Another article regarding Gastrointestinal diseases and ASD

http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20090727/hl_hsn/withautismdietrestrictionsmaydomoreharmthangood

MONDAY, July 27 (HealthDay News) -- Children with autism do not have a higher incidence of gastrointestinal problems than other children, a new study has found.


However, autistic children do have a higher rate of constipation and eating issues, such as eating the same foods over and over, according to the study. But any number of factors, including medication, could cause these issues, the researchers said.


The findings appear in the August issue of Pediatrics.


Dr. Patricia Manning-Courtney, medical director of the Kelly O'Leary Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, said that the study is an important one because it was the first to scientifically compare the incidence of gastrointestinal (GI) problems in an autistic population with incidence in children who are developing normally.


Even so, it's unlikely to quell a controversy that has been raging for more than a decade.


"A couple of highly publicized cases of autism and loose stools in the late 1990s led to an impression that children with autism had a higher rate of GI dysfunction," she said. "It wasn't well characterized, but that got the story onto the national scene."


This, in turn, led to theories that diets free of gluten and the milk protein casein might help the problems, along with treatment with the hormone secretin. Some even proposed that problems with the gut might be the cause of autistic symptoms, giving the matter added urgency.


But the evidence in favor of these hypotheses was "fuzzy," Manning-Courtney said.


For the new study, researchers followed 124 children with autism and 248 children without autism until they turned 18.


Gastrointestinal diagnoses were classified into five groups: constipation; diarrhea; abdominal bloating, discomfort or irritability; gastroesophageal reflux or vomiting; and feeding issues or selectivity (people with autism often stick with the same food choices and have other "ritualistic tendencies" in eating).


The frequency of GI symptoms was about 77 percent in the autism group and 72 percent among the others, not considered a statistically significant difference.


However, almost 34 percent of the autistic children, compared with nearly 18 percent of the others, had constipation. Feeding issues were present in about 24 percent of the autistic children and 16 percent of those who weren't autistic, the study authors found.


Those differences could stem from what the researchers called neurobehavioral issues connected with autism, such as the ritualistic practices, they said.


"Many patients with autism insist on eating the same thing and might not consume enough fiber," said the study's lead author, Dr. Samar H. Ibrahim, a fellow in gastroenterology and instructor in pediatrics at the Mayo Clinic. "We think this may be contributing to the constipation."


Medications that autistic children take can also interfere with appetite and eating.


"In our study, around 50 percent of children were on stimulant medications, and those might affect appetite and might have something to do with issues with food," Ibrahim said.


Keith A. Young, vice chairman for research in the psychiatry and behavioral science department at Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine, said he thought "the really interesting thing they found was that there wasn't any indication of celiac disease."


In the group studied, the researchers found just one case. A possible link between celiac disease and autism was proposed as far back as 1961.

"The only difference [between the two groups] was the constipation, which they kind of dismiss," Young said. "And I tend to agree with their conclusion that constipation might be related to the dietary habits of autistic kids."

The constipation and feeding difficulties identified in the study, though, are not the symptoms that people have been buzzing about, Manning-Courtney pointed out. It's mostly been about diarrhea and loose stools.

But the study was a small one and did not rely on rigorous, comprehensive diagnoses of autism for the participants, so it may just stir the pot for people on both sides of the debate.

The researchers, however, are urging parents away from restrictive diets.

"Patients with autism should be investigated the same way as normal patients when they have GI symptoms," Ibrahim said. "And doctors should do a thorough investigation before labeling them with any GI disorder because the overall incidence of any GI disorder did not differ from that of the overall population."

Manning-Courtney concurred. "For me, this study lends support to the recommendation I make to a lot of families that there is no evidence to support restricted diets," she said. "They're dangerous and risky. You have to think long and hard before you, as a parent, make that choice."

Gastrointestinal diseases and ASD

A new study regarding the above is out and demonstrates the following:

Autism not tied to bowel movement patterns
Thu Jul 23, 2009 3:12am IST Email | Print | Share| Single Page[-] Text [+] By David Douglas

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Despite some reports to the contrary, children with autistic spectrum disorders do not have bowel movement patterns that suggest gastrointestinal problems, UK researchers report.

Autistic spectrum disorders are a group of developmental conditions that hinder people's ability to communicate and build relationships. Previous studies, though inconclusive, "have described gastrointestinal symptoms in children with autism," Dr. Alan Emonds, of the Center for Child and Adolescent Health, Bristol, and colleagues note in their study in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood.

However, based on their results, "The bowel habits of young children with autistic spectrum disorder, in general, are no different from the rest of population," Emond told Reuters Health.

Emond's team came to this conclusion after studying data from 78 children recognized as having autistic spectrum disorders and 12,906 other children without such disorders.

During the first three and a half years of life, there were no major differences between the groups in such factors as stool color, consistency, the frequency of diarrhea or constipation, and of stomach pain.

There were some children who began to have more stools per day at 30 months of age, but that "may be a secondary phenomenon related to differences in diet," the authors note.

Nevertheless, Emond noted that some older children with autistic spectrum disorders do have bowel symptoms. "It is not clear whether these symptoms are due to dietary changes or abnormalities in intestinal function associated with autism. Further research is needed."

SOURCE: Archives of Disease in Childhood, July 2009.



© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved


When reviewing this on msnbc.com, the video showed their head medical specialist stating that this means special diets do no good. While I don't necessarily agree with all of the Bio Medical interventions- chelation for example, others, like fish oil and the GFCF diet seem rather harmless.

My question is to whether from the study above, you can invalidate the experience many parents go through? While I don't think it is a cure all and firmly believe that intensive early intervention helps the most, does it hurt to try this diet or oil?

By the way, Little Bug's birthday was this Saturday and as soon as I have the pictures, you'll get a post.