Could there be a connection between autism and the gastrointestinal system?
A team of researchers led by Elaine Y. Hsiao of the California Institute of Technology recently noted that a subset of people diagnosed with autism also display a spectrum of gastrointestinal abnormalities.
So to test this, her researchers injected mice with an immunostimulant known to produce offspring that display both behavioral and neuropathological symptoms of autism.
But in addition to symptoms of autism, these offspring showed a significant deficit in the structure of their intestinal walls – a condition commonly referred to as “leaky gut syndrome.”
Hsiao’s team then randomly selected mice for treatment with a particular type of human commensal bacteria (the healthy, symbiotic kind that the human body needs) to see how it would affect intestinal defects as well as behavior.
Every other day over a period of 6 days after weaning, one group of mice received a dose of bacteria in their food pellets while those in the control group did not. Then, the researchers added a sodium salt solution to drinking water to induce colitis in order to test intestinal structure.
And the results were fascinating.
Researchers found that the bacteria treatment corrected intestinal defects in the mice. Not only that but it seemed to alter elements of their body chemistry associated with autism-related behaviors.
In addition, by observing behaviors such as open field exploration, marble burying, social interaction, and vocalizations, Hsiao and her team noted a decrease in abnormal communication, sensorimotor, and anxiety-like behaviors among the mice that received the bacteria treatment.
So – back to the question we started with. Could there be a connection between autism spectrum disorders and
gastrointestinal issues?
Well maybe.
Of course we can’t generalize these findings conducted with mice to a human population.
But in some cases, probiotic treatments have demonstrated benefits in treating psychosocial distress and chronic fatigue symptoms in humans.
This line of research is also intriguing because behaviors that are characteristic to autism spectrum disorders are also seen in other neurological diseases such as schizophrenia, obsessive compulsive disorder, and Prader-Willi syndrome.
So this research could hold promise for a number of people suffering from a wide range of disorders.
If you’d like to read the study in its entirety, you can find it in the December 19, 2013 issue of Cell.
Once again, scientists are uncovering deeper connections between overall brain and body health.
And, in our Practical Brain Science series, we’ve got leading experts who get into practical interventions that can help you work with the body to strengthen brain health – click here to sign up.
What connections have you seen between gastrointestinal issues and mental health in your work with patients?
Please leave a comment below.
Hi, regarding trauma, I teach at a college campus in Canada. My students are of aboriginal descent and have suffered trauma from residential school. I would love some help and insight into how to help them progress in their learning. It appears to be very much based on emotional well being.
How can we create a more nurturing and supportive environment without enabling the drama and fearful thinking?
Any tips would be appreciated very much.
Our son has had OCD issues , intermittent tics, meltdowns from preschool.
We opted out of traditional medicines, clonidyne etc, but from the start from so many different directions gathered others experience , and clinical research, of how nutrition, and Gastro I. factors were directly connected. for starts there was an immediate impact using niacin and magnesium in conjunction with yogurt and probiotics. And any way to reduce exposure to yeasts, fungi, molds. We have not gone gluten free and would like to hear more about that. We have a practitioner in Chinatown, who has been a lifesaver, and it has always been about “stomach” , and regularity from his diagnosis and treatment with Chinese Herbs. There needs to be more serious scientific research along these lines.
Significant changes in clients who follow the gut psychology diet.
And… How rejection, abandonment and traumatic brain injuries {2 major ones before the age of 7} atrophy the brains?
I am that 7 year old, now 64, still dealing with issues like ADD, anxiety, fear, social phobia, self sabotage… All of that did not help me keep a job or a relationship for more than 2 years.
My middle eastern family think that I am crazy and a Failure because I have never been married. And because of that, they think I am gay. Now, They are completely out of my life… Thank God.
Against all odds I managed to own my business for 14 years and eventually… failed. Now I am trying to reinvent myself and still going.
The best thing that works for me is a strict diet {No grains, little carbs, lots of vegetables, animal protein, organic only, lots of water between meals} and lots of exercise. Any other suggestions, please.
My ex -living in london- and I have an autistic 11 year old Boy {Not in my life since I live in California.} She is traditional, and does not believe that a diet would improve the life of her son.
in my humble opinion, Autism has to do with the prenatal emotional stability of the mother, as well as a leaky gut: Emotional trauma causes leaky gut.
she {42 years old then} left me when she was 6 month pregnant, and was anxiety ridden for the whole duration of her pregnancy. Oliver was a premature baby {2 month}: Rejection and abandonment starts in the womb, and may cause a biological atrophy. I am pretty sure it does!
I would be grateful for any response.
Dear Ruth, Dr.Natasha Campbell Mcbright already proved that there is connection between autism and gut. Not only the connection was proved but she already cured thousands of autistic people curing the gut. Best regards
5 decades of research a great deal of it related to issues of the gut on the Autism Research Institute’s website.
This guy connection is very very old hat back into the 80s at least in the work done at Tufts University developing treatments to address this issue. There have been numerous professional journal articles about this from major medical institutions and yearly presentations at large conferences sponsored by major autism associations including institutions like Einstein Medical and Harvard School of Medicine. Your presenting this as something newly discovered is troublesome to say the least. Perhaps I’m missing something here. Gluten removal and attention to repopulating the gut and dealing with the disturbances in immune response due to leaky gut has been one of the primary treatments protocols for well over 20 years.
Yes, there is definitely a connection between autism and gut issues. Check out Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride’s book “Gut and Psychology Syndrome”/GAPS diet.
A great resource…
Could It Really Be Something They Ate?
is a book written by Margaret Evans…..
Could there be a link involving the mother’s prenatal diet?
In particular, could a retrospective study be done on the prenatal diets of mothers of autistic children.
In one instance the mother drank skim milk throughout pregnancy. Cholesterol is necessary for mylenization of the brain.
I wonder if this is a good place for us to have a discussion of whether we should test on animals or not. I think what the focus is here is that there is possible correlation between Autism and gastrointestinal issues…. I think that it is always better to have various tools that may or can be helpful for any condition. For those who have seen that change in diet can positively change their loved ones’ symptoms related to Autism, good! We are what we eat, to some extent, I believe, so I’m encouraged to see the science going behind it and “prove” what some cultures have always known.
This information is not new at all. Take a look at “The Austism Enigma” which was first aired on CBC TV (Canada) in 2011.
gapsdiet.com
You will need to check out Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride – she developed GAPS (Gut and Psychology Syndrome) and the diet. It heals leaky gut.
Here’s to healing!
They are correlated many times. A simple example: a person with constipation becomes easily irritated, nervous, anxious… And about autism, Dr. David Perlmutter explain this too, I agree with this correlation and I do think that leaky gut plays a big rule in many brains disorders, like autism, Alzheimer’s, depression and so forth.
Animal testing of any species is medieval and wrong. You should really reconsider where you get your evidence from before sharing it.
My mom, born in 1914 in North Dakota, surrounded by farm land, had leaky gut syndrome. She had no tendencies towards autism, had no OCD or anything else mentioned in the article. In fact, she was a genius.
Times have changed, food has changed, environments have changed.
What I have observed over 65 years of life and 16 years as a craniosacral therapist is that there is not one cause for anything, but many conditions that together create an environment for a body and mind to develop symptoms.
I have no doubt that food and digestion influence autism.as it affects all aspects of our life in subtle and not so subtle ways.
I studied ,Tibetan Medicine (TM) in Dharmsala India. In TM, all disease originates from the gut,
So true – agreed! And we do NOT need to continue needless tests on animals to keep learning the same thing over and over again either.
Wow I am so delighted that you have made a DVD and look so frwoard to watching it.When I read your book the first time I thought oh my god it’s all about my daughter Hannah. We share this book with all our volunteers and treasure it so much. Other parents that have read it say exactly the same thing and I think all parents should read it even if their kids don’t have Autism just so they have an insight into the Autistic world. We have attended start up and max impact and due to attend new frontiers in November and so so busy fundraising to get Hannah our nearly 7 year old to an intensive hopefully next year. We have 6 children 4 typically developing and 2 with Autism. Our other daughter Xarie who is 5 is progressing with just a sprinkle of Son-rise dust where as Hannah needs alot more. We run our program 6 days per week and she attends special school just one day each week (more to satisfy the education department than anything else). I so look frwoard to receiving this DVD and the phone call and thankyou so much for offering a discount through facebook, as we need all the assistance we can get.Thanks again ..Keep up the good work Love Lyndall & family xxx
Yes, my son in 2002 was in the first wave of the sharp rise of epidemic numbers of children with severe autism. You could not miss the now well known symptoms if no speech no eye contact flappig hands shrieking animal screams skin that couldnt be touched not playing with toys except to line them up. Elopment down the street at lightening speed and on and on. Yet having never heard of autism back then i had no idea and his pediatrician had never diagnosed it before and was tenative. He was 26 months old when finally diagnosed with severe global delays and met criteria in severe levels across the board. I was by a series of fortunate events turned to a then tiny group of parents who started a group called curing jeff and later called taca (talk about curing autism a now nationwide parent group) following DAN protocol (defeat autism now doctor protocol). My son went gluten and casein free and within 2 WEEKS said the first word since he had his immunizations 16 minth prior…mama. And then dada and then he let his dad TOUCH him with out screaming amd writhing. We did antifungals to rid yeast overgrowth in gut. Soon he could learn and benefit from applied behavioral analysis. He ea sstill autistic but he was clear from the glutens turning to OPIATES in his system. he was dramatically improved. Not cured
But his autism somehow set of leaky gut and it had to be fixed to benefit from behavioral therapies. He was reachable and could feel pain. We had to do protocol about 1x a year and now he is almost 15 and much of gut issues are healed his system matured. Now his diagnosis is imperceptible from his peers, independent smart handsome has friends and is far from the wild animal that would have needed to be institutionalized his entire life as far as we could tell then! He worked very hard and was not cured but it paved the way for possible healing to begin. Lynn Talmon
Lynn,
Beautiful story. Thank you for sharing it. I’ve believed there is a huge connection for a long time. It’s great to see how it manifested in your son’s journey to healing.
Marti
It appears very interesting. Gut feeling as we say relating to intuition, we take different food , on digestion we get nutrition to all tissues. We have a large number of gut microbes, which are resident in the gut, surely we need to use those microbes to our benefit, health of our brain , to avoid inflammation in tissues of course brain included. More work is needed to see connection of Gut microbes n brain health n function.
Prof. Ramesh C. Deka,
Amity Univ. Noida, India
Animal testing is disgusting, unethical and immoral.That is all I have to say. There is no justification for this.
Andrew Wakefield’s research on gut-brain connection and MMR links to Autism?
Animal research needs to end.
Agreed – ON EVERY LEVEL, even mice!
According to Chinese Medicine intestines are a complementary organ of the brain. Poor diets can lead to malfunctions. (Holistic Health through Macrobiotics, Japan Publications, Inc. Tokyo – New York, ISBN 0-87040-895-X)
This gut brain connection has been well known for many years in the autism community. Glad to see the psych. community is becoming more aware of this. Just changing my child’s diet to gluten and dairy free many years ago resulted in very noticeable differences in her behaviour and ability to be present and interact.
Shame they had to experiment on those poor mice .Having had 5 Element acupuncture for many years, it doesn’t surprise me that there is an connection between autism and the gut. The Earth element which rules the stomach and spleen keeps us grounded and connected.