controls, ages 2–11 years. They measured microbial metabolites derived primarily from phenylalanine metabolism, tryptophan metabolism, and yeast metabolism. These were chosen because decades of autism, microbiome, and metabolic research have repeatedly implicated abnormalities in microbial metabolism of aromatic amino acids, especially phenylalanine and tryptophan, along with evidence of elevated fungal/yeast metabolites in subsets of children with ASD.

The findings were striking. Children with ASD demonstrated significantly higher concentrations of many microbial metabolites than controls. Some metabolites were elevated by hundreds to thousands of percent, and in certain children concentrations were reported to be 100–1000 times higher than the highest levels observed in any control participant. Twenty-three of twenty-four measured microbial metabolites were higher in ASD participants. Ninety percent of the ASD participants (45 of 50) had one or more extremely elevated MDMs. Particularly notable were elevations in compounds related to p-cresol, p-cresol sulfate, phenylacetylglutamine, indole derivatives, and arabinitol, suggesting abnormalities in microbial metabolism involving aromatic amino acids and yeast overgrowth…. Also, Inflammation and Allergy.

Enjoy,
Dr. M

Dr. M’s SPA Newsletter Volume 15 Issue 25 – Tough Conversations

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Speaking Truth in Love: The Weight of Avoidance in Pediatric Metabolic Health

After completing the second round of our Asthma and Obesity Metabolic Pilot Program at Salisbury Pediatrics, I left the clinic reflecting deeply on what I witnessed. It crystallized a truth that is uncomfortable but undeniable: the greatest health threats to our children today are not infectious or accidental, they are metabolic. Diseases once reserved for adulthood: insulin resistance, fatty liver, hypertension, early vascular aging are now appearing in children who should be free to run, play, and thrive.

In modern society, conversations about weight and metabolic dysfunction have become relatively taboo. This is not to say that children of normal or low weight are immune; they, too, can be at risk. However, the excess-weight group carries the highest statistical burden. Too often, clinicians hesitate to speak truth to families for fear of offending, shaming, or overstepping. In doing so, we risk silence becoming complicity and allowing preventable disease to take root in the very children we are charged to protect.

Much of this epidemic is not born of individual failure but of systemic neglect. Government-funded, poor-quality school meals, cheap processed foods, and relentless marketing of sugar and refined carbohydrates have built an environment where metabolic injury is almost inevitable. When a child’s daily fuel is engineered for shelf life instead of cell life, the outcome is not accidental, it is predictable. Our pilot program lab results are a painful window into that truth…. and a literature review on eczema and anaphylaxis.

Enjoy Dr. M

Dr. M’s Women and Children First Podcast #99 Liz Mumper, MD – Kids and Covid

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Welcome to Dr. M’s Women & Children First Podcast, where we engage with pioneering voices at the intersection of science, healthcare, and the well-being of families.

Today on Dr. M’s Women and Children First, we welcome Dr. Elizabeth Mumper, a physician, educator, and thought leader whose career has profoundly influenced the practice of integrative pediatrics.

Dr. Mumper earned her Bachelor of Science degree from Bridgewater College, graduating magna cum laude, before attending the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, where she received her medical degree. She completed her pediatric residency at the University of Virginia and served as Chief Resident in Pediatrics. She remained at UVA as an Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics from 1997 to 2005, mentoring future physicians and advancing holistic, evidence-based approaches to child health.

Following her time in academia, Dr. Mumper founded The Rimland Center for Integrative Medicine in Lynchburg, Virginia, a clinic dedicated to children with autism spectrum disorders, PANS/PANDAS, allergies, and complex chronic illnesses. Her practice integrates the best of conventional pediatrics with biomedical and functional medicine principles, always guided by compassion and curiosity.

She has been a leading educator with the Medical Academy of Pediatric Special Needs (MAPS) and a frequent international lecturer, teaching clinicians how to recognize and treat the root causes of immune dysregulation, inflammation, and neurodevelopmental challenges.

Dr. Mumper is also the author of the new book Kids and COVID, an insightful exploration of how the pandemic impacted children, physically, emotionally, and developmentally, and what lessons medicine must learn moving forward. In our conversation, we discuss her book in depth, as well as the broader implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for pediatric care, resilience, and future public health policy.

Finally, we dive into the complex topic of vaccines, considering what we’ve learned from the pandemic years and expanding the conversation begun with Dr. Paul Offit and Dr. Joel Warsh.

Dr. Mumper’s lifelong dedication to children, her fearless pursuit of truth, and her balanced, science-driven voice make her one of the most respected figures in functional medicine.

Please join me in welcoming my friend and colleague,  Dr. Elizabeth Mumper.

Dr. M

Dr. M’s SPA Newsletter Volume 15 Issue 15

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Systemic Maternal Inflammation and Neurodevelopment: The Role of IL-6 and IFN-γ in Autism Spectrum Disorder

I just returned from Estes Park, Colorado where I presented a lecture on the Growing Brain/Mind – a tour through the underpinnings of childhood neurological changes that we call Autism. The timing is perfect for this article to be written.

In an era when chronic disease in children is rising at an unprecedented pace, the search for root causes must include an honest inquiry into the conditions present during fetal development. The review article by Majerczyk and colleagues, Systemic Maternal Inflammation Promotes ASD via IL-6 and IFN-γ, brings forward a critical piece in this puzzle that I began to explore a few years ago when writing a book. It connects the dots between maternal immune dysregulation and long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes, specifically autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Through a synthesis of clinical data and animal research, the authors make a compelling case for the centrality of two inflammatory messengers, interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ), in shaping fetal brain development during gestational stress. The key words here being GESTATIONAL STRESS, the recurring scientific theme for ASD development, not vaccines… and some literature reviews.

Dr. M

Dr. M’s SPA Newsletter Volume 15 Issue 8

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Itaconate, what is it and why does it matter?

Science Heavy – skip to the bold for take home if you want to avoid the science.

The biggest takeaway from this complex science is this: High fat, high sugar diets (Ultra Processed Foods) are associated with decreased itaconate activity and increased inflammation. The science further answers the question of whether we should allow ultra processed food in schools.

Ultra Processed Foods likely reduce itaconate production driving inflammation, metabolic dysregulation, and gut dysbiosis, which could worsen active disease. Lower itaconate levels likely impair your body’s ability to resolve inflammation, potentially leading to prolonged issues with healing and repair. To support itaconate’s anti inflammatory activity, shift away from UPFs toward an anti-inflammatory diet (e.g., Mediterranean, rich in vegetables, omega-3s, and fiber) to reduce inflammation, support gut health, and enhance itaconate’s immune-regulating effects.

Science:…..

Enjoy,

Dr. M

Dr. M’s SPA Newsletter Volume 15 Issue 1

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Some Key Literature Review Studies from Year 14

This is a bit of a long newsletter. That is intentional. This will be a repository for some of the best research for us to look back on from time to time this coming year to solidify the learning moving forward.

1) Time restricted eating patterns are known to help physiology and metabolism by initiating a pause in the action of mTOR and muscle synthesis as well as inducing autophagy. Autophagy is critical to the clearance of broken or damaged cells following injury or disease…..Plus a to do list and recipe of the week.

Dr. M

Dr. M’s Women and Children First Podcast #14 Repost- Richard Johnson MD – Nature Wants Us to Be Fat

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This is a repost of the most listened to podcast with Richard J. Johnson, M.D.. Dr. Johnson is the Tomas Berl Professor of Medicine and the Chief of the Renal Division and Hypertension at the University of Colorado since 2008. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, with a major in Anthropology, and a graduate of the University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, he is a physician and nephrologist whose research has focused on the role of sugar, and especially fructose, in driving obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and kidney disease. Much of this work has explored the role of fructose metabolism, especially the generation of uric acid, in driving this phenotype, and his work has included studies ranging from molecular biology, integrative physiology, and evolutionary biology. He is the author of The Sugar Fix which introduced the first low fructose diet, and also The Fat Switch which explores the role of fructose in driving the obesity epidemic. His newest book, Nature Wants Us To Be Fat, is a tour de force of the entire pathway of survival via metabolic events in the body related to fructose and the polyol pathway. This is a must read book. This podcast will introduce you to the exceptional work of Dr. Johnson and how we are now mismatched metabolically for the environment of modern America and our food systems.

Please enjoy this wide ranging conversation.

Dr. M

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