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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: 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 :).