Methods of treating pervasive development disorders

Abstract

A method of utilizing the chymotrypsin level of an individual as a measure of the success of secretin, other neuropeptides, and peptides or digestive enzyme administration to such individuals, and in particular, as a prognosticative of potential secretin, other neuropeptides, peptides, and digestive enzyme administration for persons having ADD, ADHD, Autism and other PDD related disorders. In one aspect, a method for determining the efficacy of secretin, other neuropeptides, peptides, or digestive enzymes for the treatment of an individual diagnosed with a pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) comprises obtaining a sample of feces from an individual, determining a quantitative level of chymotrypsin present in the sample, and correlating the quantitative level of chymotrypsin determined to be present in the sample with the PDD to determine the efficacy of treating the individual with secretin, other neuropeptides, peptides, or digestive enzyme administration. In another aspect, a therapeutic method for treating an individual diagnosed with a PDD pervasive developmental disorder comprises determining the efficacy of secretin, other neuropeptides, peptides, and digestive enzyme administration for the treatment of the individual based on a measure of the individual's chymotrypsin level, and administering secretin, other neuropeptides, peptides, or digestive enzymes to the individual based on the determination of the measure of the individual's chymotrypsin level.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A prognosticative method for determining the effectiveness of secretin administration for the treatment of an individual diagnosed with a pervasive development disorder (PDD), comprising the steps of: 
 obtaining a sample of feces from an individual;    determining a quantitative level of chymotrypsin present in the sample; and    correlating the quantitative level of chymotrypsin determined to be present in the sample with the PDD to determine the efficacy of treating the individual with secretin administration.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of correlating comprises comparing the quantitative level of chymotrypsin present in the sample with at least one threshold chymotrypsin level to determine the efficacy of secretin administration to the individual.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the at least one threshold chymotrypsin level is based on a level of chymotrypsin associated with individuals of the same approximate age that are not diagnosed as having the PDD.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of determining a quantitative level of chymotrypsin is performed by an enzymatic photospectrophotometry analysis.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the PDD is autism, ADD (attention deficit disorder), ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) or Aspergers.  
     
     
         6 . A therapeutic method for treating an individual diagnosed with a pervasive development disorder (PDD), comprising the steps of: 
 determining the efficacy of secretin administration for the treatment of the individual based on a measure of the individual's chymotrypsin level; and    administering secretin therapy to the individual based on the determination of the measure of the individuals chymotrypsin level.    
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the step of determining the efficacy of secretin administration comprises the steps of: 
 obtaining a sample of feces from the individual;    determining a quantitative level of chymotrypsin present in the sample; and    correlating the quantitative level of chymotrypsin determined to be present in the sample with the PDD to determine the efficacy of treating the individual with secretin administration.    
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the step of correlating comprises comparing the quantitative level of chymotrypsin present in the sample with at least one threshold chymotrypsin level to determine the efficacy of secretin administration to the individual.  
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the at least one threshold chymotrypsin level is based on a level of chymotrypsin associated with individuals that are not diagnosed as having the PDD.  
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the at least one threshold chymotrypsin level is 8.4 U/gm.  
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the at least one threshold chymotrypsin level is 4.2 U/gm.  
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the step of determining a quantitative level of chymotrypsin is performed by an enzymatic photospectrophotometry analysis.  
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the PDD is autism, ADD (attention deficit disorder), ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) or Aspergers.  
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the step of administering secretin therapy to the individual comprises the steps of: 
 administering a therapeutic dose of secretin to the individual at each of a first time interval; and    measuring the individuals chymotrypsin level at each of a predetermined second time interval.    
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the first time interval is 6 weeks and the therapeutic dose is 1 U/kg.  
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising the steps of testing the individual pre-secretin administration and post secretin administration to determine if the PDD has improved.  
     
     
         17 . A therapeutic method of treating an individual diagnosed with a pervasive developmental disorder (PDD), comprising of the steps of: 
 determining the efficacy of digestive enzyme administration for the treatment of the individual based on a measure of the individual's chymotrypsin level; and    administering digestive enzyme therapy to the individual based on the determination of the measure of the individual's chymotrypsin level.    
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the PDD is autism, attention deficit disorder (ADD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or aspergers.  
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the step of determining the efficacy of digestive enzyme administration comprises the steps of: 
 obtaining a sample of feces from the individual;    determining a quantitative level of chymotrypsin present in the sample; and    correlating the quantitative level of chymotrypsin determined to be present in the sample with the PDD to determine the efficacy of treating the individual with digestive enzymes.    
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the step of correlating comprises comparing the quantitative level of chymotrypsin present in the sample with at least one threshold chymotrypsin level to determine the efficacy of digestive enzyme administration to the individual.  
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the at least one threshold chymotrypsin level is 8.4 U/gm.  
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the at least one threshold chymotrypsin level is 4.2 U/gm.  
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the step of administering digestive enzymes to the individual comprises the steps of: 
 administering a therapeutic dose of digestive enzymes at each meal; and    measuring the individual's chymotrypsin level at each of a predetermined first interval.    
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23 , further comprising the steps of testing the individual pre-digestive enzyme administration and post-digestive enzyme administration to determine if the PDD has improved.