Slide 27:
I want to present a boy who came to me here earlier this year. It
represents a very critical story. This child was normal until 2 years of age. He received
a diagnosis of autism in 1978 at about 3 years of age and, thankfully, recovered by about
8 years of age. Then in early 1993/1994 he started going through a group of symptoms again
where he was having eye pain, photophobia, fatigue, difficulty swallowing, trouble with
memory focus, dilated pupils. His MRI was normal. He received various labels of
demylinating disorders, MS, encephalopathy, Aspergers.
But, the key here, and this has become a very frustrating part of all
this, is if you ask a physician what can cause photophobia. Many of your children have
eye/light sensitivity. Many of these adults with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome when they become
ill develop a light sensitivity. I was taught in my medical training that photophobia was
a classic symptom of viral infections of the brain. It turns out, and I’ve done some
asking since then, that there are some eye diseases that can cause photophobia. Viruses in
the brain can cause photophobia. Swelling of the brain can cause photophobia. But not much
else that anybody can give me an answer on.
