Does Wheat And Gluten Cause Autism?

Most of us already understand that gluten can have damaging consequences for people with celiac disease and other kinds of autoimmune disorders (ASD's). But the question that keeps coming up over and over is whether gluten can interfere with the development of people who are non-celiac's.

Recently there have been a number of researchers who have started examining the link between autism spectrum disorders and diet-which seem to have risen significantly over the last 20 years.

The centers for disease control and prevention say that ASP's-which is the name given to a number of neurological and developmental disorders, which include Aspergers Syndrome, by this fact is many as one in 100 children born in North America. These are significant numbers and experts are still looking for answers as to why they are on the rise.

Everybody knows that nutrition has a direct impact on the development of children. What I am seeing and what the experts are seeing is a growing body of proof which suggests that removing gluten and casein [which is the protein in dairy products] from the diet of children with ASD's can have a beneficial effect.

In fact there is a well known and diet specifically recommended for children with ASD's, it is called the autism diet and it is a diet that is devoid of any gluten or casein. Also known as the GF CF diet.

Kids on this diet cannot eat any dairy products in addition to any wheat or gluten containing foods, as well as all of the other dairy foods such as milk, yogurt, ice cream, and cheese.

I have not been able to find any direct medical evidence which links celiac disease to autism. In fact all of the evidence that I have gathered is entirely anecdotal and is from speaking with other people, a handful of publications and with parents of children with autism. The only clear overlap that I've found as of this recording in the literature existed in two publications.

The first was the Journal of behavioral pediatrics which interviewed 50 children in New York that were autistic and found that 70% of them with ASD's that gastrointestinal issues compared with 28% of the children with normal development. The other place I've found evidence to support the link between autism and gluten consumption is with Dr. Kenneth Bock, who is an internationally renowned expert on autism and author of the book Healing The New Childhood Epidemics.

According to his book he sees over 2000 children per year with ASD's at his office in the Rhinebeck health Center in New York, and he believes that even though further investigation is still required, that children with ASD's clearly have significant reactions to the consumption of gluten.

In addition many parents swear by the GF CF diet all citing tremendous improvements in their children's development, behavior, and communication skills.

Dr. Bock points to a survey of over 25,000 parents of autistic children, and found that over 60% of them interviewed reported that gluten free, or casein free diet resulted in improvements in their children.

Dr. Bock also points to the response in the bloodstream of children with ASD's who eat gluten to be kind of like morphine. Which means that the kids can act almost stoned-producing the usual stoner behaviors such as erratic behavior, poor language and social skills, and impulse control issues. He warns that parents need to be aware of the impact of removing gluten from the diet of a child with an ASD can create something of a withdrawal affect.

And he warns parents that this is a very real possibility to keep an eye out for during the first few days-not much different than when addicts detox. However he sees consistent evidence that after a few days of the detoxing, children with ASD's start to make improvements-some of them quite dramatic. Many parents that I have spoken to said that children with autism are much calmer and had fewer behavior problems without gluten in their diets.

So if you have a child with autism I would recommend that you talk to your doctor about the GF CF diet.

Brooks Van Norman is a veteran of living the wheat and gluten freelifestyle. An accidental expert on the subjects of wheat intolerance and living without wheat intolerance symptoms, he struggled for years with chronic fatigue and depression before self diagnosing that he could not eat wheat or gluten. Brooks now teaches people how to inexpensively and quickly restore their health with a simple plan and whole foods at wheatfreenow.com.

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What is Causing the Incredible Growth in Autistic Disorders

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) which includes Autism and Asperger syndrome is a brain development disorder that first appears during infancy or childhood, it is characterized by; unresponsiveness to social interaction and communication, gross deficits in intelligence and language development, restricted and repetitive behavior, restricted capacity for developmentally appropriate activities and interests and often bizarre responses to the environment.

People with autism have social impairments and often lack the intuition about others that others take for granted. Making and maintaining friendships often proves to be difficult for those with autism. About a third to a half of individuals with autism do not develop enough natural speech to meet their daily communication needs.

Causes and Incidence

Until recently Autism was thought to be entirely due to genetic problems or mutations, however according to a recent study by the prestigious MIND institute of California, the enormous increase in the incidence over the last few years can not just be explained by better diagnostic tests. Rather they postulate that certain environmental factors are also involved. When one considers the massive increase in the various poisons mankind releases into the atmosphere and the soil and the fact that young children do not have a properly developed immune system, that should not be surprising.

Environmental factors that have been claimed to contribute to or exacerbate autism, or may be important in future research, include certain foods, infectious disease, heavy metals, solvents, diesel exhaust, PCBs, phthalates and phenols used in plastic products, pesticides, brominated flame retardants, alcohol, smoking, illicit drugs, vaccines and prenatal stress.

Autism has also been associated with maternal rubella, untreated phenylketonuria, lack of oxygen at birth, tuberous sclerosis and encephalitis. Some studies have established a link with abnormalities in neurotransmitters, including increased dopamine and increased serotonin.

Autism is still fairly rare with 4 to 5 children per 10,000 births being affected but the huge and continuing rise in the incidence of Autism is alarming.

Signs and Symptoms

A major characteristic of children with Autism is unresponsiveness to people. Infants with this disorder will not cuddle, they avoid eye contact, do not show facial expressions and are indifferent to affection and physical contact. They may become rigid or flaccid when held and cry when touched.

As they grow older their smiling response is absent or delayed, they do not form an attachment to their caregivers and do not show anxiety in the presence of strangers. The end result of these problems is that an emotional bond between the children and their parents may fail to develop.

Severe language impairment and lack of imagination, meaningless repetition of words and actions, screaming fits, rhythmic rocking, arm flapping, disturbed sleeping and eating patterns and crying without tears may also be prevalent. Most autistic children have an IQ of 35 to 49.

Treatment

As yet there is no known cure for autism, but early intervention, the establishment of strict routines, specialised education and structured support can help develop skills, minimise behaviour problems and enable each child, whatever their level of disability, to achieve as great a degree of independence as possible.

People with autism often insist on following routines or rituals, and can be distressed over changes to small details of the environment, such as wanting to keep to the same route to the shops or eat dinner from the same plate. It is thought that they feel tremendous anxiety at the unpredictability of daily life, and these rituals and routines remove some of the uncertainty for them about what will happen next.

A child with ASD may respond atypically to medications, the medications can have adverse effects, and no known medication relieves the core symptoms of social and communication impairments. Investigation and treatment of Biological, Nutritional and Metabolic factors have led to improvement of symptoms or complete resolution of symptoms in a multitude of Children with Autism worldwide. Some recent work with acupressure patches does however show promise.

Prognosis

The prognosis for Autism is poor with most sufferers requiring a structured environment throughout life, but all kids with autism have brighter futures when they have the support and understanding of doctors, teachers, caregivers, parents, brothers, sisters, and friends.

Dick Aronson has a background of 35 years in pharmaceuticals and alternative medicines, software development and human resources. He has for a number of years now been retained by companies looking to expand or needing to restructure. Publisher of numerous healthcare articles, some of Dick's websites can be found at: http://www.life-wave-patches.com and http://www.healthinnovationsonline.com

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