Page 9 - Spring2018

Letters

a gluten-free diet often have really high was smart enough to look in my son’s more tics and behaviors when kids are
arsenic levels from their rice intake, but mouth based on the fact that he had a losing their teeth and the prime age that
we weren’t heavy rice consumers. Soon swollen lymph node on the side with the kids lose their teeth is correlated with
after he started having pronounced painful neck. He told me that my boy the onset of PANDAS. I am left grate-
tics (motor and vocal) including loud had a severely infected root canal and ful beyond belief and curious about the
barking. Things got worse; my school- that was the source of the inflammation. relationship between inflammation in
loving kid became school-phobic, had We had just gone to the pediatric dentist the mouth as a trigger for tics.
never-ending sinusitis (for a year), had a few months prior and they said his x- I am a special education teacher by
intense neck pain, developed large, dark rays looked fine. The next day, within training and PANDAS is a very trou-
circles under his eyes, stopped eating ten minutes of our second opinion ap- bling rising epidemic. I have to wonder
most foods and became super picky pointment with my dentist, my son’s how many kids actually have this from
about clothing textures, food, touch- diagnostic x-ray showed a large and infected root canals. The pediatric
ing—everything sensory. Kisses were severe abscess under the root canal that dentist we went to gives them to very
like punches to him, and he was rarely he had at age two and one-half (yes, we young kids all the time. Can you help
happy. do brush well). My dentist said he had me get out our story in some way?
We saw lots of therapists, naturo- probably had this infection for at least Lendri Purcell, VP
paths, Kaiser MDs and so many other six months and probably longer. Appar- Jonas Philanthropies
specialists. After reading some infor- ently, there is a really high fail rate for Petaluma, California
mation on your site, I insisted that he root canals in kids, especially in young
be tested for strep and, sure enough, kids, and it’s not good practice to give NO REASON FOR
although he had no symptoms, he and root canals to kids and hasn’t been for a A SOY HEART HEALTH CLAIM
his brother (the carrier) had strep. We while. My dentist took out the infected To WAPF members, I thought you
treated the strep, and the tics and behav- tooth on the spot. The roots were all would be interested in the comments I
iors improved a bit. We started to treat decayed and mostly had eroded away. submitted regarding FDA’s proposal to
his leaky gut by avoiding certain foods, Within three days, the year of mucous rescind the soy heart health claim:
using supplements and lots of bone had ended and my kid could breathe As a nutrition professional and
broth and gelatin (Great Lakes makes through his nose (he had a big scar researcher, I know that soy is not heart
third party-tested products for this) and under his nose from blowing so often). healthy and not healthy for any purpose.
we were seeing more improvements. Within a week the circles had faded The claim was based on faulty studies
The trouble was that the sinusitis kept dramatically, and within a week and a which are old and out of date. Conse-
coming back and that would trigger half the tics had vanished. quentially the food chain was flooded
more tics and odd behaviors. A year later my kid is happy, with GMO soybean oil (including soy-
The diagnosis was PANDAS— Pe- healthy and thriving with no symptoms bean oil in infant formula).
diatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric and we are still on the low-gluten and There is a direct correlation be-
Disorders Associated with Streptococ- low-dairy diet with a few supplements tween soybean oil and obesity. Refined
cal Infections. A PANDAS specialist, and no need for specialists! My son has soybean oil is not a natural product but
Amy Joy Smith (she does phone con- had two very short episodes of tics since the result of heat and hexane, a seri-
sults and is amazing) recommended then (a few days) and both happened ous toxin. Soybean oil is a use for the
lots of supplements and local specialists right before his front teeth fell out. After mountains of soybeans that the Farm
including a chiropractor who she said giving him Motrin for the inflamma- Bill supported in every farmer’s field.
“saved her son’s life.” After so many tion, the tics seemed to subside. Farmers knew back to the 1940s that
specialists, a PANDAS diagnosis and It is interesting because on the the way to fatten up the livestock was
trying a ton of therapies, Larry Gold- PANDAS Facebook support pages, to give them soy products. Obesity is a
smith, DC, in Sebastopol, California parents often write about seeing many risk factor in heart disease. Phytates in

SPRING 2018 Wise Traditions 7