Could treating bowel issues improve autism symptoms?
Medical research is suggesting that there is a strong correlation between autism and bowel dysfunction.
Indeed, bowel problems are the most common co-morbidity found in autistic children. A 2014 study in the medical journal “Pediatrics” showed that bowel symptoms like constipation, diarrhea, abdominal pain and inflammatory bowel disease are three to four times more common in children with autism than children without autism.
Some have demonstrated that aggressively correcting the underlying bowel conditions improves some of the symptoms of autism: Treating the bowel seems to treat the brain.
Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder that has become more common over the past 25 years. It was first described in 1943 and at that time was thought to be a rare disorder found in only five children out of 10,000. Since the 1980s, this has changed dramatically.
Autism is increasing at an annual rate of 1 percent. Today autism is diagnosed in one in every 68 children.
The reason for the increase in autism diagnosis is the focus of much controversy. Some believe that we simply are diagnosing it better. Others have said that the diagnostic criteria have broadened, therefore making the diagnosis more common. Still other studies indicate that there is an actual increase in the prevalence of autism.
This increase may be related to environmental exposures of the child during the prenatal, perinatal, and postnatal periods and I agree.
There is an explosion in the number of chemicals in our environment that affect the bowels. This is important because much of the immune and nervous systems are associated with the bowels.
Most neurotransmitters are not made in the brain but in the bowels. According to the EPA, over three billion pounds of industrial chemicals are released into the environment every year and the most common pollutants are neurotoxins. Over four billion (yes, billion) pounds of pesticides, many neurotoxic (and bowel toxic), are used in the United States annually.
The CDC has reported that more than 100 chemicals with proven links to developmental disabilities in children, can be found in infant cord blood and human breast milk.
Only a small percentage of industrial chemicals have ever been tested for neurotoxicity. One study (2017) demonstrated that those exposed to common pesticides had a significantly higher rate of autism.
One interesting study in 2010 demonstrated that over one-third of autistic children have abnormal intestinal permeability (leaky gut syndrome) compared to less than 5 percent in children without autism.
Leaky gut is real and can be easily measured. A leaky gut permit toxins to pass through the intestines into the body.
An increasing number of studies show that children with autism also have abnormal bacteria with less diversity and decreased numbers of beneficial bacteria species.
A study in the medical journal “Cell” showed that autistic symptoms improved significantly by adding the probiotic Lactobacillus Reuterii.
There are studies evaluating the effect of special diets improving the symptoms of autism, possibly by improving the bacteria and healing leaky gut.
Addressing the bowels will not cure autism but any improvement is a god-send.
• Dr. Patrick Massey, MD, Ph.D., is president of ALT-MED Medical and Physical Therapy, 1544 Nerge Road, Elk Grove Village.