Kathy Paine - Bio

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Kathy Paine received her Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1985.  She worked for 5 years as a synthetic organic chemist at Albright & Wilson, Ltd., and then as an analytical chemist at Reynolds Metals company and other companies in the Richmond area for ~5 years while she was in graduate school.  She has been a chemistry teacher for high school and college age students at VCU and J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College.  Ms. Paine received her doctorate in Physical Chemistry from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2001.  She completed her post-doctoral work at Philip Morris USA (not yet ALTRIA) in 2004.  She has published work from grad school and patents pending from her work at Philip Morris.

In 2005, Kathy gave birth to her only child, Julia, who was diagnosed with ASD and HME (a rare bone disorder) in 2008.  She actively pursued treatment options, with her mother, to mediate both these disorders.  This became Kathy’s new area of scientific research, and her years of training as a Ph.D. chemist allowed her to read research papers and understand and use nutrigenomics (nutrients + genome) to treat autism spectrum and other metabolic disorders.  Kathy was not content to invest in therapies that would only help Julia cope with her confusing world, but rather, to actively change her biochemistry or neurochemistry to mitigate these disorders.  A study into the genetics of HME (hereditary multiple exostosis) and the biomedical intervention of autism was coupled together to provide research on oral supplements that would not cause a greater expression of the bone disorder, but would be effective enough to help Julia catch up with her neurotypical peers.

HME is not merely a metabolic disorder but instead is a genetic mutation of the EXT 1 or 2 gene which prevents the correct chain length of heparan sulfate (HS) from being formed, in some parts of the body. HS is a key polysaccharide (sugar polymer) that not only governs bone growth but is present in the membrane of every cell in the body. It is the biochemical needed to form myelin, the fatty sheath that surrounds nerves and it lines the intestines, the site of most of the immune function in the human body.  Delays in forming myelin and the HS layer in the intestines leads to developmental delay and neurotransmitter disruption from gut dysbiosis.  These in turn lead to the decline in nervous system function and the onset of autistic symptoms.  Because of these events and that the EXT1 gene also expresses in the brain, it became clear to Kathy  that, for Julia, these two disorders were connected and they have interaction with each other.  In addition to the numerous polymorphisms, which are less efficient genetic modifications of key enzymes in her metabolic cycles, the HME made autism in Julia a certainty.  There was no way she could escape it. 

Through nutrigenomics and sound therapy,  Dr. Kathy has made significant progress in helping Julia become a future wage earning, contributing member of society.  And she feels that she has made a significant improvement in Julia’s HME.  The bone tumors  have remodeled and are reducing in size and time will tell   (especially when puberty comes), whether these approaches are holding well against this disfiguring disorder.

MANY AUTISTIC CHILDREN HAVE CONCURRENT GENETIC DISORDERS.  Through our analysis of the metabolic cycles and research into  your child’s genetic mutations, our new clinic will work to make sure that the concurrent genetic problems will not be magnified.  We will help you find the latest research being done on the parent disorder because the autism mayl be entangled with it.  We must know about the other things happening so that we can make progress in all of the dysfunction.

Dr. Kathy Paine founded the new autism clinic with support from Michael Payne of LIVING WELL TODAY, so that she could bring needed help to the Richmond community.  The state of Virginia seems to be far behind most other states in providing the infrastructure of services and treatment options to kids on the autism spectrum.  Simply put, pediatric doctors in Richmond don’t know what specialist to recommend to families with affected children, to get help.  There are individual doctors in the Richmond area that work with the autistic patients, but they are largely not advertised and they are swamped with patients and have varying levels of success with them.  The use of pharmaceuticals in these doctors’ offices often have side effects that are of equal detriment to the child as the dysfunction itself.

Except in rare cases, NO PHARMACEUTICALS WILL BE USED IN THE NEW CLINIC.  And the clinic will help you or your child remove their dependence on the pharmaceutical(s) used once you start the program.

There will be one book for sale  at A.R.C. 2011 on the topic of nutrigenomics –

AUTISM: Pathways to Recovery by Dr. Amy Yasko – the first half of the book gives a very easy to understand text on Biochemistry 101 and genetic polymorphisms.  The last half of the book is the detailed instruction on how to carry out the nutrigenomics program for yourself or child.  Yes, you can do this yourself.  But you will have much better success and also insurance coverage, by using our staff and knowledge to get through the program much more quickly.