Massachusetts boy, 12, goes permanently BLIND after consuming diet of plain hamburgers and donuts
A 12-year-old boy in Massachusetts has gone permanently blind because his junk food-only diet was so void of nutrients.
The child suffers from autism and has an extreme phobia or certain food textures, meaning he lived on a diet of plain burgers, fries with ranch, donuts and juice boxes.
He started having eye problems earlier this year, with his vision ‘darkening’ in the mornings and evenings and improving only during the day.
But within six weeks, he could no longer walk without leaning on his parents and frequently ran into doors and walls.
One night, he woke up screaming that he couldn’t see.
The tween was admitted to the hospital where doctors discovered that his diet had left him severely deficient in vital nutrients that keep optical nerves healthy.
Despite supplements and feeding therapy, experts writing in a US medical journal fear that the boy’s vision loss is permanent.
A 12-year-old autistic boy in Massachusetts suffered severe vision loss after his limited diet of hamburgers, donuts, fries, and juice boxes caused nutrient deficiencies
The doctors, from Boston Children’s Hospital, say the boy has avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID), an eating disorder that affects roughly half of autistic children to varying degrees.
The disorder, which is new but rising, causes about one in 200 Americans to restrict their variety of foods due to anxiety or unwanted color, taste, texture, or smell.
The above image shows the horizontal ridges on the 12-year-old American boy’s toenails, as they had become brittle due to multiple deficiencies in vital nutrients
Though the boy had a traumatic birth, arriving two months early and suffering a lack of oxygen, he had no underlying conditions other than autism and ADHD. He had speech, cognitive, and motor delays.
Two days before he was hospitalized, his parents said he had puffiness and crusting around his eyes. At times, they noticed him staring at the wall instead of the TV.
The boy’s parents described him as a ‘picky eater’ and said he avoided trying new foods and or vitamins because he didn’t like the texture.
Doctors found that the boy had suffered optic atrophy, which causes cells in the optic nerve to waste away from long-term damage.
They believe that the vision loss was due to severe deficiencies in vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin D, copper, and zinc from the boy’s limited diet.
Bella Mildon, an autistic preteen from the UK, went blind after her limited diet of Marmite sandwiches, fries, and water caused her to develop a vitamin A deficiency. She is pictured above before and after blindness
Vitamin A deficiency in particular is one of the most common causes of childhood blindness in the US.
The nutrient is a key component in rhodopsin, a light-sensitive protein that helps produce pigments in the retina, which help with vision in low light areas.
Vitamin D helps the eyes produce tears, which are crucial for preventing dryness and flushing out debris. Copper and zinc both protect cells and structure in the retina, and vitamin C helps guard the eyes against damage from ultraviolet (UV) light.
While vitamin A deficiency affects just one in 100 Americans, experts estimate that up to 70 percent of kids under 11 could be deficient in vitamin D.
One in five children in the US don’t get enough vitamin C, though severe deficiency, called scurvy, is exceptionally rare in developed countries.
However, recent data suggests that rates of scurvy have tripled from eight in 100,000 kids in 2016 to 27 in 100,000 in 2020, leading to tooth loss, brittle hair, scaly skin, trouble gaining weight, and anemia.
Ella Witrock, a 12-year-old from Pennsylvania, developed ARFID when she was seven. She become severely malnourished out of an extreme fear of throwing up
The boy’s lack of nutrients also caused him to develop horizontal ridges on his toenails, as they had become brittle.
The researchers noted that autistic children may be more likely to have ARFID and other issues with food due to their unique sensory challenges, which leave them especially sensitive to textures, tastes, and smells.
Autistic children often also cling to routine, so they may favor particular foods.
The Massachusetts boy received supplements of vitamins A, C, D, and K, as well as calcium, thiamine, copper, and zinc, while in the hospital.
The boy’s nutrient levels normalized, and he started eating lettuce and cheese on his hamburgers after the family started behavioral therapy.
His parents added a clear supplement to his juice boxes, though he started to refuse them after a few weeks.
The researchers wrote: ‘Unfortunately, the patient’s optic atrophy was severe.
‘This severe degree of vision loss cannot be reversed when it is found at such an advanced stage. If it is found earlier in the disease course, reversing the nutritional deficit can lead to some improvements in vision.’
