Could autism be helped by changing a patient’s diet? Taking probiotics and adopting a gluten-free lifestyle may improve sufferers’ social behaviour and ability to express emotions

Gluten causes a ‘leaky gut’, where toxins travel to the brain and cause symptoms
Probiotics are thought to reverse this process by strengthening the gut’s lining
Researchers believe this may offer a cheap, effective way of treating the disorder
They add that more research is needed and behavioural therapy should continue

Autism may be helped by changing a patient’s diet, new research reveals.

Taking probiotics and adopting a gluten-free lifestyle may improve sufferers’ social behaviour and ability to express emotions, a study review found.

This is thought to be due to gluten causing a ‘leaky gut’ – where toxins and even undigested food enter the bloodstream and travel to the brain, which may cause autism symptoms.

Probiotics are thought to reverse this by strengthening the gut’s lining.

Study author Dr Qinrui Li from Peking University, said: ‘Efforts to restore the gut microbiota to that of a healthy person has been shown to be really effective.

‘Our review looked at taking probiotics, prebiotics, changing the diet – for example, to gluten- and casein-free diets. All had a positive impact on symptoms.’

Taking probiotics and adopting a gluten-free lifestyle may improve autism symptoms

SUICIDE RATES AMONG PEOPLE WITH AUTISM HAVE REACHED ‘WORRYINGLY’ HIGH LEVELS

Suicide rates among people with autism in England have reached ‘worryingly’ high levels, according to experts.

Researchers believe the condition is poorly understood and action is urgently required to help at-risk patients.

A study previously revealed 66 per cent of adults newly diagnosed with a form of autism have contemplated ending their life.

Study author Dr Cassidy from the University of Coventry, said: ‘What relatively little we know about suicidality in autism points to a worryingly high prevalence of people with the condition contemplating and attempting to take their own life.

‘More concerning still, the small body of research that does exist exposes serious shortcomings in how prepared we are to intervene and provide effective support to those with autism who are most at risk of dying by suicide.’

How the study was carried out

Researchers from Peking University analysed more than 150 papers dating back to the 1960s.

The studies investigated the impact of taking probiotics or prebiotics on autism symptoms.

Prebiotics are indigestible food ingredients, such as fibre, that act as fertilisers to stimulate the growth of bugs in the digestive tract. Probiotics specifically introduce new bacteria into the gut.

The studies also assessed the impact of gluten and casein-free diets. Casein is a type of protein found in milk.

Results revealed that improving the gut’s bacterial health via dietary choices eases autism symptoms.

Supplementing autistic sufferers’ diets with probiotics or prebiotics may help to strengthen activity in areas of the brain associated with emotion, the research revealed.

A gluten and casein-free diet was also found to improve symptoms and social behaviour.

The findings were published in the journal Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience.

Gluten, a protein found in bread, may make the gut permeable, leading to the disorder

CENTURY-OLD SICKNESS DRUG ALLOWED AUTISTIC 14-YEAR-OLD TO SAY HIS FIRST FULL SENTENCE

Autism could be treated by a drug that has been around for more than 100 years, new research suggests.

The drug, known as suramin, which was originally developed to treat sleeping sickness, produced dramatic results in young sufferers after just one dose.

These included improvements to their language and social behavior, as well as their coping skills.

Study author Professor Robert Naviaux, from the University of California in San Diego, said: ‘We had four non-verbal children in the study, two 6-year-olds and two 14-year-olds. The six-year-old and the 14-year-old who received suramin said the first sentences of their lives about one week after the single suramin infusion.’

Around one in 68 children in the US and up to one in 100 in the UK are on the autistic spectrum.

Why is a healthy gut important?

A healthy gut is thought to reduce autism symptoms via the so-called ‘gut-brain axis’ – where conditions in the gut influence the brain’s processes.

The overgrowth of ‘bad’ bacteria in the gut leads to the production of toxins, which makes the gut lining more permeable.

This allows the toxins and even undigested food to enter the bloodstream and travel up to the brain, which may cause autism in young children.

Gluten and casein have previously been linked to ‘leaky gut syndrome’, where the permeability of the small intestine is increased.

Probiotics and prebiotics are thought to reverse this by strengthening the gut’s lining.

Dr Li said: ‘Efforts to restore the gut microbiota to that of a healthy person has been shown to be really effective.

‘Our review looked at taking probiotics, prebiotics, changing the diet – for example, to gluten- and casein-free diets.

‘All had a positive impact on symptoms.’

How may the findings benefit patients?

Dr Li said: ‘To date there are no effective therapies to treat this range of brain developmental disorders.

‘The number of people being diagnosed with ASD [autism spectrum disorder] is on the rise. As well as being an expensive condition to manage, ASD has a huge emotional and social cost on families of sufferers.’

Although simple dietary changes may benefit autism sufferers, the researchers add more research is required.

Dr Li said: ‘For now, behavioural therapies remain the best way to treat ASD.

‘We would hope that our review leads to research on the link between the gut microbiota and ASD, and eventually a cheap and effective treatment.’