Hulet Smith - Blog - Hulet Smith - Blog

Essential Reads To Learn How to Optimally Grow the Brain

Wed, 5 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Three Great Authors: Essential Reads for all Parents Who Wish to Promote Brain Development with their At-Risk, Autistic, Developmentally Delayed, Brain-Injured Children.

1. Dr. Bob Sears is an internationally renowned pediatrician who instructs parents on how to safely vaccinate their children:
http://www.askdrsears.com/default.asp

The Vaccine book:
http://www.amazon.com/Vaccine-Book-Decision-Parenting-Library/dp/0316017507/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1249527621&sr=1-1

2. The UltraMind Solution by Mark Hyman, MD - You need to read this book ASAP. You can grow your child's brain and change their life:
http://www.amazon.com/UltraMind-Solution-Broken-Brain-Healing/dp/1416549714/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1249527698&sr=1-1

3. What To Do About Your Brain Injured Child by: Glen Doman:
http://www.amazon.com/What-About-Your-Brain-injured-Child/dp/0757001866/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1249527739&sr=1-1

The three preceding authors have changed the way my wife and I do pediatric therapy practice. They have also changed how we feed and promote brain development in our children.

Hulet Smith, OTR/L

Omega 3, 6, and 9 Fish Oils versus Vegan Seed Omega 3 Oils: Which is better?

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Omega 3, 6, and 9 fish oils versus Vegan seed based Omega 3 oils - Which is better?

Mark Hyman, MD recommends a huge increase in Omega 3 fish oils to grow the brain. He has a New York Times bestselling book called the "Ultramind Solution: How to Fix Your Broken Brain by Healing Your Body First". I high recommend you read this book. It will dramatically enhance the way you deliver nutrition and supplements to your special needs, brain injured child. It's found on Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/UltraMind-Solution-Broken-Brain-Healing/dp/1416549714/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1245524236&sr=1-1

Megan and I are giving Sophia (and our other kids) the Shaklee Omega 3 Fish Oils and the Speech Nutrients brand fish oil. Both brands are certified to be Mercury and Toxin free. We have tremendously increased Sophia's daily Omega 3 oil intake per the recommendation of Dr. Mark Hyman.

Dr. Mark Hyman's site is at: http://www.ultramind.com/

Dr. Hymans Blog page: http://www.ultrawellness.com/blog

We give Sophia 1 Shaklee Omega Guard in the AM and 1 Shaklee Omega Guard in the PM (for a total of 666.5mg of Shaklee daily) Shaklee's Omega 3 fish oil is found at: http://www.shaklee.net/rehabmart/product/20244

Additionally, we give Sophia 1000mg of the Speech Nutrients brand Omega 3 fish Oil. http://www.speechnutrients.com/

Total Omega 3 Fatty acids that Sophia receives daily = 1666mg

We have seen good progress with Sophia taking the increased daily amounts of fish oil and adhering to a chemical free, dye free, color free, holistic food diet. Sophia is also eating more fish, mostly organic veggies and we are adding other supplements recommended by Dr. Hyman such as the B-complex vitamins and 5-HTP.

5-HTP; short for 5-hydroxy-L-tryptophan, is a nutrient that links the amino acid tryptophan to the chemical messenger serotonin. We get Tryptophan from foods such as: turkey, brown rice, milk, eggs, tree nuts, and from certain fruits. Our bodies turn 5-HTP into serotonin in the brain. Serotonin plays a large role in controlling mood, appetite, and sleep cycles. Proper levels of 5-HTP is essential for children with neurological injury and has been traditionally used to treat insomnia, migraines, fibromyalgia, attention deficit disorder, and Parkinson's disease in the Naturopathic Community.

Sophia is sleeping much more soundly when taking 5-HTP and her seperation anxiety and mood-swings have disappeared. Dr. Hyman's book will outline many other nutrients, supplements and diet/lifestyle changes that will help your child.

Does G-Therapy Make a Hypotonic Child More Hypotonic?

Thu, 14 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Does g-therapy make a hypotonic (low muscle tone) child more hypotonic.

In the 150 cases (children) I have completed case studies on, I have not heard of a single case where a hypotonic child became increasingly hypotonic.

If G-therapy does what Dr. Oswal believes it does in 70% of the cases, then a patient should experience some normalization of tone throughout the body. We would expect the majority of children receiving the therapy to experience a decrease in hypertonic tone in the extremities and an increase with tonal stabilization in the hypotonic trunk.

Why is this? Well ... Dr. Oswal believes that g-therapy increases neuronal excitability at the neurotransmitter level and that "it has the potential to work as a neuronal growth factor" at the neurotransmitter level. Examples of common neurotransmitters are dopamine, acetylcholine, epinephrine and serotonin. I am not saying that g-therapy is proven to be a nerve growth agent ... I am just quoting what Dr. Oswal has theorized. If his theory holds true that g-therapy assists the brain in growing and organizing its neuronal pathways, then resultantly we would see evidence of a brain which is healing and organizing itself. Hypertonic tone would normalize to some degree and hypotonic tone would also normalize to some degree. Progression from dysfunction to function is always what occurs when the body begins to heal itself or repair damaged brain tissue. The brain pathways begin to move from a state of dysfunction (disorganization) to a position of improving function (improved neurological organization).

Ultimately, I am just hypothesizing here based on case study evidence that I have collected. More extensive scientific research is needed to either validate or disprove the efficacy of g-therapy. Fortunately for patients taking the homeopathic g-therapy, there have been minimal reported side effects. Worst case scenario, no harm is done and Dr. Oswal believes about 70% of the patients display some degree of neurological progress.

Should I Follow a Vegetarian Diet When My Child is Taking G-Therapy?

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Dr. Oswal, creator of the homeopathic g-therapy medicine www.g-therapy.org recommends that children avoid all meats and to adhere to a strict vegetarian diet while the child is on g-therapy. My daughter Sophia is taking g-therapy and our family tried for a limited period to adhere to a completely vegetarian diet. However, we found that we were not culturally suited to follow a strict vegetarian lifestyle. So, we compromised and eliminated most meats while Sophia is taking her g-therapy supplements. My wife Megan only cooks meats about three nights a week and we recently started making better meat choices by chossing ground-turkey, salmon, and chicken for meals where we have meat. We have a vegetarian breakfast and lunch that focuses on whole foods, grains, berries, fruits, and vegetables. Dr. Oswal would prefer a 100% vege diet, but for us, this was the best we could do. We still saw remarkable developmental progress with Sophia while following a limited meat consumption diet. I will say that I've grown to enjoy our complete vegetarian dinners. Megan has acquired various vegetarian cookbooks and she now makes a great lentil casserole and creates an array of all vege dinners. Megan also juices natural fruit juices every day with our Breville Juicer. I'm a southern raised guy, and if you told me that I would be eating this healthy 5 years ago, I would have said no way! Today, I can say I'm very happy that our family has moved toward a more natural / holistic diet with limited meat intake.

Dr. Oswal instructs that artificially flavored foods should be avoided. Most processed American food products contain artificial colors, artificial flavoring and preservatives. But, you don't have to eat this way anymore. The Feingold Association http://www.Feingold.org/ teaches people how to buy food that is 100% color free, dye free, chemical free, and preservative free. Better choice processed foods are available in your local supermarket, one just has to learn how to read labels and learn how to locate the right foods, right brands, etc. Our family has been a practicing "Feingold Family" for the last 4 years. Once you start living this way, you will never go back to your former dietary habits. The goal is to move toward a more comprehensive whole foods diet while consuming less processed foods. Natural, organic whole fruits, vegetables and grains now dominate our dietary intake.

Once you get use to eating this way, it's no big deal. The Feingold Association will guide you on how to implement the lifestyle changes. This stuff is simple. For example, you can't have Doritos, it has tons of artificial stuff, but Tostitos are completely natural with no preservatives. We still eat potato chips, but we don't eat the flavored chips, we have the Lay's Natural Sea Salt Potato Chips. Feingold will guide you on which brands to buy. The Feingold Association has essentially become the Consumer Reports of the food industry for families who want to eliminate preservatives and artificial stuff in their diets.

About: Hulet Smith, OT

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Hulet Smith, OTR/L, HC/MBA is the founding partner of the Special Need Discovery Center. http://www.specialneedsdiscoverycenter.com He and his wife, Megan Smith, PT operate a holistic pediatric Occupational & Physical Therapy practice that specializes in designing dynamic educational, sensory based, nutritionally well-rounded, intensive rehabilitation programs where parents are empowered to be the primary facilitators of change in life of their special need's child. Hulet spends several days each month performing single-day Discovery Consultations with parents of brain injured children. "My objective is to empower parents to be the primary facilitators of change in their child's life. I strive to connect parents with the tools and techniques which optimally affect neurological recovery, brain growth and developmental wellness in the life of their special needs child".

The Discovery Consultation guides families in the process of learning how to use whole organic foods and targeted nutritional supplements as a foundation of the rehabilitation program for the special needs child. Potent, powerful, and pure nutritional supplements are used to promote optimal health and wellness in the life of the children living with cerebral palsy (CP), Brain Injury, Autism, Down Syndrome and other developmental disabilities. We explore the most promising current treatment modalities from homeopathic medicines and hyperbaric oxygen therapy to suit therapy to stem cell therapies and then design home based, parent directed, intensive rehabilitation program which focuses on best practice interventions designed to meet the unique needs of each child. The final objective is to give parents the confidence to use their time and resources on interventions which deliver optimal return on time and resource investment for their child.

Hulet and Megan met at a rehabilitation hospital in Texarkana, Texas in 1996 where Megan was completing her physical therapy internship. They were married in October of 2000 and have four children: Sophia, Olivia, Ava and Warren.

"Our eldest daughter, Sophia was born in April of 2002. She has diagnoses of hydrocephaly, cerebral palsy, and cortical vision impairment. Sophia has made remarkable ongoing progress using organic nutritional supplements, herbs, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, suit therapy and an intensive daily sensory diet which we established for her under the guidance of Glen Doman, founder of the Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential and an expert in maximizing potential in brain injured children. With Sophia, we focus on stimulating her brain in order to help it become more organized. I believe Sophia has made amazing developmental progress because her mother and I have worked intensively with her. I perform Discovery Consultations with families because I have a passion for sharing the possibilities we have uncovered."

As of January 2009, Sophia is enrolled in a regular 1st grade public school program. She is learning to read and write and is doing well with her studies. She is doing well in school and is walking without use of her walker for short distances of up to 500 meters. Sophia's developmental progress is explained in detail in other blog postings.

In April of 2007 Hulet traveled to Pune India to explore the G-therapy homeopathic medicine for special needs children. http://www.g-therapy.org Hulet wrote articles and performed case studies on patients receiving G-therapy. The G-Therapy article is found at: http://www.huletsmith.com/?filename=gtherapy-a-promising-homeopathic-therapy-from-india

The site for the therapy practice: Special Needs Discovery Center is found online at: http://www.specialneedsdiscoverycenter.com

Additionally, Hulet is the co-founder and operational partner for Rehabmart, LLC found online at http://www.rehabmart.com. In April of 2008, Hulet co-founded CPdiscovery which is hosted at http://www.cpdiscovery.com. CPdiscovery is a place where parents of brain injured children can experience community and discover breakthrough interventions, current research, and best practice treatment approaches in the field of Cerebral Palsy / Brain Injury intervention. Hulet is a 1993 graduate of the Medical College of Georgia Occupational Therapy program and a 2003 graduate of Brenau University where he earned a Master's degree in Healthcare Business Administration. He is a member of the American Occupational Therapy Association, the Georgia Occupational Therapy Association, and the International Association of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy. Megan is a member of the American Physical Therapy Association.

G-Therapy: A Promising Homeopathic Therapy from India for Cerebral Palsy & Developmental Disability

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Originally Posted: April 2007 by: Hulet Smith, OTR/L

In April of 2007, I traveled to Pune, India to meet with Dr. Gunvant Oswal and observe the effects of G-Therapy (Gunvant-Therapy) www.g-therapy.org , a pioneering treatment for neurological disorders. G-therapy is a homeopathic supplement made from a unique combination of herbals extracts in potentiated (homeopathic) form. The extracts are administered in small tablets known as "biochemical tissue salts" and are also referred to as "biochemic cell salts."

Dr. Oswal is the Founder and Director of the Center for Life Sciences, Health, & Medicine in Pune, India. He works collaboratively with his daughter [Dr. Pooja Upasani] and son in law [Dr. Shreerang Upasani], both have bachelor's degrees in Homoeopathic Medicine from Pune University. Dr. Oswal is an Integrated Medical Graduate BAM&S from the University of Pune.

An Invitation to Visit
I contacted Dr.Oswal in November of 2006, when a mother of one of my patients came across the G-Therapy.org website. I joined the Yahoo G-Therapy International Group and started speaking with parents online from the U.K. and from other parts of the world. I became intrigued by some amazing progress reports of children taking G-Therapy and wanted to learn more about it. In my private practice, I have many patients who are interested in doing more herbal and alternative therapies. Since it's not possible for everyone to travel to India to be evaluated for G-therapy, I thought I could meet with Dr.Oswal, examine his therapy, and possibly become a liaison between Dr. Oswal and patients who would like to obtain the therapy.

Dr. Oswal generously shard his knowledge via phone and email and invited me to visit his Center to observe a sampling of his patients. He sent me various videos and newspaper articles from his trips to the England along with television interviews that aired on a local London news channel. Dr. Oswal is a very humble man, focusing on treating children with brain injury in India. There's not a lot of private therapy there. Parents in India rely extensively on herbal therapies and use home-based sensory integration programs. I found the parents at the Center very eager to learn interventions, which enable them to carry out specific developmental programs for their children.

I also had a very personal reason for making the trip. My five-year-old daughter, Sophia has cerebral palsy and has made remarkable ongoing progress using organic nutritional supplements, herbs, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, suit therapy and an intensive daily sensory diet which we established for her under the guidance of Glen Doman, founder of the Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential and an expert in maximizing potential in brain injured children. With Sophia, we focus on stimulating her brain in order to help it become more organized. I believe Sophia has made amazing developmental progress because her mother and I have worked intensively with her.

Today, Sophia is 100 percent medication free and has progressed from a blind, profoundly brain injured child, to a brilliant little girl who reads sight words, is learning to write letters, and has the vocabulary of an 8 year old. Her mother and I have dedicated our lives to helping Sophia achieve all that she can be and to exploring ways to unlock her full potential. Dr. Oswal's invitation to visit and collaborate at his Center for Life Sciences was an opportunity that I just couldn't pass up.

Observable Results
Over a six-day period in April 2007, I reviewed and observed around 100 patients with a variety of diagnoses and recorded my observations at the end of each 12- hour day. My case study results can be found on Yahoo G-therapy Health Groups at http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/g-therapy/ .

The patients I saw ranged in age from one to 22 years; however, Dr. Oswal has treated patients as young as three days old with G-Therapy. All age groups appear to have responded positively to G-Therapy. The typical sustained treatment duration range was a period of two to eight years, but some children have continued the treatment for more than 10 years because they are showing ongoing and continuous progress with motor and cognitive functioning.

From random sampling of 100 patients that I assessed during my stay at Dr. Oswal's center, I estimate that 20 percent of the children appear to have made significant functional gains, 40 percent have made moderate functional gains, and 20 percent have made marginal gains, with the remaining 20 percent having just trace or no improvements in the functional life performance areas of motor, cognition, social, and verbal communication skills. None of the patients or parents reported any side effects or adverse reactions attributed to G-Therapy.

How Does It Work?
According to Dr. Oswal, "G-Therapy medication was developed over 25 years through research in Ayurveda and Homeopathy and when taken stimulates neurotransmitters and acts as a nerve growth factor. The body salts bring about the necessary changes in neurotransmission while the herbal extracts act as a catalyst". The degree of improvements, however, depends upon the brain damage and patient response. Explains Dr. Oswal, "A unique combination of herbal extracts in potentised form and biochemical tissue salts are prescribed all together or, in certain cases, as individual components."

"G-therapy has shown remarkable improvements in the motor and higher cortical functions of the brain in over 10,000 cases with a success rate of minimum 70 percent," Dr. Oswal explained. "The results have been scientifically well-documented by independent medical professionals. The improvements in patients, and parents' and medical experts' opinions, before and after treatment, are video-recorded and documented. There is also significant objective evidence of the efficacy of G-therapy in the form of improvements observed in nerve conduction velocity studies in cases of chronic degenerative or demyelinating neuropathies." Dr. Oswal is currently collaborating with neuroscientist, Dr. Pali Jeno from Hungary: they will be studying G-Therapy's effect on neuronal regeneration.

Dr. Oswal is the first to acknowledge that no one understands the exact mechanisms behind G-Therapy. "It is seen that a wide range of pathologies and physical and cognitive disorders are helped by G-therapy," he noted. G-Therapy has been implemented in patients with a variety of diagnoses that include all types of cerebral palsy, congenital brain anomalies, hydrocephalus, ADHD, kernicterus, metabolic disorders with neurological complications, strokes, learning disabilities, intellectual disabilities, Down syndrome, Asperger's syndrome, autism spectrum disorder, and many other forms of developmental disabilities.

My experience in India substantiated Dr. Oswal's thinking. The anecdotal clinical evidence that I observed during my time at the Center supports the hypothesis that Dr.Oswal's therapy optimizes the brains ability to stimulate branching and myelination of the axons/dendrites of the neuron. G-Therapy also clinically appears to have the potential to regenerate the axon and stimulate excitability in the neurotransmitters, resulting in the creation of more organized neurotransmission pathways. The clinical manifestation of the neuronal myelination is evident through my observations of improved fine/gross motor function, the gaining of the developmental milestones, improved cognition, improved behavior, improved language, improved circulation, improved bladder/bowel control, and improved self-care skills in the neurologically-impaired child and adolescent.

Dr. Oswal explained that the degree of improvement in any given case cannot be predicted, and depends in part on the degree of initial disability. "G-therapy does not claim that it can make every spastic walk and the mentally retarded to achieve normal IQ," he said. "It should also be noted that there is a definite number of patients who fail to respond positively to G-therapy. [However] G-therapy has shown persistent results...and it is up to the developed countries with modern amenities and electrophysiological studies available, to think, to test, and to verify the efficacy of G-therapy, so it can be made available to all the needy individuals."

Supporting Families
This entire experience has strengthened my commitment to the families I serve. My visit with Dr. Oswal heightened my passion for intervening with children who are severely impaired and coaching their parents to make the difference in their lives. My pediatric therapy practice has a contract with Babies Can't Wait, the early intervention program in Georgia. We serve many of the neurologically impaired children in our region of northeast Georgia, and my message to parents is that we can be your coach and teach you to do the same interventions for your babies that we do as therapists. For those families who have the desire, I assist them with creating a frequent and intense daily sensory stimulation program, which provides structured input at the developmentally appropriate level. The foundation of the home program includes making the floor a way of life. Children should be on the floor in prone as much as possible with parents and caregivers providing range of motion (patterning), visual stimulation, vestibular stimulation, auditory stimulation, or reading to the child. Not everyone has the financial resources for elaborate equipment or supplies, but everyone can carry out these measures once they are properly instructed.

My passion is to assist families in creating a stimulating environment for children using superb natural foods and appropriate nutritional supplements. I recommend that caregivers read child brain development books by Doman, Ayers, and others, and for children with autism spectrum, we support parents and provide resources on nutritional interventions such as the chemical free, gluten free, and casein free diet. A great place to start is at www.feingold.org and at www.gfcfdiet.com.

My job is to coach and guide families in this process of discovery so that we connect children with good food, nutritional supplements, and other interventions, which are specifically targeted to their diagnostic and developmental needs. It's important to encourage all families to provide their child with daily tummy time, frequent targeted sensory stimulation, and helpful nutritional measures, which strengthen the immune system. I feel that occupational therapy has not always considered optimized nutrition as an essential component of the rehabilitation program. Fortunately, for our children who are neurologically impaired, our country is starting to look for more balance with the introduction of these healthy lifestyle choices.

The G-therapy homeopathic supplement gives hope, but it is not a magic pill that allows you to sit the child in the corner and wait for him to improve. The brain is a sensory organ that develops through its sensory pathways. A child with severe to profound impairment child strapped into a wheelchair won't grow and develop unless we offer appropriate sensory integration techniques targeted at the level the child has attained to this point. More children who are severely impaired need to be stimulated frequently and intensely throughout their waking day. We can't expect everything to happen in a 45-minute a week therapy session.

G Therapy Availability and the Pharmaceutical Industry
It has been several months since my visit to India, and I am continuing to work with Dr. Oswal. He has asked me to serve as a liaison between him and U.S. companies or individuals who are interested in studying the efficacy of his homeopathic medicine. Dr. Oswal believes that "it would be a great service to humanity if G-Therapy could reach the many thousands of patients worldwide through a partnership with an established pharmaceutical company." He wants to "think, to test, and to verify the efficacy of G-therapy, so it can be made available to all the needy individuals". Any persons interested in this mission are encouraged to contact either Dr. Oswal or me.

Sophia's Progress on G-Therapy
On a personal note, my daughter, Sophia, began the G-Therapy treatment on April 9th 2007. Sophia has made remarkable progress on G-Therapy. She started walking independently over the last few months and displays much improved gross motor planning and control. She has become confident and gravitationally secure in the standing position and now prefers to walk independently without the use of her walker. Five months ago, creeping on all fours was Sophia's primary means of indoor locomotion. Sophia now ambulates everywhere, both indoors and outdoors, and she can walk distances of up to 100 yards unassisted. Sophia's legs and lower body movements are moving more fluidly, and her muscle tone is much softer. She just began a regular education public kindergarten program in August 2007. She is getting along well at school and is on par with her peers. My wife, Megan, and I are so grateful to Dr. Oswal for his work with children with brain injury and for the gains that we have seen with Sophia while taking the G-Therapy supplement.

Conclusion
On my last day with Dr. Oswal in India, we took a walk around the colorful tropical garden at his Center and he made a comment that left a lasting impression with me. He concluded: "Even the ant is a big teacher for us. Each organism is engaged in the fight to have an active, purposeful, and meaningful life. The past is gone, the future is unknown, but in the moment, we can create potential in every child so they may have a brighter future. So, whatever you observe, just simply take it in and do what is right."