Ethan appeared to be a very healthy baby at first. Aside from a little baby acne and some toenails that looked a little misshapen, all seemed well with him.
Adverse Reaction to Typical Pediatric Medical Intervention
When he was four months old he had a bad reaction to a typical pediatric medical intervention, and his doctors recommended that he no longer receive this type of intervention. He developed chronic constipation, chronic sinus congestion, and snoring that was later diagnosed as sleep apnea.
The pediatrician recommended that he go on Zyrtec daily, but his mother felt more comfortable with giving him children’s Benadryl instead. He lived on Benadryl for years and his symptoms did not improve. New symptoms developed. His constipation got so severe, that he would only go once every five days or so, and his stools became smelly and loose when he did go.
At age five, he was diagnosed with asthma, allergies, and sleep apnea. He began treatments with Pulmicort, prednisone, and albuterol. The pediatrician also suggested that he begin Singulair, but his mother refused because she had heard reports of children developing suicidal behaviors on Singulair. His last major asthma attack was so severe that the doctor told Ethan’s mother it would take six months for his lungs to recover and heal. “Treat it like a broken bone”, he said. This was the last straw for Ethan’s mother.
Healing from Asthma, Allergies and Sleep Apnea
She looked into alternative ways to treat her son’s asthma, allergies and sleep apnea. She changed his diet when he was six years old, taking out wheat, diary, eggs, and corn, foods that an IgG food sensitivity test indicated were potentially inflammatory for Ethan.
At this point, Ethan started a gut-healing protocol developed by Russell Mariani, a nutrition counselor in Hadley, Massachusetts. Ethan also received allergy elimination treatments, both NAET and BioSET, and started to eat a more traditional diet, like that advocated by the Weston A. Price Foundation.
Six months after the diet changes and beginning the allergy elimination and gut healing, Ethan’s asthma and allergies disappeared and never returned. He has experienced healing from asthma, allergies and sleep apnea. He now has daily bowel movements, eats all of the foods he once eliminated from his diet, and is a talented soccer and lacrosse player.
Still Looking for Answers?
Visit the Epidemic Answers Practitioner Directory to find a practitioner near you.
Join us inside our online membership community for parents, Healing Together, where you’ll find even more healing resources, expert guidance, and a community to support you every step of your child’s healing journey.
Sources & References
American Lung Association. The Impact of Asthma. Accessed 2 Sep 2020.
Azad, Meghan B., et al. Perinatal Programming of Asthma: The Role of Gut Microbiota. Clin Dev Immunol. 2012; 2012: 932072.
Brown, S.D., et al. Airway TGFbeta1 and oxidant stress in children with severe asthma: association with airflow limitation. Allergy Clin Immunol. 2012;129(2):388-96, 96 e1-8.
Bunyavanich, S., et al. Systems biology of asthma and allergic diseases: a multiscale approach. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2015;135(1):31-42.
Bussi, M.T., et al. Is ankyloglossia associated with obstructive sleep apnea? Braz J Otorhinolaryngol. 2021 Nov 5;S1808-8694(21)00181-6.
Chauhan, B.F., et al. Intermittent versus daily inhaled corticosteroids for persistent asthma in children and adults. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2013;2:CD009611.
Checkley, W., et al. 25-hydroxy vitamin D levels are associated with childhood asthma in a population-based study in Peru. Clin Exp Allergy. 2015 Jan;45(1):273–82.
Cortese, S., et al. Association between attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and asthma: a systematic review and meta-analysis and a Swedish population-based study. Lancet Psychiatry. 2018 Sep;5(9):717-726.
D’Auria, E., et al. Omega-3 fatty acids and asthma in children. Allergy Asthma Proc. 2014;35(3):233-40.
Della Giustina, A., et al. Vitamin D, allergies and asthma: focus on pediatric patients. World Allergy Organ J. 2014;7(1):27.
Doff, M.H., et al. Oral Appliance Versus Continuous Positive Airway Pressure in Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome: A 2-year Follow-Up. Sleep. 2013 Sep 1;36(9):1289-96.
Desai, J.R., et al. Diabetes and asthma case identification, validation, and representativeness when using electronic health data to construct registries for comparative effectiveness and epidemiologic research. Med Care. 2012;50 Suppl:S30-5.
Fabian E., et al. Nutritional supplements and plasma antioxidants in childhood asthma. Wien Klin Wochenschr. 2013;125(11-12):309-15.
Frieri, M. Asthma linked with rhinosinusitis: An extensive review. Allergy Rhinol (Providence). 2014;5(1):41-9
HGuo, C.H., et al. Nutritional supplement therapy improves oxidative stress, immune response, pulmonary function, and quality of life in allergic asthma patients: an open-label pilot study. Altern Med Rev. 2012;17(1):42-56
Hansel, T.T., et al. Microbes and mucosal immune responses in asthma. Lancet. 2013;381(9869):861-73.
Hesselbacher, S., et al. A Study to Assess the Relationship between Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Adults. Cureus. 2019 Oct 24;11(10):e5979.
Hijazi, N., et al. Diet and childhood asthma in a society in transition: A study in urban and rural Saudi Arabia. Thorax. 2000 Sep;55(9):775-9.
Huang, Y.S., et al. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder with obstructive sleep apnea: a treatment outcome study. Sleep Med. 2007 Jan;8(1):18-30.
Hvolby, A. Associations of sleep disturbance with ADHD: implications for treatment. Atten Defic Hyperact Disord. 2015 Mar;7(1):1-18.
Jolliffe, D.A., et al. “Vitamin D supplementation to prevent asthma exacerbations: a systematic review and meta-analysis of individual participant data.” Lancet Respir Med. 2017 Nov;5(11):881-890.
Kamata, S., et al. Assessment of Obstructive Apnea by Using Polysomnography and Surgical Treatment in Patients With Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome. J Pediatr Surg. 2005 Mar;40(3):E17-9.
Lang, J.E., et al. Role of biomarkers in understanding and treating children with asthma: towards personalized care. Pharmgenomics Pers Med. 2013;6:73-84.
Lessa, N., et al. Asthma and suicide-related adverse events: a review of observational studies. Eur Respir Rev. 2011;20(122):287-92.
Litonjua, A.A. Childhood asthma may be a consequence of vitamin D deficiency. Curr Opin Allergy Clin Immunol. 2009;9(3):202-7.
Ly, N.P., et al. Gut microbiota, probiotics, and vitamin D: interrelated exposures influencing allergy, asthma, and obesity? J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2011;127(5):1087-94; quiz 95-6.
Mabalirajan, U., et al. Effects of vitamin E on mitochondrial and asthma features in an experimental allergic murine model. J Appl Physiol. 2009 Oct;107(4):1285-92.
Martel, J., et al. Could nasal nitric oxide help to mitigate the severity of COVID-19? Microbes Infect. 2020 May-June; 22(4): 168–171.
Martineau, A.R., et al. Vitamin D for the management of asthma. Cochrane Library, 2016 DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD011511.pub2.
McCloud, E., et al. A medical nutrition therapy primer for childhood asthma: current and emerging perspectives. J Am Diet Assoc. 2011 Jul;111(7):1052–64.
McCormack, et al. Indoor particulate matter increases asthma morbidity in children with non-atopic and atopic asthma. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2011;106(4):308-15.
Norton, R.L., et al. Selenium and asthma. Mol Aspects Med. 2012;33(1):98-106.
Orivuori, L., et al. High level of fecal calprotectin at age 2 months as a marker of intestinal inflammation predicts atopic dermatitis and asthma by age 6. Clin Exp Allergy. 2015.
Peters, R.L., et al. Infant food allergy phenotypes and association with lung function deficits and asthma at age 6 years: a population-based, prospective cohort study in Australia. Lancet Child Adolesc Health. 2023 Jul 24;S2352-4642(23)00133-5.
Pfeffer, P.E., et al. Vitamin D influences asthmatic pathology through its action on diverse immunological pathways. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2014;11 Suppl 5:S314-21.
Propp, P., Becker, A. Prevention of asthma: where are we in the 21st century? Expert Rev Clin Immunol. 2013;9(12):1267-78.
Searing, D.A., et al. Decreased serum vitamin D levels in children with asthma are associated with increased corticosteroid use. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2010;125(5):995-1000.
Sedky, K., et al. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and sleep disordered breathing in pediatric populations: a meta-analysis. Sleep Med Rev. 2014 Aug;18(4):349-56.
Urbano, G.L., et al. The Link between Pediatric Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Children (Basel). 2021 Sep 19;8(9):824.
Vael, C., et al. Early intestinal Bacteroides fragilis colonization and development of asthma. BMC Pulmonary Medicine. 2008 Sep 26;8:19.
White, David P., et al. Mandibular Advancement Device vs. CPAP in the Treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea: Are They Equally Effective in Short Term Health Outcomes? J Clin Sleep Med. 2013 Sep 15;9(9):971-2.
Wlasiuk, G., et al. The farm effect, or: when, what and how a farming environment protects from asthma and allergic disease. Curr Opin Allergy Clin Immunol. 2012;12(5):461-6.
Xiangming, L., et al. The relationship between inflammation and neurocognitive dysfunction in obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. J Neuroinflammation. 2020 Aug 1;17(1):229.
Youssef, N.A., et al. Is obstructive sleep apnea associated with ADHD? Ann Clin Psychiatry. 2011 Aug;23(3):213-24.