Skip to main content

Little-understood bacterium commonly found in autistics' intestines

An interesting article about a bacteria group that can be found in the intestines of autistics' with gastrointestinal issues but not in the systems of non-autistics has come out recently, bringing more credence to the connection between gut/brain issues and autism.

The study came from Brent Williams and colleagues at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, and will be published in an upcoming issue of mBio, the publication of the American Society for Microbiology.

Bacteria from the group Sutterella was not found in the guts of non-autistic children, but was found in 12 of 23 samples of bacteria from the intestinal tracts of autistic children in the study. It's not known if the bacteria itself is a pathogen in itself or an indicator of some other condition.

But it lends a lot of support to the connection between leaky gut and autism, as we discussed back in the article with Scarlett and her success with a Paleo regimen. Something different is going on with the intestines of autistic kids, and in many cases a simple Gluten-free/Casein-free diet has helped many, though Mat Lalonde and others have suggested that a full Paleo diet can do even more (and Scarlett is living n=1 proof of that).

Some interesting questions should come out of this:

  1. Is the presence of Sutterella causative of such conditions, or a by-product?

  2. What exactly is Sutterella nourishing itself with that is in the intestines of autistic kids?

  3. What can be done to the diet of autistic kids to make their bacterial makeup more like that of neuro-typical kids?

This study could go a long way to helping a lot of kids, and I look forward to hearing more about this study.

Comments

  1. This is good to learn. Thanks!

    I expect that Sutterella bloom can be a cause and can be a by-product depending on what the initial body insult was. In the years that I've been treating my son (now 12), the first big improvement was seen with a change in diet (a diet very similar to today's Paleo diets). This reduces offenses to the gut, provides better nourishment, and feeds a healthier balance of gut flora. Other remedies can follow from there.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mutagon, I'd be interested in hearing more about the diet you've been using with your son. But it seems that reducing inflammation of all kinds, especially that which causes leaky gut and other types of gut bacterial issues, is a big part of the solution. That's what GF/CF, the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, the GAPS diet, and Paleo are all about to varying degrees and they all have shown to be valuable.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I imagine you know as much as I do or more. What type of info are you interested in?

    I started my high-functioning autistic son on GF/CF and soon after refined it to the SCD (after consulting a DAN! doc). Since then I've picked up pieces from Atkins, the Body Ecology Diet (which targets gut flora balance), the GAPS Diet, the Feingold Program, and Paleo. As you mention, there is a lot of overlap between these various diets. Each also has an educational perspective of its own to add.

    My son is a mainstream student today with mild asperger's symptoms. At this point, I'm not sure what formal diet he is closest to since I've combined things from each. I've also adapted same diet as he .. all my research - and the results - has shown it's a healthier way. Eliminate negative inputs, heal the gut, provide optimal nutrition.

    Of course, one of the essentials of health health is being able to measure what's going on in the indeterminate areas between full health and acute illness. Blood/stool/urine tests, as well as behavioral surveys, have filled this role. Various supplements have helped boost progress toward the normal: B and other vitamins vitamins, omega fatty acids, antioxidants, specific amino acids, prebiotics, probiotics, antimicrobials, and so on.

    I'd be interested to learn more of the latest research in any of these areas and provide things I've learned from my experience.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I would like to know if there's a link to antibiotic use before &/or during labor. I was being treated w/ high amounts of antibiotics for Group B Strep & my son had severe issues w/ thrush, reflux, constipation, & ultimately Autism. If Autism is possibly being considered a gut-related disease, our case leads me back to that antibiotic!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Caffeine and Cortisol - a 30-Day Experiment

No Caffeine for Me! Today, I began upon a 30-day experiment to reduce my cortisol levels by removing coffee from my diet. The goal is to see how it might be affecting my cognitive function and my belly fat. Cortisol is a hormone that is related to stress .  At a very basic level, cortisol is created as a response to stressors in our environment.  Back when we were still chucking spears at deer and chasing down antelope, cortisol was helping to preserve our lives by giving us quick energy by signalling to our livers that it was time to engage in a process known as gluconeogenesis. This process is basically the breakdown of amino acids, the building blocks of protein, into glucose - one of the two monosaccharides (the healthy one) that our bodies use for fuel. Picture this - you're walking across the street, enjoying the day, when suddenly some inattentive driver tries to turn and doesn't see you.  Your heart rate speeds up, and you get a little burst of speed to quickly sprint o

More on Journaling: So many tools...

Journaling was long a habit that I wanted to pick up but just never did.  And it was never because I didn't believe in its worth, it was that I just never built the habit or found the proper method that worked best for me.  I'd start it for a while, be enthusiastic about it, and then lose the habit when something else came up and interrupted me.   That's all changed for me now, as I look forward each morning and night to journaling in my newest tool I've found.  But that search has clued me in to a ton of great journaling tools that might help you as you're looking for that great push to get you into the journaling habit!   The Five-Minute-Journal:    This is obviously   the one I've adopted .  It's simple, it's quick, and it does the trick.  I won't expand into stuff I've already talked about with this in the two posts I've done on this fantastic tool.  But let's talk about some of the other aspects of the Five-Minute Journal.

How Essential Oils Are Manly

The real man's toolkit: essential oils and duck tape.  "Yeah, I use essential oils." Silence. This is the normal reaction I get why I, as an adult male human, tell other men that I use essential oils instead of things like aspirin, Tums or Rolaids, Ben Gay, or any number of other pharmaceuticals. There's this impression out there that essential oils are girly, I guess, or that they're like most other products that are primarily for making things smell nicer: they're for the ladies. Or even that they're new agey and woo-woo - to be used only when listening to Windham Hill CDs and cleansing your chakras. Real men don't care about smells, right? They thrive on sweat, piss and vinegar. They belch, fart, and otherwise release smells into the air that are simultaneously hilarious and relieving to the body. They get upset because their wives bought decorative soaps and guest towels for the bathroom that they're not allowed to use. They frown a