Medical Testing with Dr. DeMio for Autism Spectrum Disorders

Dr. DeMio individualizes the testing for your child or loved one’s needs. The goal is to guide and reassess biomedical treatment in autism and related disorders. Many tests are available through Dr. DeMio for your child or loved one. The major examples follow.

Toxic heavy metal tests for mercury, aluminum, lead, tungsten, arsenic, and others can be done in hair, blood, urine, and stool. This gives a global idea of what is entering the body, what is in the organs (brain, liver, muscle, and kidney), and what is being excreted. Many of our children accumulate these toxic heavy metals in the organs. Initial and follow-up testing will help to guide chelation treatment and supplement needs.

Essential minerals tests includes metals (zinc, molybdenum, manganese, vanadium, and a host of others), and also for additional nutrients such as phosphorus, boron, and sulfur. These are crucial to restoring function to the brain and other organs, and many of our children are deficient in these. These tests guide the use of supplements.

Immune testing is extremely important because many of our children suffer from immune deficiency and autoimmunity, running the gamut from mild allergy and asthma (which really are autoimmune disorders), to brain autoimmunity where the body actually inflames and attacks itself. Dr. DeMio orders testing for these and other immune disorders in Autism Spectrum to help our children obtain better brain function as well as for them to feel more energetic and to be able to fight infections. Strep and other infections can cause these immune abnormalities leading to tics, OCD, and PANDAS which Dr. DeMio also treats.

Comprehensive stool testing for yeast, parasites, malabsorption, dysbiosis, inflammation, and maldigestion are extremely important. Many of our children have low enzymes and do not absorb the food and supplements that they consume. Without treating these issues they may not benefit from the supplements and diets that you work so hard to implement. This also ties in with gastrointestinal immunity. Many of these problems resolve around fungal infections with candida. Dr. DeMio will take you through this to detect these and other germs such as toxin-producing clostridia, in order to guide treatment.

Metabolic tests in blood and urine are done to assess amino acids, antioxidants, fatty acids, B vitamins, methylation, and organic acids to name a few. As Dr. DeMio will explain, metabolism is the process by which your body turns food, air, water, and supplements into its living ongoing chemical processes for energy, proper immune function, and normal brain function.

Peptide and other urine testing is done by Dr. DeMio so that the role of food (eg. gluten and casein) and its connection with the leaky gut and autistic symptoms can be assessed. Dr. DeMio obtains this urine test as a part of dietary and metabolic assessment for your child’s treatment.

Numerous other tests for Autism Spectrum Disorders are also available through Dr. DeMio, including those for glutathione, metallothionein, and copper/iron balance.

Prevention: Dr. DeMio also does tests and treatment for family members at risk for developing Autism Spectrum Disorders (eg. siblings) and for planning a pregnancy for a healthy baby, mom, and dad.

Specialized tests from laboratories that perform tests for Autism Spectrum Disorders are available through Dr. DeMio. These include Great Plains Laboratory, Doctors Data, Metametrix, The Great Smokies Lab, Immunosciences, Immuno Labs, and others. The final decision of which tests and what labs to use is individualized for your child and loved one and is tailored to meet other needs including costs and reimbursement. Dr. DeMio makes these decisions with you so all of these needs can be met.