PLT Test Blog

  Our reader in Canada, AJ, did highlight a case series from Norway that showed that high dose Betaine/TMG was effective in improving functioning in people with autism due to creatine transporter deficiency.   The use of Betaine/TMG was really just stumbled upon and the authors considered what the beneficial possible mode of action could be.   Betaine (TMG) and Gene Therapy as potential alternatives to Bumetanide Treatment in Autism?   The effect was only present at high dose (7-10 g a day) not the much lower dose used by some DAN/MAPS doctors, who do prescribe TMG and the closely related DMG. The paper suggested that one possible effect might have been lowering chloride levels within neurons.   This is also the effect of Bumetanide. AJ suggested that Betaine/TMG might be an alternative to Bumetanide and one that does not need a prescription. Our reader Nancy reported a benefit in her adult son. The question is not whether or not high dose TMG is a useful ...

Betaine (also known as TMG, or trimethylglycine)  is a methyl derivative of glycine, first isolated from sugar beet and hence its name. Today’s post was prompted by our reader, and Covid home-school instructor, AJ.  He raised the question of whether betaine can be used like Bumetanide to normalize chloride levels in neurons. I am combing this idea with news from Genoa in Italy, where they have developed gene therapy as an alternative to Bumetanide and in their words :- “This sets the stage for the development of a gene therapy approach to overcome the shortcomings of bumetanide treatment.” The interesting thing is that neither of these ideas come from autism research.  The idea to use Betaine was stumbled upon and was then written up in a Norwegian case study about Creatine transporter deficiency.  The Italians are trying to improve cognition in brain disorders and their model of choice was Down syndrome.   As we have seen time and again, elevated chloride...

  There are so many possible autism interventions discussed in this blog, it clearly is not always easy to know their relative merit. There are so many people now diagnosed with autism it is no longer such a meaningful term.   The most extreme autism I think I will have to start calling really severe autism.   A scale of 1 to 100 would be much more helpful than the current levels 1, 2 or 3. I suppose Elon Musk and Greta are level 1. One reader did recent describe the effects of bumetanide in his child as being game changing.   I think it is an excellent description to use.   For our reader Roger, Leucovorin was a game changer. Another reader wrote to me to give an update about his three year old “After 3 months of bumetanide treatment I've seen improvement on his cognition, like, he is now able to finish an apple and take the end to the trash by himself or enter in his room, turn the lights on, take some toy, turn lights off and close the door or eat his lun...