What is Autism? Do you know the signs?
Are dietary interventions helpful to autistic children?
Yes, but, not in the way some parents think. Autistic children can suffer problems from a poor diet. On the one hand, they can be very picky eaters, limiting their diet to only a few food items that may not contain all the nutrients a child needs. A balanced and nutritious diet is important and should be a goal for parents. On the other hand, obesity can become a problem for some autistic children. As they get older and are able to open the refrigerator and reach pantry cabinets, it can become difficult to put limits on how much they eat.
Further, encouraging children to exercise safely is a challenge for most parents. Discussions with the child’s pediatrician or a licensed dietician can be helpful in designing an appropriate diet for an autistic child. However, this is often not the dietary advice some parents seek. In an effort to do everything possible to help their children, many parents continually seek new diets as a form of treatment for symptoms or as a cure for autism. Unfortunately, there is no scientific evidence that supports any diet as a treatment for behavioral symptoms or a cure for autism.
Not all advertised treatments are concocted by charlatans with the intent to defraud desperate parents. Some treatments are developed by reputable therapists or by parents of a child with autism who sincerely believe their diet will help. It may even have appeared to help in some child treated with it. An unproven treatment may help one child, yet may lack any benefit to another or may even be harmful. Without subjecting each diet to scientific scrutiny, no statement can be made about the treatment’s effectiveness or safety.
Scientific scrutiny implies that an experimental trial is performed on a large group of autistic children by objective researchers. Typically, researchers randomly assign the autistic children into two equal groups of children of similar ages and disabilities. One group would receive an intervention, such as a new diet, medication, or nutritional supplement. The other group would receive a sham treatment or placebo pill. None of the examining doctors, the parents, or the autistic children would know who was getting the real treatment. After the trial was over and all the children were evaluated, the doctors would learn which group received the “active treatment” and which group received the placebo or sham treatment. If there were no detectable differences between the groups, then the treatment would be determined to be ineffective. If there were a significant improvement in the treatment group, it would imply that the treatment was effective in improving autistic symptoms. This type of experiment is called a randomized, double-blind trial and it is the basis for all new treatments accepted by the FDA. Unfortunately, most dietary treatments have not been subjected to this type of evaluation.
Term:
Autistic – children can suffer problems from a poor diet.
What are some common dietary interventions used to treat autism?
Most dietary interventions used to treat autism are based on one of two unproven assumptions. The first is that food allergies cause the symptoms of autism and the second is that autism is caused by a deficiency of a specific vitamin or mineral.
Food allergies. An idea that has gained currency among some parents holds that autism is caused by an allergy to gluten or casein. Gluten is an insoluble protein that is found in the seeds of various cereal plants-wheat, oats, rye, and barley. Gluten is a mixture of various proteins including gliadin, glutenin, and prolamins. Casein is the principal protein in milk and chief constituent in cheese. Because cereals and milk are found in many of the foods we eat, following a gluten-free, casein-free diet is difficult. No scientific evidence supports the idea that a low or gluten-free diet improves the symptoms of autism. There is a similar lack of evidence for casein free diets.
Dietary supplements. Some parents feel that supplementing their child’s diet with vitamins and minerals, such as vitamin B6 and magnesium, is beneficial for an autistic child. The results of research studies on these supplements are mixed; some children respond positively, some negatively, some not at all or very little. Most authorities on autism do not recommend this.
William’s comment:
I have heard about this type of therapy-where a kid is cured of his autism by changing his diet. Of the people who have told me of these cures, none knew the parents or child who was cured personally. I have to question if they were autistic to begin with. I’ll believe it when I see it.
Control of dietary yeast. Some have hypothesized that children suffer from autism because of an overgrowth of yeast in their intestinal tract or bloodstream. They believe that this overgrowth may contribute to or cause the behavioral and medical problems in individuals with autism, such as confusion, hyperactivity, stomach problems, and fatigue. The use of nutritional supplements, antifungal drugs, and/or a yeast-free diet has been suggested as a way to reduce the behavioral problems.
No scientific data support this theory of disease or treatment and it is not recommended.
It must be stressed again that the cause of autism is unknown and that dietary interventions have not been shown to improve the symptoms of children with autism.
If, despite what is written here, parents decide to implement a special diet or to give their child a dietary supplement, they should be sure that the child’s nutritional status is measured carefully. Discussing the proposed diet with a physician or qualified dietitian is recommended.
Term:
Gluten-free/casein-free diet – A diet believed by some to help improve the symptoms of autism. It involves elimination of gluten (a protein found in wheat and other grains) and casein (a protein found in milk) from the diet. It is believed, although not proven, that the undigested portion of these proteins acts likes a chemical in the brain, producing symptoms in children with autism. No scientific evidence supports this theory.
Is secretin helpful in treating the symptoms of autism?
Secretin is a hormone produced by the small intestines that helps in digestion. It is currently approved by the FDA as a single injection to aid in diagnosis of a gastrointestinal problem. Some parents have reported that after undergoing a diagnostic test that utilized secretin, their child’s symptoms improved. Some physicians have reported that after injections of secretin, a patient has shown improvement in autism symptoms, including sleep patterns, eye contact, language skills, and alertness. Eager parents have sought out practitioners to administer secretin to their children. Equally eager, but less scrupulous physicians have offered injections and infusions of secretin. These treatments were often given in complex regimens, over long periods of time, and often at great cost to the parents in terms of finances, time, convenience, and emotion. The child was subjected to the discomfort of injections and the fear of the unknown as well as being taken away from traditionally and scientifically valid treatments. Ultimately, little change was noted in the child and the parents were emotionally crushed.
The scientific basis of how secretin might work has not been described. Despite this, the theory that it can affect improvement in behaviors has been subjected to multiple scientific tests. Disappointingly, the several studies funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) have found no statistically significant improvements in autistic symptoms when compared to patients who received a placebo.
It is also important to remember that secretin is approved by the FDA for a single dose; there are no data on the safety of repeated doses over time.
Researchers have noted similar behavior patterns between autistics and opiate addicts such as social withdrawal, self stimulation, and high levels of pain tolerance.
