Is Autism a Member of a Family of Diseases Resulting from Genetic/Cultural Mismatches? Implications for Treatment and Prevention

Figure 1

The pathogenesis of epidemics of allergic, inflammatory, and autoimmune disease. Cultural mismatches with human biology (the pretherapeutic zone) have consequences that can be readily avoided (the optimal therapeutic zone). If biome depletion in particular is not avoided, the individual is left susceptible to a wide range of often complex immune-related diseases (the postoptimal therapeutic zone), sometimes associated with imbalances in metabolite transport and/or Phase I/Phase II metabolism. Other consequences such as vitamin D deficiency and uncontrolled stress may, in some but not all cases, add to the problem. Factors contributing to disease which are often naturally occurring and generally difficult or impossible to avoid are underlined and fit within the postoptimal therapeutic zone.