Autism is widely acknowledged as a brain development disorder, although a number of recent studies are contending this long-standing belief. As anyone familiar with the issue of autism would know, the debate regarding the cause of autism is still ongoing. If autism is indeed a brain development disorder, then people with autism can no longer be cured. However, many factions have released studies claiming that autism is caused by other factors, which means autism can still become curable in time. One of the more prevalent claims, supported by a number studies, is that autism is caused by bacteria in the gut.

This claim is not as preposterous as it seems, as proven by a number of studies by esteemed organization. For one, the gut of autistic children are obviously not functioning well to begin with, as the leaky gut symptoms of autistic children would prove.

One of the first formal studies on this issue was conducted by the University of Reading in the United Kingdom. In the study done in 2006, it was found that out that autistic children had species of the clostridium that were not found in the gut of children without autism. These clostridium species can produce harmful toxins, which could damage the brain.
In the study, the researchers gave 20 children a bacterium called lactobacillus lantarum, a probiotic present in a person’s gut responsible for warding off harmful substances, while the other 20 were given placebo. Although the research itself failed because around half of the participants dropped out, the inconclusive results were promising. According to the reports, the parents of the autistic children dropped out because they figured that their child were part of the test (those who received the bacterium). After seeing improvements in their children-specifically in their behavior and concentration-they refused to give their children placebo. Clearly, these means the use of probiotics to improve the function of their gut has produced results.

A more specific claim was released by the University of Western Ontario. According to their studies, compounds that were produced in an autistic children’s digestive system are linked to the behavior of these individuals. This was found out after they administered diets that with diary and wheat substances to rats. The rats exhibited repetitive behaviors, as well as impairment in their social behaviors. Both of these are common symptoms of children suffering from autism. Later on, the brains of the rat test subjects were examined. The result: their brains were inflamed-similar to the brains of children with autism.

Although the results of these tests do not necessary prove anything conclusive about autism, they have established a number of things important to the issue. As the University of Western Ontario said in thee CBC News website, this proves that the body can influence the brain-an indication that problems in the gut can indeed cause autism. Of course, as the researchers from the University of Reading said, it could be the cause of autism-but it can also be an effect. Either way, these studies have somehow established that taking care of an autistic child’s gut can produce encouraging results.

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