There isn’t a lot of scientific research available on this subject, after all, you can’t patent Nature, so when big pharma does their research on plants it’s not published generally. When Nature is investigated by pharma, it’s for the purpose of adding chemicals to it for patent. With no compulsion to ever publish any scientific research, do you think they would release research that touts the benefits of Nature alone?
What is Autism?
Autism is a behavioural disorder associated with neurological impairment. In the world of scientific research, is a relatively young subject of study, and as such, doesn’t have a great deal of studies available for reference. This means we have to cast the research net a little wider.
There is no blood test for autism. And as yet, none of the mainstream, allopathic doctors and researchers have found a cure. However, many parents of autistic children are finding some relief from autism symptoms as attested to by many anecdotes to be found wherever there is autism chat going on. Black seed is one of those substances that those parents are talking about.
In my research, I found some VERY encouraging anecdotal stories about black seed oil helping to reduce the symptoms of autistic children. While I cannot quote the parents comments here, I can help you find them online.
I now use duckduckgo.com as my search engine because they say they don’t record your searches, but, use whichever you prefer and type in searches like ‘autism relief forum’ or ‘forum natural remedy autism’ and you will start to see what others are saying. In fact, I did do a couple of those searches and found; autismforums.com and autismweb.com/forum and topix.com/forum/health/autism and dealwithautism.com/forum.
The Research
There is some research going on with autism (listed below) but not nearly enough. This is where anecdotes come in to fill the gap. For thousands of years of anecdotal healing and learning, people are still helping people by sharing their stories with each other. Healing methods that have stood the test of time are being retold, over and over, down the line of many generations. Just because science hasn’t bothered to catch up doesn’t mean you or anyone else should miss out on the chance to heal. Remember what Dr Wakefield says, “The anecdote is where medicine begins.”
The Muslim community is very reliant on the amazing healing power of black seed oil, and this is because it’s mentioned in the herbs section of the Qu-ran as “The remedy for all ailments except death”
When I couldn’t find any direct research linking autism to black cumin, I went looking for any brain related studies. I found a few…
In a study called ‘Feeding of Nigella sativa during neonatal and juvenile growth improves learning and memory of rats’ it was found that…
“Neurodevelopmental alterations in the frontal/prefrontal cortex, striatum, and hippocampus, which are heavily involved in cognition, memory, emotion, and learning, are likely involved in the etiology of neuropsychiatric disorders like autism, substance use disorders, schizophrenia, Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease.”- REF – ‘Feeding of Nigella sativa during neonatal and juvenile growth improves learning and memory of rats’
In a review study it has been noted that “…recently emerging studies conducted with animal models suggest that thymoquinone – bearing a very simple molecular structure – significantly crosses the blood brain barrier and exerts neuromodulatory activities. Indeed, in animal studies, the following actions of thymoquinone were demonstrated;
1—Protection against ischemic brain damage.
2—Reduction of epileptic seizures and associated cerebral oxidative injury.
3—Reduction of morphine tolerance and associated oxidative brain damage.
4—Anxiolytic effects and reduction of immobility stress-associated cerebral oxidative injury.
5—Reduction of diabetes-induced cerebral oxidative stress.
6—Reduction of cerebral oxidative injuries induced by noxious exposures including toluene, lead and ionizing radiation.” – REF – ‘Thymoquinone: An edible redox-active quinone for the pharmacotherapy of neurodegenerative conditions and glial brain tumours. A short review’
“Substantial in vitro data suggest that thymoquinone may be beneficial in treatment of glial tumours. However, there is no clinical study investigating its antitumor effects. In fact, thymoquinone suppresses growth and invasion and induces apoptosis of glial tumor cells via degrading tubulins and inhibiting 20S proteasome, telomerase, autophagy, FAK and metalloproteinases. A simple and easily available agent may be a promising adjunctive treatment option in neurological and neurosurgical practice.”- REF – ‘Feeding of Nigella sativa during neonatal and juvenile growth improves learning and memory of rats’
Then There’s Encephalomyelitis
Another school of thought is that autism is inflammation of the brain, a form of encephalomyelitis. If that’s what we are looking at here then the quote below is very encouraging for the autism affected because the black seed appears to be rebuilding the myelin sheath.
“The ultrastructural examination of the “EAE” group revealed partial to complete demyelination in the medulla (Figure 4) in addition to thin and marked myelin destruction with severe myelinolysis of nerve fibers in the cerebellum (Figure 5). These changes were alleviated in N. sativa treated and protected groups. TEM micrographs of the brain areas of “EAE + N. sativa” group showed partial to complete remyelination in the medulla besides complete remyelination of most nerve fibers in the cerebellum with well-developed myelin sheath. In addition, most of the myelinated fibers in the “N. sativa + EAE” group were in a state of remyelination in the cerebellum and medulla.” REF – ‘Nigella sativa ameliorates inflammation and demyelination in the experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis-induced Wistar rats’
What Did All That Have To Do With Autism?
This could be great news for those with autism, as a possible avenue to pursue, seeing as they say they don’t know what causes it yet but it is some sort of dysfunction of the brain and the gut has been heavily implicated too.
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NN: DT
