Jake's Journey with Apraxia

After I finished last Friday’s post, I stumbled upon a possible piece to our puzzle: syndrome of allergy, apraxia, and malabsorption.

In the July/August 2009 issue of Alternative Therapies in Health & Medicine, study was performed by Children’s Hospital & Research Center on 200 children who had been diagnosed with verbal apraxia. Although the study suggests that apraxic children can be sensitive/allergic to gluten and have other nutritional deficiencies, it also suggested that the disorder could be the result of an omega-3 or vitamin E deficiency, which could be improved with supplementation.

After visiting Wikipedia and other online articles, I clarified a few questions that I had. Approximately 60 percent of the brain is made up of lipids, which are made of fatty acids that help in brain development and appear to support cognitive functioning and memory. Omega-3 fatty acids include all of those letters we’ve heard so much hype about from the past few years – DHA, EPA, ALA – and your body can’t produce its own; you must get them from your diet. Oily fish like salmon, herring, and mackerel have the highest levels of omega-3 in them.

We’ve all heard of fish oil supplements, but to be on the safe side, Jake’s allergist said he shouldn’t take them. Technically, people are allergic to the protein in fish, not the oil, but a lot of trust would have to be placed in the manufacturer to ensure that the processing of the oil was done correctly. So, how else can he get omega-3? Although in smaller quantities, it is found in eggs, lean red meat, and turkey. Plant sources in order from highest to lowest % of ALA include: flaxseed, hempseed, Persian walnuts, pecans, and hazel nuts.

What about vitamin E? There are two forms of this vitamin available: the natural form – d-alpha tocopherol and the synthetic form – di-alpha tocopherol. From what I’ve been told, the natural form, although more expensive, is the best. Vitamin E can be found in the following foods, again in order from highest amounts to lowest: wheat germ oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil, almonds, palm oil, spinach, turnips, avocados, asparagus, kiwi, brocoli, pumpkin, sweet potato, and tomato.