Our Story
Infogenetica's story really begins when Alma and Deryck were blessed with a pair of fraternal twin sons. They were overjoyed by their arrival, but within the first year of their sons' lives, they realized that something was different with one of the boys.
The Symptoms
He never made eye contact and was always uneasy. He was overly sensitive to sound, light, scents, and textures. He didn't respond to people talking to him and would get over-fixated on specific items. In spite of very early interventions with pediatricians and occupational, behavioural, and speech therapists things kept getting worse as time went by.
He developed very obvious persevering behaviours and movements, had significant fine and gross motor skills problems, an awkward gait, upper right limb spasticity, and didn't speak at all. He didn't play with toys in a typical way nor was interested in any social interactions. He was still in diapers up to grade school age, was very hyperactive, had frequent emotional outbursts, and couldn't control his behaviour. He also showed no reaction to pain, the slightest changes in routine would cause a meltdown, and couldn't sleep through the night without medication.
Alma, Deryck, and 5-year-old twins.
The Diagnosis
By the age of 4, he was officially diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), severe Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD), developmental delays, and metopic and sagittal craniosynostosis (the premature fusion of the skull sutures, which was compressing his brain, causing injury.) The prognosis given by the specialists was tragic. They predicted that he would never be able to take care of even his most basic needs by himself, he would never talk or have any typical social interaction, and that his development would never be beyond that of a 4-year-old. These were overwhelming news for Alma and Deryck and, at the time, there was almost no additional information or support for families with autistic children beyond the diagnosis.
He also required skull reconstructive surgery to address the craniosynostosis and would need 24/7 supervision and one-to-one care for a year while his skull recovered. At that moment, Deryck made a significant professional decision and left his job at BC Cancer to care for his son and focus all his research efforts on autism. Putting it in his own words: what was the point of spending his life working on a cure for cancer if he couldn't help his own son have a better life with his condition?
The Treatment
He had reconstructive skull surgery at the age of 5 and a half. It was successful and significantly improved his fine and gross motor skills, and his reaction to pain became normal. However, even after a year after the surgery and constant behavioural, occupational, and speech therapies, pediatric and psychiatric care, all the typical autism and ADHD symptoms as well as his ability to learn and communicate remained the same, showing no response to any of the many therapies.
The Research
During this time, Deryck started his research on autism and the different biological pathways that seemed to be affected by autism and ADHD symptoms. Drawing from some of the research he did on Alzheimer's while working in the pharmaceutical industry, Deryck identified that the lack of sleep, inability to focus, anxiety, lack of speech, hyperactivity, gastric and skin problems, sudden outbursts and lack of energy, impulsive behaviour, etc. were all symptoms that involved biological pathways that required fatty acids for proper function.
Given his deep knowledge of fatty acids, Deryck knew that he needed to give his son a supplement that comprised a balanced and customized formulation of fatty acids. Also, he needed to avoid artificial preservatives and flavours because his son was very sensitive to them. He also decided to eliminate gluten as there was a family history of celiac disease. Despite extensive market research, he found out there was only at most Omega 3-6-9, a small fraction of the complete combination of fatty acids needed. There was no product available in the market that met all his requirements. So he decided to develop an optimized fatty acid composition of 100% natural ingredients, without GMOs, artificial flavours, or preservatives. Alma's expertise in using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to develop medical models expedited the analysis of thousands of combinations of natural oil molecules to identify the exact combination of natural ingredients that would reach the optimal formula to create the full spectrum of fatty acids needed for optimal cellular absorption. That gave birth to the formulation that, after several years of research and optimization, would lead to NeuroActiv® Oil.
Twins' high school graduation
The Results
The effects of a daily dosage of NeuroActiv® Oil in conjunction with a gluten-free, mostly-unprocessed diet and educational programs have been remarkable for Deryck's and Alma's son. Twelve years after starting to take the supplement, he talks, reads, socializes and cares for his hygiene, homework, and house chores. He is calmer, more focused, needs a lot less self-stimming behaviours, and has fewer phobias. He even made it on the Honor Roll in grade 10! His energy level is more consistent throughout the day. He sleeps through the night without the need for medication and is a loving and kind young man. He has participated in the school choir and church programs and engages people in social conversation. He is an artist, graduated from high school -where he received the award for Outstanding School Service-, completed a diploma at Douglas College and is currently attending Norquest College to pursue a diploma in Digital Asset Management. He took an entrepreneurial program last year and, with some tech support from his mom, he will soon be launching an online store to sell his art.
It is wonderful to see him using the gifts of his creative neurodivergent brain without the negative symptoms that burdened him before!
Samples of our son's art - decorative wall sign and clay dinosaur egg figurine.
Amir's Douglas College graduation 2022
The Company
People who noticed this remarkable improvement started enquiring about the supplement and started trying it for themselves. After consistent positive feedback and regular reports of general health improvement from friends, family, and other users who have suffered from low energy, poor sleep, high cholesterol, joint problems, poor memory, lack of focus, poor skin or hair quality, etc., Alma and Deryck decided to share it with the world. After almost 8 more years of research, numerous scientific tests and studies, patenting the formulation and obtaining Health Canada authorization to sell NeuroActiv® Oil, Infogenetica Solutions Ltd. was formed.