Is this all you need to do to recover someone from Autism?
No!! Anyone who says there is any one, single intervention will recover someone is either deluded or flat-out lying.
Also this may not even be a factor in a given individual. But the evidence is strong that it's a factor for very many.
Surely methylation support is just a tiny part of the picture?
It is - but this is NOT about methylation support.
But surely Walsh practitioners run a methylation panel?
Yes and they will help get the methylation cycle corrected but it is not the core part of the Walsh protocol: The Promoter formula is the core part. Any Walsh practitioner that doesn't move you on to the Promoter is badly, badly missing the point.
Is this chelation?
No, it certainly is not. That's not saying there is anything whatsoever wrong with chelation, but this is not chelation.
Does this deplete minerals?
No, it does not.
Is the Promoter a drug?
No, it is not. It is simply a very carefully worked-out set of amino acids; the things we make proteins from.
So, what is the Promoter?
It is simply the right amino acids, in the right ratios, that the body needs to make metal transport proteins (metallothionein). Without enough metal transport, you end up with too of the much toxic metals (which you would otherwise be transporting out, if you had enough metal transport protein) and too little essential minerals such zinc.
But why do you need to get zinc up before you can start using the Promoter formula?
Because the Promoter provides the building blocks (amino acids) to allow the body to create metal transport proteins. Metal transport proteins use a lot of zinc. The body will create metal transport proteins (because they are so vital) and use a lot of zinc when doing so. If you don't have enough zinc available you can cause a functional deficiency in other systems needing zinc. That's not because the Promoter lowers or depletes zinc. It's because the body will start to create metallothionein when given just the right set of amino acids and that will therefore suck-up a lot of zinc.
Do we need to get copper down before starting the Promoter?
No, it's only a matter of bringing zinc up.
If this is so important, why is it not more widely talked about?
I don't know! Given the overwhelming evidence, and the safety of this intervention, this fact makes me very sad and rather angry. I have to guess it is simply because people miscategorise it. Hence the above questions/answers. I have spoken with several parents who saw huge, huge gains with it.
Where can I get the Promotor?
Here https://www.brainsciencenutrition.com/products/mt-promotor
BUT! Make absolutely sure that you've raised zinc levels as mentioned below or else you will cause a functional zinc deficiency and far, far more problems!
Note: Dr Walsh's protocol is most certainly not only applicable to Autism. In fact the Pfeiffer clinic didn't even treat Autistic people for many years until a family came and insisted he test their son, when he discovered that there was a lot of cross-over with what he already treated.
Note: Also, please don't somehow think this is purely about zinc/copper balance or all about methylation. It most certainly is not. It's much, much more far-reaching than that. It's about all metal transport.
Personal update since writing this page: We started the Promoter phase but saw little for about three months. Then things started to happen. More focus, more eye contact, more sophisticated behaviours. Sure, it could be other factors. But then, due to some really unfortunate events, we ran out of Promoter. He regressed. Quite badly. Then, we restarted, and he was back again! Okay, correlation doesn't equal causation but that's enough for us to want to keep on giving the Promoter, for sure.
Note: No, I don't believe that this is the only way to recover an ASD child. It is a hugely complex condition and made up of many distinct subtypes. There are many very sound and successful intervention strategies. I just think this one is the highest one in the causal chain
What might be upstream from this problem? The gut! See this excellent review paper which links off to other studies showing metallothionein production is related to diet https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4488002/#sec4title
There are clearly very, very many factors involved in Autism but some of them are "downstream" effects of whatever went wrong and some are higher up the chain of causality.
Note: I used to say that "I strongly feel that Dr William Walsh may have discovered the highest link in that chain that we can currently affect, after the damage has happened." however I now think that the gut is upstream of this. However fixing the gut is hard to say the least and the Walsh protocol represents a way to directly fix a very severe problem. It may even be that fixing the gut doesn't correct things sufficiently to undo the damage to the metallothionein production and so this protocol may still be needed. I am just hypothesising here.
The great news is that using this protocol is not massively expensive (relatively speaking), safe and relatively easy. But, I stress relatively easy. However if you're the parent of an Autistic child you are already discovering just how relative all kinds of things are like, normalcy.
Two reasons:
Making a change here can mean that downstream problems are far easier to fix or even resolve themselves (for example poor metal transport results in toxic metals such as mercury not being cleared properly. Lack of important metals like zinc means a poor immune response). To be clear: His approach is about fixing metal transport (after addressing the easier issue of methylation problems).
It doesn't even matter if he's right about the mechanism. He himself says he's only hypothesising based on the fact that he found massive plasma zinc/copper imbalances in almost all the samples from 6,000 Autistic people, many of whom saw large developmental gains when treated. As well as clearly showing a metallothionein deficiency in a set of Autistic patients when compared to controls. He formed the hypothesis as to mechanism only after he helped many, many people get better. That alone means zinc/copper is well worth checking (and correcting) carefully in an Autistic person, using a plasma test (because it is the only accurate one). Checking the plasma zinc/copper ratio is relatively easy and if it is found to be out of balance then that situation is a very serious medical problem (as accepted by any standard Western medical system) and needs to be treated. It is strongly related to many long term problems including aggression, psychosis and Alzheimer's.
Yes. We do. Many other things are compatible and in fact I know of nothing that's not.
Here's an extremely brief outline which leaves huge parts out but gives you the bits you're likely to care about as a parent.
I want to be clear that this is so brief that it's rather like explaining what a car is to someone who's never heard of one by saying "We dig metal out of the ground and assemble it then add some refined oil which we kinda set light to and... Mercedes S-Class. Okay, got that?".
Dr Walsh has amassed what may be the single largest database of blood samples from Autistic people; over 6000 individuals.
Since he was a researcher at Argone National Laboratory (one of the US government funded National Laboratories) he had access to a literally unique tool, costing over a billion dollars, which could accurately analyse a sample to determine exactly what was in it; like metals.
He found that the vast majority of the samples from Autistic people were very low in zinc and very high in copper. That is uncontroversially a very bad situation in anyone and needs to be treated.
Over many years and many clinical observations and some clinical trials Walsh, along with the Pfeiffer Institute was able to show that the zinc/copper problem was just the most obvious metal imbalance. In fact the whole metal transport mechanism seems to no longer be functioning properly in Autistic people.
Metal transport in the human body is handled by a class of proteins called metallothioneins. In Autistic people, metallothioneins appear to no longer produced in large enough amounts (according to Walsh's findings).
Note: There is currently no reliable commercially available lab test for metallothionein levels. See below section "Is there a lab test to check the level of metallothioneins?"
So, after long experimentation it was found that by providing the amino acid building blocks of the metallothioneins, the body would start to produce them in large enough amounts to make huge symptomatic changes.
The exact amino acids, and their ratios and quantities ideally need to be worked out by a doctor on a case by case basis, from blood work and the "Promoter" (since it promotes production of metallothioneins) made up by a compounding pharmacy.
This Walsh hypothesis regarding metallothioneins fits very neatly with a couple of observations of Walsh's:
Autistic people almost always have many heavy metal toxicities, even in the absence of obvious exposure. If they cannot transport metals, this would be the result.
Autism is more prevalent in boys than girls (though to some extent this is because it tends to present differently in girls) and high testosterone levels down-regulate metallothionein activity.
You can hear much more of the story, and how it also relates to many "mental" illnesses (which appear to actually be better thought of of "simply" biological!) in this interview with Dr Walsh: https://blog.bulletproof.com/gain-control-of-your-biochemistry-with-william-j-walsh-ph-d-podcast-132/
There is an excellent book too: Nutrient Power, where Walsh lays out the details of his findings which cut across several disease states including depression and schizophrenia. In fact the link to Autism was a complete surprise to Walsh and was only uncovered when parents of an Autistic child insisted that he run his usual tests. The book is quite dense in places but the introductory chapter and then the chapter on Autism are well worth reading.
Roughly this:
Find a Walsh trained practitioner (OR go to DHA Labs directly and arrange a consult with Mensah Medical at the time you buy the DHA Labs test. Mensah works closely with Walsh but there are other practitioners at the link at the start of this point!). Many Walsh practitioners will work with you remotely (Telemedicine). We have never met our doc for example!
Arrange for blood tests for zinc/copper and a Methylation Panel as well as a urine Kryptopyrrole test (this can be done in many places but is easier in the US).
Also have an OAT (Organic Acids Test; urine) and HMA (Hair Mineral Analysis) as they can shed a lot of light on the situation (you hopefully have already done these though!)
Have the results interpreted by the Walsh practitioner who will run through this sequence (as described to me by our doc):
Treat any kryptopyrroluria and other imbalances via antioxidants, B6 and zinc (avoiding fish oils if pyrroles are high).
Ensure the correct the copper/zinc balance (zinc supplements and then retesting after a few weeks to months).
Depending on what symptoms remain, once plasma zinc is high enough: Start supplementing with the specific "promoter" formulation of amino acids.
Again, I want to stress this is certainly not just about zinc/copper or methylation! It's about all metal transport!
It should be obvious that this is complementary to other potential biomedical interventions. Many Walsh practitioners treat young and Autistic patients but many treat other conditions.
Why is the zinc so important here? Simply because the aim of the protocol is to get metallothionein production back up to normal to get metals transporting better, and metallothionein itself requires a lot of zinc within its structure. If you up-regulate metallothionein production you will draw zinc into the process and unless you have sufficient zinc reserves in your tissues you can become "functionally deficient"; you may appear to be consuming enough zinc but you won't actually have enough available. That will certainly make things much, much worse.
You will need a blood draw and a Walsh practitioner to help you interpret it and eventually order the right "Promoter" formulation.
Walsh and the Walsh Institute has trained well over 600 doctors (as of summer 2018) in this protocol.
He also directly worked with a particular lab in the USA: DHA Labs to make a specific metabolic panel to get the data needed to start treatment.
DHA Labs can also refer people to Mensah Medical who are now the main providers of Walsh protocol care in the USA. However, as mentioned, there are many other doctors who are trained in this all over the world.
The optimal range of plasma zinc is 13.8 - 22.9µmol/L (90-150µg/dl). The range used by Walsh is 90 - 130.
This page from the Nutrient Power Facebook Group (Dr Walsh wrote of a book which is the story and explanation of all he has found) has info on how to find them (we found our doc this way): https://sites.google.com/view/nutrient-power-group/walsh-practitioners
Maybe. People have done. We started that way.
But there are a couple of potential serious problems: You likely will not be able to fully get the results that a properly trained Walsh practitioner could get and, worse, you may be led to believe there is no problem after all if you don't supplement with enough zinc and B6 and therefore see no improvement.
We started on our own but saw such results from zinc supplementation (within a week, but he was 2.5 and they respond very fast at that age) that we were convinced that we needed to get a proper Walsh trained practitioner to help. In fact that has been invaluable. I know more than most people about nutrition and health (in fact our doc said she considers me what's termed an "expert patient") but there are many, many very important and maybe critical things that I simply did not know and would not have done without proper help.
But, I know full well how hard it is to consider a new treatment when you're already buckling under the strain of looking after an ASD child. It was for us.
So we just supplemented with zinc and P5P (the active form of B6) and saw results. That was the convincer we needed. Supplementing short term (like in the range of a few weeks) with zinc and B6 without testing is likely very safe so we went ahead.
However it's quite possible that some people will see no results unless the dose is pretty high. Higher than you might want to go without initial blood work to confirm zinc plasma levels. So it's possible that without testing, you won't give enough zinc and won't see a result, and therefore think this wasn't the problem.
Also, the "Promoter" (the very specific formulation of amino acids) is only available via a compounding pharmacy who works with Walsh practitioners. Although (to my current puzzlement) not everyone ends up taking the Promoter, without it I don't see how anyone is actually following "the Walsh protocol" at all.
Personally I strongly feel that the upside of finding out there's a zinc/copper (and therefore, probably all other metals) imbalance is so great that the effort involved is well worth it. Finding out in ten years time that my son actually did have this problem and realising we could have done something about it is unthinkable.
And that relates to the other serious problem: Even if you see a result and get improvements, unless you are working with a doc you may not see the full potential improvement that your child could achieve.
Firstly; I'd be wary of getting bogged down in wanting to know the mechanism here. Personally I'd love to know but if I never do, I'll still be happy if the protocol makes my son well again. I don't need to know how my phone works mechanistically to be able to use it as an amazing tool. I don't need to understand why my son has a terrible zinc/copper balance to know it needs to be fixed (it's a recognised medical problem).
I've heard Dr Walsh's thoughts on this somewhere so I'm writing this from memory. I think he may also cover it in Nutrient Power (but I've not been able to find it!):
Metallothionein proteins are actually created by genes (like all proteins).
First, despite massive research efforts to find one, there is no "Autism gene" (see https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/autism-study-reveals-no-genetic-associations/).
Yet, concordance in identical twins is about 60% whereas in non-identical twins it's about 30%; which strongly suggests it actually is genetic.
How can we reconcile those two things? Epigenetics: The study of which genes are actually turned on and active.
Epigenetics is only very recently being understood. It turns out that even if you have a gene to do something, environmental factors can turn that gene on and off, and more than that, can determine how strongly that gene is expressed (how efficiently it makes a protein).
Amazingly, it turns out that not only are genes passed down from your parents but whether they are turned on or off is also passed down: What your grandmother was exposed to determines your gene expression (this is completely uncontroversial in the scientific literature now).
Walsh's hypothesis is that some environmental trigger(s) have sensitised the genes responsible for metallothionein production to being down-regulated. In fact the triggers may well have actually affected the mother initially.
Although the genes are primed to down-regulate, some acute stressor actually triggers it. This may be an infection or the intentional immune reaction provoked by a vaccine. (I believe he said that he thought it was likely to have gut dysbiosis involvement as a priming factor but I might be putting words into his mouth).
Quite simply, there shouldn't be.
There are apparently two labs which offer it but the tests are desperately inaccurate so they are effectively useless. Dr Walsh has repeatedly asked both labs to withdraw the tests but they are clearly making too much money to do so.
An accurate lab test for metallothioneins does exist and it is usually used to test heavy metal contamination in fish. However it requires the use of radioactive mercury so it is extremely unlikely ever to be used by a normal commercial lab.
However Dr Walsh did get access to that test and managed to do a trial involving around two hundred people which did clearly show a reduced level of metallothioneins in the Autistic subjects.
At the moment, no. We have no technology at all to turn on and off gene expression in specific genes (as of 2018).
Which isn't surprising since fine-grained editing of genes has only just become available via CRISPR/Cas9 (as of a couple of years ago we can do very fine-grained editing of specific genes. Something which was never previously possible).
And since there are around one hundred different metallothionein proteins created, there are a lot of genes to target.
However, our genes are constantly being turned on and off by our environment. Literally everything from the light we are exposed to, to our food, to our state of mind has now been shown to affect gene expression. So providing our kids with the best environment we know how to provide should let all their genes be expressed in the best way they can.
And for the moment, we do at least have a way to help the metallothionein production along (the "promoter" amino acid formulation).