Ulcerative Colitis and Autistic kids

I don't have any children (at least that I know of) but I have heard of autistic enterocolitis which was a supposed link between autism and bowel disease. But this theory is now totally discredited.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autistic_enterocolitis
"Autistic enterocolitis" is a controversial term first used by discredited British gastroenterologist Andrew Wakefield to describe a number of common clinical symptoms and signs which he contends are distinctive to autism. The existence of autistic enterocolitis is unproven, as Wakefield's fraudulent studies used inadequate controls, he suppressed negative findings in his now retracted reports, and multiple attempts to replicate his results have been unsuccessful

I know a few people who have Autistic children, and none of them have gut issues, to my knowledge.

I've never heard of that connection either.
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Have three kids and none have autisum.  I have a friend whose kid has a very severe form of it and she doesn't have any gut issues.

My Mom had UC (now has an ostomy) and she has 3 kids and flared with me and my sister while pregnant and none of us are autistic.

When we went through our gluten free phase, I did a lot of reading about the link between gluten and autism. It made a lot of sense to me. I know of quite a few people who took gluten out of their diets and saw great improvement.

My husband was recently diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis and as I researched it, I found out there is supposed to be a link between autism and UC and other bowel disorders. He doesn't have any children, but his nephew is autistic. He has been diagnosed with asperger syndrome. He's only 6, and has social issues and language difficulties, as well as behavioral problems. From what I've further researched, though, it seems the link is that children who have autism also have intestinal disorders, or that folks who have intestinal disorders are likely to have children with autism. Since we have been told that his UC is hereditary, although he knows of no one in his family with it, I just wonder if there is more to the link between autism and bowel disorders all the way around? I just thought it was very strange that I just happened to see something about a link between the two and he has a nephew with autism. I would love to know more about the links and what others think about it. I found this link while doing research and thought it was quite interesting. It is very technical, but it is about some therapy for treating autism and ulcerative colitis. You might want to take a read and do further research yourself.

http://autismtso.com/research/the_science/

Good luck!

Wakefield is a fraud. He first started out saying that IBD was caused by MMR vaccination. When that was disproven, he moved on to autism being caused by MMR. Along with what Malkavian said, Wakefield's so-called epidemiologic studies lacked proper research methods (small, no controls, etc.)--you can't make overall conclusions from that.

There was a British journalist who investigated Wakefield's "methods." I haven't read it yet, but it's probably interesting.

For what it's worth, I have no problem with people trying different diets (heck, I'm trying a gluten-free diet for my non-specific symptoms). But when people don't vaccinate their kids...I get upset.

   My son is 6 years old. He is on the autism spectrum. He is high functioning but none the less he is on the spectrum with ADHD, PDDNOS and other diagnoses.

   I was diagnosed with mild Ulcerative Proctitis in Nov '09. After being on Canasa for a year a flare up started and after many meds it is still going on.  Doctor is perplexed that just "PROCTITUS" is giving us so much trouble.  I am a firefighter and trying to keep my career.  Now contemplating going on Remicade or surgery. I had a second opinion with a Dr in MT. Sanaii in NYC and seeing a surgeon there on Monday.

  Anyway, the thread is about autism and colitis not me. This is the first I'm hearing of any connection.  I hope I was some help to you.

There are some theories that autism is caused by gut bacteriological flora. But at this moment noone can say IF or WHAT type of bacterias are involved.


Also there are some anectotical evidences that reducing starches and junk food (just like in SCD diet) helped kids with autism. Could be the gluten issue or could be other proteins found in grains that can trigger it. But it's only anecdotical.

No direct connection with UC. I believe if it were such thing there will be a highly stastistical corelation those 2 diseases. Which is not the case.

Folks,

It is NOT necessary that if parent have UC, child MUST have autism or vice versa. There is a weak link and one poster suggested about breaking up BBB, that is very much possible in Autism. It is not necessary that BBB should remain broken all the time but if it ruptures any time in life, mostly earlier in life, the damage is done by pro inflammatory proteins.
Currently, there is some research going on regarding brain inflammation and autism and how best that can be treated using flavanoids. Neuroprotek is one of the products out in the market that I know of is taking this approach of treating brain inflammation and autism in return (but again, it is not essential that all autistic kids have brain inflammation)

And similarly, not all autistic kids have gut dysbiosis. My son is also high functioning but have no gut dysbiosis (which he should have in theory if my UC is a causative agent.)

Autism is such a mutifaceted disorder that all connections are weak so you don't know which one to target for treatment purpose.

@ bear77,

Visit https://www.ianresearch.org and enroll if you are interested. In the questionnaire they ask you to fill up, one of the question is, if any parent has UC or IBD like Crohns.
BTW, may I contact you off the list to discuss few autism things in detail?

Deltaforce - my daughter has UC but is well above her grade level. No autism in my family but UC (my daughter and brother). Your UC was NOT a "causative factor" in your son's condition. I know we want to blame ourselves as parents, but you didn't do this. I have trawled through the SCD lists for almost three years including pecan bread and I must say there are very few cases of real improvement. A few parents claim the diet has taken their child out of the spectrum but really it's a bunch of desperate parents torturing themselves trying this that and the other thing (dairy free, egg free, fruit free scd comes to mind as a common one). Anyway, I understand the desperation and I have tried some desperate things myself for my daughter.
Interestingly, a couple of more plausible theories are being explored. One, in Canada, they have found that South Asian children have very high rates of IBD (my daughter is half Indian) and Somali children very high rates of autism (almost unheard of in Somalia). They are starting to believe this had to do with the way our (darker skinned) bodies process vit D. Not necessarily just a simple lack of vit D but how it's used. You can google this if interested.
Second, a DR in NYC is treating a severe case of autism with TSOs, suggesting in some cases there's an autoimmune component. I believe this is at Mount Sinai and the Dr is the top specialist in the area but they're just shooting in the dark at the moment, but perhaps he would be someone to contact?

Fruitgirl: "Wakefield (and celebs like Jenny McCarthy) who spew nonsense about vaccines make me stabby."

I had to laugh but I lived in the UK when this whole Wakefield thing happened and people stopped vaccinating their kids. 10 died a couple of years later in one school due to a measles outbreak. That guy is a criminal quack and very dangerous. I think he's practicing medicine or "alternative medicine" now somewhere in the US? Prick.