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https://medicalxpress.com/news/2018-06-food-allergies-children-autism-spectrum.html
A new study from the University of Iowa finds that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are more than twice as likely to suffer from a food allergy than children who do not have ASD.
Wei Bao, assistant professor of epidemiology at the UI College of Public Health and the study's corresponding author, says the finding adds to a growing body of research that suggests immunological dysfunction as a possible risk factor for the development of ASD.
"It is possible that the immunologic disruptions may have processes beginning early in life, which then influence brain development and social functioning, leading to the development of ASD," says Bao.
[...] The study found that 11.25 percent of children reportedly diagnosed with ASD have a food allergy, significantly higher than the 4.25 percent of children who are not diagnosed with ASD and have a food allergy.
Bao says his study could not determine the causality of this relationship given its observational nature. But previous studies have suggested possible links—increased production of antibodies, immune system overreactions causing impaired brain function, neurodevelopmental abnormalities, and alterations in the gut biome. He says those connections warrant further investigation. [emphasis Gaaark's]
"We don't know which comes first, food allergy or ASD," says Bao
#Personal Observations:
Gaaark's personal observation of his son and his self is that at the very least, foods that cause allergic 'reactions' DO INDEED intensify autistic behaviours.
When we fed our son products with gluten (Kraft macaroni and cheese was his favourite), he was much more self involved and much less externally observant. He also regurgitated the macaroni (we think THIS behaviour was linked to the dairy in the cheese) hours afterwards and would often laugh oddly while staring into space (his doctor said this was due to the 'bugs' in his stomach turning the gluten into an opioid: he was 'high').
Off the gluten and dairy, he is much more observant of external things, enjoys and gives hugs and is much more 'normal'.
*End Personal Observation
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Saturday June 09 2018, @08:37PM (1 child)
My personal nutjob theory on "why gluten is bad" actually circles back around to the agro-chemical industry and "what are they putting on our wheat fields?" more than anything too specific about gluten. Gluten has been around and widely consumed for centuries, exotic glyco-phosphates with tailor-matched GMO crops? Not so much. I have definitely eaten high gluten content foods that had little to no effect, while small amounts of others have big effects. And, to further the nutjob conspiracy observation: some packaged foods like granola bars seem super-gluten-toxic, even affecting our younger son when he eats them.
As for the drugs, we tried one with our oldest: Risperdal I think - it sort of worked as intended, but also gave the twitchy-tick side effects hard (as advertised) and another side effect was reduced mental clarity, just what we need - right? After a few months, instead of tapering down we more or less quit that one cold turkey and apparently got through the withdrawal in a week or two (recommended taper down would have been months.) He still has some tics, but he had some before we started the Risperdal too, hard to say if there's any permanent change - they say there can be. Luckily he didn't grow any man-boobs, another possible side effect of that one.
We have been pretty happy with Marinol for occasional use with our eldest - maybe one pill every 2-3 weeks as needed. It "takes the edge off" and helps de-escalate when you see him getting wound up. We tried daily dose with that, too, but it just seemed to set a new baseline, again nasty when withdrawn, and not really effective at managing when you've got the baseline dose onboard. I just have to be careful to keep the content of the pills away from me - it can be absorbed through the skin, and though I've never been given a whiz-quiz at this job in 5 years, that's always a possibility and I'd rather not explain a positive THC result to my upper management.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 09 2018, @10:51PM
Well, maybe the antibiotics fucked up the gut flora and now it has become a factory for making brain toxins? The only problem with starches and sugars, like gluten, is that these bacteria love it. But then again, they are not the cause of the problem. They are just the end result.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KL82p9dHPLs [youtube.com]