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Autism Blog

By Lisa Jo Rudy, About.com Guide to Autism

Do Autism and Illness Go Together?

Saturday September 27, 2008
I've finally finished reading Mother Warriors by Jenny McCarthy (review coming next week!), and found myself amazed that every single story included in the book describes a child with severe physical symptoms who, through diets, supplements and other means, recovers not only physical health but also apparently recovers from autism.

I've written about this subject before - but it's one that I think deserves some real attention. After all, the diagnostic criteria for autism are behavioral, not physical. Most researchers say there's no good support for the idea that children with autism are sicker than other children.

True, there are a few disorders that are more prevalent among kids with autism: seizure disorders, anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder, and a few others. But there have been several studies to show that kids with autism are not, for example, more likely than others to have celiac disease (sensitivity to wheat)... and while there have been a few studies to show that children with autism may be slightly more prone to gastrointestinal problems (vomiting, diarrhea, cramps, etc.), the research doesn't support the idea that MOST children with autism suffer from GI problems.

Yet Jenny's book is filled with these kids. There are children with months of unstoppable diarrhea. Projectile vomiting. Horrible skin conditions. Seizure disorders so profound that they result in multiple hospitalizations. Severe diagnosed food allergies. Many of these children apparently look as sick as they feel - and as they "recover" they regain healthy skin tone and lose dark circles under their eyes.

What's more, almost all the children in Jenny's book have "regressive" autism, meaning they developed normally until they experienced a sudden halt and/or setback from which they did not recover.

Jenny and the women and men she profiles virtually all attribute their children's PHYSICAL illness (as well as their autism) to vaccines. In some cases, the child literally had a shot, got sick that day, and never recovered. In other cases, parents "remember" a change that occurred sometime around the time of the child's vaccinations.

Whatever the causes of these children's illnesses and regressions, I can't help but wonder - why are these kids so sick? I'm fortunate to be able to say that my son, who is certainly diagnosable on the autism spectrum, has never been sicker than the average child. In fact, very few of the children with autism whom I've personally met are sick at all. A few do have the problems that are already identified with autism (seizures, mitochondrial disorders, OCD). But the rashes, the vomiting, the allergies, the fevers - these seem to be something completely different.

Are we actually looking, then, at several different disorders? Is Jenny's book describing children who are, in fact, seriously ill with physical problems that somehow relate to their autistic symptoms? Is it possible that diets and supplements worked particularly well for them because of their particular set of symptoms?

What's your opinion about the connection between autism and physical illness? Is your child with autism more likely to be sick that the average child? Share your thoughts!

Comments

September 27, 2008 at 6:48 pm
(1) Sandy says:

One has to consider the idea the physical conditions may result in autism-like behaviors,which once treated, the physical and behavioral symtems go away.
That is not true autism. Also, once a child has severe seizures as Ms. McCarthy’s son did, one also has to consider what the regression was due and caused by; seizures or autism. On many accounts Ms. McCarthy writes, she doesn’t include regression for her son and in fact in some places states there were signs all along only until the seizures which was her wake up call.

The only unexplained medical issue my child has is his sleep disorder. His hyper gag reflex, reflux, IBS, eczema ect, any child and many children have w/o also having autism.

September 27, 2008 at 9:17 pm
(2) Caroline says:

Thank you for writing what you did. This has been my theory for a very long time, but no one seems to listen, or seemingly care.

I always felt there were “2″ different types of autism in the autism spectrum…one type is those born with autism (or children that didn’t regress) and those with later onset, understanding of course that the spectrum has many of it’s own types listed in there.

I have a huge curiousity about the idea that diet and Intensive ABA therapy benefits those more with later onset of autism than those born with autism. The curiousity stems from hearing about (and being them myself) parents basically being persecuted because they are not helping their child “enough” because they didn’t put their child on the GFCF diet or put them in 40 hour a week ABA therapy.

No one will ever know if these kids would have had any or all of these medical problems without the autism because a) the child is born the way they are born and b) it would appear that for predominantly with the later onset autistic kids, once you cure all the medical problems, the autism is cured too.

In our case, been there, tried that…still autistic, love him to bits for it.

September 27, 2008 at 9:32 pm
(3) SCR says:

The only unexplained medical issue my child has is his sleep disorder. His hyper gag reflex, reflux, IBS, eczema ect, any child and many children have w/o also having autism.

Only unexplained?…Autism is not a mental disease , it is a physical disease. Our kids are never really ” sick” but they have a higher incidence of autoimmune diseases, allergies and GI issues. If you listen to an Activa commercial that tells us that our immune system is in our guts …why is it that our pediatricians don’t make that connection? Autism is a combination of genetic predisposition, too many vaccines, too many toxins in vaccines and the environment, overuse of antibiotics and chemicals in our food. It is just common sense that you don’t inject, expose and ingest so many toxins and expect nothing to happen!

September 27, 2008 at 9:35 pm
(4) AutismNewsBeat says:

I’ll go out on a big old limb here and say there is most likely some selection bias in the stories that McCarthy includes in her book. Who knows, maybe some of these anecdotes are unconfirmed, and possible exaggerated? And I think I read once that parents’ recall of the age of onset of symptoms is not reliable.

Not trying to say anything that you don’t already know, Lisa.

September 27, 2008 at 10:04 pm
(5) Sandy says:

SCR~ I never said autism was a mental disease nor would I ever use the word disease to begin with. Autism isn’t a physical disease. It’s neuro disorder. Autism is a combination of no one really knows the answer to. I also know kids who’ve never had vaccines that also have hyper gag reflex, reflux, IBS, eczema ect.
Activa promotes not have irregularities in your bowels. If you have IBS which can be genetic, Activa isn’t going to help.

September 27, 2008 at 10:06 pm
(6) autism says:

autismnewsbeat – no argument that Jenny, of course, selected stories that reflect her own bias. and the parents may have questionable recollections of just when their child with autism regressed.

but several of the cases she cites are public knowledge (Katie Wright, for example). and every one of these stories reflects a situation in which a child had language and lost it, while also developing a whole set of serious physical symptoms.

I’m not suggesting “Jenny is right – it was the vaccines.” I have no idea whether vaccines had anything to do with it.

What I am suggesting is that the combination of regression and physical illness is striking – and for me, at least, it raises some questions.

Lisa (autism guide)

September 27, 2008 at 10:14 pm
(7) Sandy says:

AutismNewsBeat~ many parents looking back at video tapes of their kids, knowing what they know now, can see signs. The thing is with an infant or toddler, their dependant of an adult to begin with and how debilitating can be noticed of that age? right at around 2 years old is when a child should be able to do many things (other than speaking). Ms. McCarthy also admits there were signs there earlier on but it took a great big seizure for her to notice. That child was probably having small seizures all along. So it’s unsure if there was true regression with her child or if he had autism all along but needed to get to an age where it was noticeably debilitating.

It’s also unsure when we’re talking about toxins as a trigger, if those triggers could also be from other types of sources that ones exposed to. It could be, and is true for many, those who did not vaccinate their children still noticed autism at birth and those that seen regression in their children with autism.

September 27, 2008 at 11:25 pm
(8) AutismNewsBeat says:

What I am suggesting is that the combination of regression and physical illness is striking – and for me, at least, it raises some questions.

What questions does it raise for you? You’ve just admitted to Jenny’s selection bias. So given that her stories are unreliable, what lessons can you reasonably draw, apart from McCarthy’s contempt for science?

September 28, 2008 at 12:57 am
(9) Marsha says:

I’d answer somewhere in between. My son is lactose intolerant, but generally he is healthy.

I know other parents who claim their kids have all sorts of allergies, and it’s their DAN! doctor telling them results from blood tests. There are some serious questions about the methodology and accuracy of some of these IgG food allergy tests.

September 28, 2008 at 8:42 am
(10) autism says:

“What questions does it raise for you? You’ve just admitted to Jenny’s selection bias. So given that her stories are unreliable, what lessons can you reasonably draw, apart from McCarthy’s contempt for science?”

This book isn’t presenting a medical research study – it’s presenting a group of stories. In each story, a child is seriously ill with diagnosed physical problems AND is autistic. In each story, as well, the child appears to have developed and then lost concrete skills. I assume that these points are accurate – and even if they aren’t, there are plenty of similar stories out there.

To me, it is interesting to see this particular constellation of symptoms brought together in several different stories in one book. It makes it obvious to me that Jenny’s “autistic kids” are a very specific group of autistic kids – not just any autistic kids. They are sick, they regressed, and they appeared to do better with a change in diet and improved nutrition.

The question this raises (thought I’d made this clear in the blog post) is – are these kids a subgroup for whom some nutritional issue is at issue? Is it possible that there is, in fact, a largish group of kiddos who are diagnosed with autism but in fact are treatable through changes in diet? Are they identifiable as a result of their physical symptoms and regression?

That’s the question. I think it’s worth exploring. And I’m not sure that it has been explored as described, since there are few studies that segregate autistic kids based on any symptoms at all, let alone physical symptoms. The few that have don’t seem to look at the constellation of illness/regression/improvement through diet.

Does that clarify?

Lisa (autism guide)

September 28, 2008 at 8:59 am
(11) AutismNewsBeat says:

You’re still drawing conclusions from a collection of unverifiable anecdotes collected by a D-list actress with a questionable agenda. Where is your skepticism? It’s not enough just to say “this is interesting”, or “this raises questions”. Why would you assume the stories are accurate? Details may very well be left out, others exaggerated. We know parental recall is faulty more often than not in these matters. We also know there is zero support for the “leaky guy” hypothesis, which no longer even rises to the level of hypothesis. And consider this: that kids get sick, and then they get better, regardless of whether an autism diagnosis is involved. Without reliable data, the “special subset of children” gambit is just more goalpost shifting.

September 28, 2008 at 9:10 am
(12) BonBonGazette says:

Yes, Autism and Illness go together.

We are dealing with allergies, eczema, ear infections, sleep issues, gastro issues, vomiting and diarrhea.

My son is on the gfcf diet and it has cleared up most of these health issues – gone, completely. He still has Autism though – hasn’t “cured” him, but he has made huge gains.

September 28, 2008 at 9:48 am
(13) Sandy says:

Good dialogue. After 26 years in special needs education, I feel there are many “arms” to autism. Once a parent realizes that his/her child is progressing differently, they begin to pursue “cures”. Parents of autistic children are particularly prone to trying anything to make a difference in their child’s progress. This increased interest alone can be beneficial and has to be accounted for in any other method that you may be initiating. Thus, diet, behavioral therapy, etc., all are influenced by increased parenting techniques……….and in my experience background, there are similarities in functioning to some relatives……..maybe not full-blown autism but tendencies.

September 28, 2008 at 10:07 am
(14) autism says:

my goodness, autismbeat, this is a blog, not a medical journal!

Jenny is certainly not the first or only individual to connect autism with specific physical symptoms – and it’s interesting to see so many similar cases drawn together.

EVEN IF parents recall the details incorrectly, and EVEN IF there’s no connection to vaccines, and EVEN IF diets and supplements only alleviate some aspects of the autism, I STILL think it’s worth considering the possibility that we’re looking at a group of kids who CAN be treated physically to alleviate some symptoms of autism.

By the way – I think it’s perfectly possible that the autistic symptoms fade because the kids feel better physically! But that in itself is a good thing. And could make a huge difference in terms of long term development and wellness.

Why shouldn’t we look into the possibility of a subset of kiddos whose physical symptoms are making autistic behaviors considerably worse? Why shouldn’t pediatricians be aware of simple treatments that could make a difference?

Once again: no claims for cause; no claims for cure; just a thought that looking into the prevelance of physical symptoms among a particular group of kiddos with autism might be worthwhile.

Lisa (autism guide)

September 28, 2008 at 12:08 pm
(15) Sandy says:

Illness goes with anything, not just autism. Of course, if a child has autism and a common cold at the same time, those autism symptom’s can often be worse. Same with autism and strep throat or an ear infection. Are they connected to each other? No. If your child has any allergies, eczema, ear infections, sleep issues, gut issues, reflux and diarrhea would one then expect that child to also have autism? No. All those things were long present prior to autism and effect much of the child population at some point or another.

Now, as for Ms. McCarthy and this book that promotes recovery, this is why she only choose certain stories than a well rounded informative book. A book such as this, as I have read in a comment some where, a book that suggests recovery of autism and to keep on going until you find that recovery can lead to harming a child and dashing hopes when that recovery never happens. Most of the choices are not so dangerous but it can also lead to financial devastation since much of this is not covered by insurance and it’s expensive. I did not buy the book nor do I plan to, but I’d be betting no where does the book suggest any thing of a ’sub set’ of those with autism that wont ‘recover’ and a message needs to go to those parents. Being a Warrior is a horrible term to use when about any parent out there does what needs to be done for their children. We are not so above other parents but it suggests we have to strive at no end to find recovery from autism. And what of those children that only experience autism and no illness? Should one attempt what Ms. McCarthy suggests? This book targets those parents hopeful to find recovery from autism and honestly, if there was such a thing as recovery we’d ALL be doing it and there’d then be no autism rates to speak of.

September 28, 2008 at 12:18 pm
(16) AutismNewsBeat says:

It’s my understanding that about.com is owned by the NY Times. Are we to understand that journalistic standards of accuracy and informed analysis only apply to medical journals?

Yes, children with autism are as susceptible to GI issues, runny noses, fungal infections, near sightedness, acne, immune disorders and the rest as NT kids. That’s my point. Anti-vaccine advocates assume that autistic children have more GI issues and immune disorders than NTs, and the base a huge part of their anti-vaccine jihad on it. And you’re asking if they are correct, right there in the headline. If you’re “just a blog”, then why are you asking, unless you are willing to ask for real evidence?

September 28, 2008 at 12:20 pm
(17) Robin H. Morris says:

Do Autism and Illness go Together? With all do respect, this question is simply beneath the dignity of vulnerable parents who just want to help their children.
When children with autism cannot articulate their pain, clearly behavioral symptoms do increase. Dr. Margaret Bauman of Harvard has talked on this subject and it makes perfect sense that we have to “listen” to our children, and oftentimes speak for them.
However, does physical illness induce autism? I think not.
Why are the waters continually muddied by opportunistic snake oil salespeople who want to sell everything from “miracle cures” to “exorcism”, and yes, even books.
Honest biographies are appreciated, as long as they don’t take advantage of the families who are suffering.
Let’s be pro-active and support research, awareness, and truly help our children.
Regards to all parents of autism; you are champions!
Robin H. Morris

September 28, 2008 at 12:28 pm
(18) autism says:

OK, one more time.

This site (www.autism.about.com) contains hundreds of researched and referenced articles on autism.

You will find articles on genetics, articles on risk, articles on treatments, articles on evaluating treatments, articles on early detection. All of them (or at least the vast majority) include references to studies and interviews.

This site also contains this blog.

This blog is where I do a few things. I announce new articles. I announce events in the larger autism community. I raise questions for discussion. I ask for advice and recommendations when I think it might be helpful.

This blog is a blog. It is not a researched medical article. Those articles are available through the navigation links on the left, and through the tabs above.

I ask the question about an association between some cases of autism and physical illness because (a) I think it’s worthy of consideration and (b) it’s interesting. I am NOT trying, on this blog, to announce a finding or new discovery. I’m just suggesting that this is a topic of interest.

To be honest, I don’t think we’re talking, here, about flus and colds. I know very few typical kids who have severe, chronic GI symptoms; explosive diahhrea; chronic projectile vomiting; chronic severe skin diseases; etc. Now, I am not a GI specialist or a dermatologist, so I am making no claims. I am simply suggesting that this is an interesting possible avenue for exploration.

Lisa (autism guide)

September 28, 2008 at 12:32 pm
(19) autism says:

I’m not saying that illness CAUSES autism!

I’m simply suggesting that there seems to be a decent sized group of children with autism who are also severely ill (sick enough to be regularly hospitalized) – and that this is an interesting phenomenon. I’m further suggesting that researchers might take this into account when selecting subjects for research, so that, perhaps, we can see whether there is a subtype of autism which associates with physical illnesses.

I’m not sure why folks are associating this idea with selling snake oil, claiming specific causes, or suggesting specific cures.

I do think that there are different autisms with different sets of symptoms – and that it will be critical to parse out what those different subgroups are, what characterizes them, and how best to treat them based on their etiologies and their symptoms.

I think that perspective is actually pretty well supported by many mainstream researchers (I can look up specific citations if you like).

Lisa (autism guide)

September 28, 2008 at 1:46 pm
(20) John says:

Autism Documentary on Oct 1, 2008

Discovery Health channel will be showing a
documentary on Oct. 1st at 8PM ET/PT. The title is: “Autism X 6″ and it is the story about our family.

We hope that by allowing our story to be told
that it will do three things:

1) Increase the awareness of Autism
2) Increase the understanding and tolerance of Autism
3) We hope that we can be of some help to other ‘Parents of Autism’

Please tell everyone you know to watch it. Your family, friends, neighbors, religious and political leaders, etc. Also post it, email it to any and all groups, forums and email lists you have.

If you would like to contact us personally go to autism_bites@yahoo.com or our website:
AutismBites.com

Thank you!

September 28, 2008 at 2:21 pm
(21) Sandy says:

This is an interesting topic, aside from it being related to the book Warrior Mom’s. There are a certain number with autism who do get severely sick. One has to consider the possibility that those conditions may be present regardless if the child has autism or not. I do not myself believe this acquires a sub-category of autism however. If that were the case, we could have thousands of sub sets relating to many other things. Other than GF/CF diet, vitamins and so on, a parent honestly should seek a doctor to look into these things. An obstruction or birth defect in the bowels could account for some of these things and without medical investigation, a child could be seriously in danger along the way. If anything I think there is a sub set of those misdiagnosed with autism that really have allergic reactions to certain foods and their brains are starved of nutrition. W/O that nutrition, a domino effect takes place, causes many other health issues and immune problems.

My mom and a niece of no blood relation have severe eczema. I have another niece who had so many ear infections she has hearing loss. I have friends who have kids with gut issues related to diagnosed medical reasons. Part of this phenomenon probably also has something to do with the over-use of antibiotics and I’m sure down along the way, we’ll see more and more of these things.

The reason why people are associating this with snake oil & suggesting specific cures is because from what I can determine, that’s what this book promotes, only the word ‘recovered’ is used. To me, means the same thing except recovered might also mean remission of which the culprit could return. What this book and other cites state is of what this mother did (in Warrior mode) and her child now is recovered from autism.

September 28, 2008 at 2:30 pm
(22) autism says:

“I think there is a sub set of those misdiagnosed with autism that really have allergic reactions to certain foods and their brains are starved of nutrition.”

Interesting point. The thing is – if all the symptoms of autism are present, but the etiology is known (eg, the problem is known to be nutrition-based, or genetic, or a result of a toxic exposure or brain damage) – is the diagnosis incorrect? Or is it merely incomplete? If a brain damaged child has the symptoms of autism, should the diagnosis be “brain damage?” or “autism?”

In other words – is “autism spectrum disorder” a correct diagnosis ONLY when the cause is unknown (except in the cases of Rett syndrome and Fragile X, both of which are known to be genetic disorders)?

Lisa

September 28, 2008 at 2:32 pm
(23) Robin H. Morris says:

My raw sentiment on Ms.McCarthy’s appearance on Oprah this past week is detailed here:
http://www.revolutionhealth.com/blogs/resilientmom/oprahjennyautis-16105

This broadcast presented an incongruous match. Jenny McCarthy’s experience with her “recovered” child is hardly a format for an interview with a woman who has suffered loss of limbs.
Here’s a question. What other warrior parent might have given a more compelling interview?

September 28, 2008 at 2:59 pm
(24) Sandy says:

“is “autism spectrum disorder” a correct diagnosis ONLY when the cause is unknown (except in the cases of Rett syndrome and Fragile X, both of which are known to be genetic disorders)?”

If I read that correctly, when I went for a diagnosis, the doctor would not diagnose autism unless every thing known could be ruled out, like seizures, brain tumors and other things that are known to mimic autism which included a gut biopsy.

So, if other things have not been ruled out, then one would not know if it was true autism, or something else like food allergies depriving the brain of nutrition.

September 28, 2008 at 10:53 pm
(25) AutismNewsBeat says:

I’m not sure why folks are associating this idea with selling snake oil, claiming specific causes, or suggesting specific cures.

Is that the “blog” asking, or a person who is really interested in understanding how autism is diagnosed, and how parents are duped into spending big bucks on quack cures?

September 29, 2008 at 7:07 am
(26) AutismNewsBeat says:

Study Finds No Link Between Children With Pervasive Developmental Disorders, GI Disorders

BETHESDA, Md — September 25, 2008 — Gastrointestinal (GI) problems are not more common in children with pervasive developmental disorders (PDD) compared with normal developing children, according to a study appearing in the September 2008 issue of the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

http://tinyurl.com/45o5v4

September 29, 2008 at 10:57 am
(27) passionlessDrone says:

Hi AutismNewsBeat –

“Study Finds No Link Between Children With Pervasive Developmental Disorders, GI Disorders”

Does it strike you (or anyone?) as strange that in the study you referenced above, that if you have autism, you had two times the likelyhood of having GI problems than if you had PDD-NOS?

Overall, 22.7% of the 172 children had GI problems. In the risperidone study, 29% had a history of GI problems compared with 14% in the methylphenidate study.

Autism got risperdone, and had a 29% chance of GI problems. Pdd got methyphenidate, and only have a 15% chance.

Doesn’t this also mean that a full 29% of ‘normal’ children have to have GI problems in order for there to be no correlation between autism and GI problems? And, that would somehow mean that having a PDD-NOS diagnosis was actually quite protective of GI disturbances, as it had only a 15% association!

Does anyone besides autismnewsbeat actually believe 29% of undiagnosed children have GI distrubances?

- pD

September 29, 2008 at 11:40 am
(28) Mom says:

http://www.safeminds.org/research/library/gargus-imtiaz-2008-mito-endopheno-autism.pdf

September 29, 2008 at 11:42 am
(29) Mom says:

Do your research Moms

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18607376

September 29, 2008 at 11:47 am
(30) Mom says:

I tried posting many links to studies pointing to how sick these kids are over controls, however none of my comments posted. These were all links to pubmed and other science studies. Someone named autismnewsbeat is on everyone of these blog comments with his/her links, I’m thinking my comments aren’t allowed, or my links just wont go through. Maybe someone else can try??? -Allison

No Problem- Too many at one time???
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17974154?ordinalpos=3&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

September 29, 2008 at 11:50 am
(31) Mom says:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17880640?ordinalpos=6&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

September 29, 2008 at 11:50 am
(32) Mom says:

http://taap.info/Vojdani2.pdf

September 29, 2008 at 11:51 am
(33) Mom says:

http://pt.wkhealth.com/pt/re/pgme/abstract.00006826-200211000-00015.htm;jsessionid=LcnGnYRhJGNHRfMXnhGnXH4YRnBJq5126Zb0129kYpk8fHRL346Z!1902130097!181195629!8091!-1

September 29, 2008 at 11:51 am
(34) Mom says:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T0G-3S1PFW4-R&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=3d1a469ffa8fd967b1077c4b5b6e9162

September 29, 2008 at 11:52 am
(35) Mom says:

http://www.scipub.org/fulltext/ajbb/ajbb4273-84.pdf

September 29, 2008 at 11:52 am
(36) Mom says:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6TBB-4K5HWCR-1&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=b6bcf37a9eabdab9f07d990fbbb083da

September 29, 2008 at 12:42 pm
(37) JB Handley says:

Lisa:

You may want to take a closer look at antibiotic usage, too. Its often reported that the total number of antibiotic rounds is much higher for kids on the spectrum.

The question becomes whether or not this is part of the cause or part of the symptoms. Its also an interesting proxy for how “healthy” a child is. I know in my case my son had 11 rounds of antibiotics before he was 2 years old.

Could antibiotics be contributing to the ASD rates? I’ve also read that antibiotic usage is much higher in the USA than other countries, though I don’t know if this is true.

JB

September 29, 2008 at 2:09 pm
(38) Robin H. Morris says:

I can respond to JB Handley and those who question certain medications, including vaccines.
My children were part of a multiple birth. All received antibiotics as preemies, and all received vaccines. Only one has autism.
I was once asked if the child who has autism was the most compromised at birth. He was, but if in fact that led to a weakness reaction from medication sounds like a long shot.
However, my vulerablility as a parent has been greatly honed by the interference of yes, ’snake oil salespeople’. It stinks, and those that believe in their own hype should be ashamed of themselves.

September 29, 2008 at 4:52 pm
(39) Joe says:

Robin, you say, “My children were part of a multiple birth. All received antibiotics as preemies, and all received vaccines. Only one has autism”. Hmmmn. If autism is genetic, why does only one of your kids have it?

September 29, 2008 at 6:01 pm
(40) Franklin says:

A person who understands genetics wouldn’t go “hmmmm.” But since this is just a blog, you’re excused.

September 29, 2008 at 6:21 pm
(41) Sandy says:

Mom said~ “Does it strike you (or anyone?) as strange that in the study you referenced above, that if you have autism, you had two times the likelyhood of having GI problems than if you had PDD-NOS?”

where did you get the PDD-NOS from??? PDD is not PDD-NOS

September 29, 2008 at 6:23 pm
(42) Sandy says:

Sorry Mom, there was just so many posts from you I got side tracked.

Mine was suppose to be directed towards passionlessDrone

September 30, 2008 at 11:17 am
(43) Allison says:

Thank you Lisa for posting all of my links, someone forwarded me your message on why the links didn’t go through.

These are only a small portion of studies. I’m not saying that every child with autism developed their autism from vaccines but my son did and so did thousands of other cases. My son is one of the sick ones. However it took me a very long time to equate many of the symptoms with specific physical ramifications. Such as laughing uncontrollably (like a private joke), almost in a “high” fashion is often yeast in the gut. Aggression is often bacteria or food intolerances. Sleep disturbances can be related to the liver functioning, and possibly parasites (hatch during the full moon), etc., etc. My son also had the chronic diarrea, chronic sinusitis, etc. Not all of you may have ever associated some of the stimming or symptoms of autism of your children to something physical. But it most definitely is something that should be paid attention to, tested and treated if necessary.

September 30, 2008 at 12:16 pm
(44) passionlessDrone says:

Hi Sandy –

You are correct, PDD-NOS was not specified in the paper. But this does little to dilute my point. Autism is a subset of PDD; and with what was provided, there was a doubling of GI problems from one group to the other. Perhaps this was a case of poor journalism, which would be particularly hilarious considering it was posted by Mr. ANB.

In any case, lets assume that the article provided is accurate; children with a diagnosis of autism still had a 29% chance of gastro issues. Children with a much broader diagnosis, PDD, had only a 14% chance of gastro issues.

From the paper:

The RUPP network conducted 2 major trials. In the first trial, children with autism accompanied by tantrums, aggression, and self-injury were treated with risperidone (Risperdal). In the second trial, children with PDD and hyperactivity were treated with methylphenidate.

Overall, 22.7% of the 172 children had GI problems. In the risperidone study, 29% had a history of GI problems compared with 14% in the methylphenidate study.

Maybe I’m wrong here. Are you not detecting any differences between the two groups?

Even more confusing:

The researchers found no demographic differences between the children with GI problems and those without GI problems, nor did the groups differ in communication, socialisation, daily living skills, intellectual ability, or on measures of autism severity. However, the group with GI problems had more severe anxiety, irritability, and social withdrawal.

So, there was no difference in ’socialization’, but there WAS increased ’social withdrawl’ with GI disturbances. They were socializing the same, it is just that one group had more social withdrawl.

- pD

September 30, 2008 at 3:07 pm
(45) AutismNewsBeat says:

Does anyone besides autismnewsbeat actually believe 29% of undiagnosed children have GI distrubances (sic)?

Maybe they will now.

In a study of 482 children at a primary care facility, the prevalence rates were 22.6% for constipation, and 4.4% for fecal incontinence.

http://tinyurl.com/533usk

September 30, 2008 at 7:41 pm
(46) Sandy says:

passionlessDrone~ you copied the portion yourself: “researchers between the children with GI problems and those without GI problems, in communication, socialisation, daily living skills, intellectual ability, or on measures of autism severity. However, the group with GI problems had more severe anxiety, irritability, and social withdrawal” PDD is a category, and no one really is diagnosed with a category. When people say their child has PDD, then the doctor who said that didn’t go further to see where in that category a child was. Instead of listing every test subjects diagnosis, they generalized it on the 2nd study as PDD and hyperactivity. The interesting this of this study is it mentioned severity seemed not to play a role, but severe anxiety, irritability, and social withdrawal did, which in fact is partly what brings bouts of irritable bowel syndrome for my son, my sister and a few others I know.
This study demonstrates the use of psych meds to help control the 3 above issues, over half improved with their symptom’s which shows to me, IBS or some treatment that can help these kids with their inner emotions; ends the GI gut issues.

September 30, 2008 at 9:50 pm
(47) AutismNewsBeat says:

This study demonstrates the use of psych meds to help control the 3 above issues, over half improved with their symptom’s which shows to me, IBS or some treatment that can help these kids with their inner emotions; ends the GI gut issues.

As opposed to anti-fungals, Valtrex, and pro-biotics.

July 1, 2009 at 10:47 am
(48) Alexis says:

Autistic children are a sign to this world that we are destroying our planet with toxins!
Whither one is born with autism because of where the mother worked, what she ate, or the medications she took or if the child regressed after vaccinations full of mercury it’s all xenobiotics, and if you want to find a cure we need to start with the genetic engineered food and fuels we use. Start testing these children for deficiency on molecular levels so we can comp what they are lacking and its all about prevention in the mothers before pregnancy.

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