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While many people are aware of the behavioural symptoms associated with autism, probably not so many realize that autistics often also have gastrointestinal problems. With that in mind, scientists at the University of Arizona recently conducted a study in which a group of 18 autistic children received fecal transplants from donors with healthy gastrointestinal systems. Not only did the procedure help to "rebalance" their gut flora, but it also improved their behaviour.
First of all, a fecal transplant is just what it sounds like. Feces from one person are screened for disease-causing organisms, and then introduced into the recipient's digestive tract. In this case, the recipients first took antibiotics for two weeks, to wipe out their existing gut flora. They then received the fecal transplant initially in a high-dose liquid form, after which it was delivered in a lower-dose powder mixed into smoothies.
Of all the possible ways I could imagine to treat autism, that was not one of them...
(Score: 3, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday January 25 2017, @08:08PM
Gut flora is acknowledged as a significant factor in overall health, but I don't think that modern medicine has nearly the handle on it as they do, say, cancer, heart disease, circulatory problems, etc. Back around 1990 they made the connection between h.pylori and ulcers, that took many years to roll out into practice and treatment, and that used the simple, traditional "kill 'em all with antibiotics" approach. Developing and maintaining a healthy gut flora community might be seen as more akin to fish farming in a river, with no nets - killing all the fish in the river is not usually a good start toward building a healthy community. The river analogy is also apt for modern life with all the pollution we send through our systems today - mass quantities of sugar that support population explosions in certain species, etc.
As for the autism link, gut health is a factor in autism symptom presentation (in our experience with two boys on the spectrum, plus ten years "in the community" of parents of children with autism,) but I don't think it's a primary causal factor, or a route to a "cure." It's just a common problem in the community, and something that makes life a little easier for everyone when it is treated properly.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by AthanasiusKircher on Wednesday January 25 2017, @09:55PM
but I don't think it's a primary causal factor, or a route to a "cure."
Perhaps not, but there's an interesting correlation as you note. Perhaps if not a "primary causal factor," it might at least be contributory in some way, or perhaps make some problems worse. I don't have as much experience with autism as you do, but I have looked into this a bit (particularly because I have a friend who works a lot with autistic kids doing research). My sense is that there are lots of theories about possible causes and mechanisms, and given the diversity of symptoms, it's reasonable that there may be multiple contributory factors to the various symptoms/problems.
All of that said, this was a study done on 18 kids, and given the past pattern of autism research (where it's even more common than in most medical studies to see a claim, then see that claim disputed by the next study), I'd wait for future studies to sort this out.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday January 25 2017, @10:16PM
We don't need peer reviewed double blind placebo controlled studies to tell us that one of our children is gluten sensitive, has moderate to severe reactions when he ingests gluten, and the other child doesn't seem to have a problem with gluten. Gut flora and other things influence the level of sensitivity, it's not a yes/no binary testable condition.
So many things with autism are just the same as they are in the general population, but magnified. When people have pain, they get grumpy, hard to deal with, and they lose some ability to focus and comprehend what's going on around them. Most people can just shrug this off as "having a bad day," but having a bad day with autism can be a whole other level of intense.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Gaaark on Thursday January 26 2017, @12:53AM
As I've said before, here, I think the gut has lots to do with body problems:
-Our son has done amazingly better on a gluten free diet: he no longer acts high, he no longer regurgtates his meals, he can focus better and is more social and all round "less autsticky" than he was (took pretty much a year for it all to leave his system)
-i used to have major gut problems: they are much better on the same gluten free diet
-I used to have restless leg syndrome: I used to drink tonic water and take pain meds for it, but it has gone away with the gluten free diet.
Joke all you want about "gluten free freaks", but I think they've GM'd the gluten content up in wheat, and our bodies don't seem to be tolerating it now (I remember as a kid the wonderful new 'Wonderbread"... Maybe it started there, with that "lighter and fluffier" bread.
Who knows :(
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 26 2017, @08:29AM
You guys probably have undiagnosed Celiac Disease. Only about 1/3 of people in the USA with Celiac disease are diagnnosed, and about 1% of people of European ancestry have it, so that is a lot of people. For those with Celiac, giving up gluten can have the effects you described, and more. Giving up gluten is life changing for them. But for everyone else, giving up gluten does nothing.
My son has Celiac Disease. The rest of the family doesn't (we've all been tested). Giving up gluten was life changing for him. Hasn't changed anything for the rest of us.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 27 2017, @05:09PM
I've seen anecdotes of people being able to eat bread/pasta/pizza in other countries with no problems but when they can't eat the USA stuff.
https://www.celiac.com/gluten-free/topic/96571-how-come-gluten-didnt-bother-me-in-italy/ [celiac.com]
I recently traveled to Italy, and although I've read they have many many gluten free options, I decided that I was going to eat whatever I wanted, even if it had gluten. When I mentioned this to my doctor, he said it actually may not bother me since the wheat outside of the US is typically less genetically modified and more "natural".
So after 2 weeks in Italy eating pasta daily, pizza, and all kinds of baked goods, I felt great. No headaches, upset stomach or any symptoms of gluten digestion.
I had a similar experience while traveling in Eastern Europe. I accidentally ate gluten three times while traveling and never had a reaction.
I assumed that my reaction to wheat is more than just gluten, and the protein makeup of wheat grown in Europe was sufficiently different that I didn't react to it.
it is curious for me, because in my case something similar happened, ie that I started having grain-related GI problems coming to the US from Italy. At first, when I went back, I, too, could eat those products without problems. But after some time, having returned to the US, and went back again, that changed, and those, too, made me react, even if less violently. This is why I would not experiment again, if I were you, if you know that what you have is celiac.
Of course there are people in Europe with similar problems with their local wheat/gluten products so go figure :).