Fwd: Dietary Breakthroughs - finally professionals taking it seriously!

[Guest guest]

FYI - from another list - sorry don't have the source; just found it

on a list...

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London researchers have found a link between food and autism, a

discovery that's creating a buzz in the world of medical research.

Their study is giving clout to a long-held claim by many parents who

say

they can alter their children's behaviour -- and lessen autistic

symptoms --

by altering their diets.

" What parents are telling us about the digestive system complaints

of these

children has a great deal of merit, " research director Dr. Derrick

MacFabe

said yesterday from Atlanta.

" But I want to show that there is some hope. This study allows us to

examine

things which have the potential to reduce the risk of the disease and

possibly treat it.

" There is something common to diet, digestive system, immune system,

behaviours and to brain function of autistic children. "

The neuroscientist is director of the Kilee Patchell- Autism

Research

Group at the University of Western Ontario.

Named after the 10-year-old autistic daughter of Patchell-

, the

team was established three years ago to search for causes of the

disease

affecting one in 166 children.

Autism is a mental condition characterized by failure to communicate,

difficulty in learning and self-stimulating or aggressive behaviour.

" I'm excited because for a long time, parents have said that what

their kid

eats makes a difference, " said Patchell-, the chief executive of

GoodLife Fitness who established the research team with a sizable

donation.

" Now we've moved from gossip to science and when you stop gossiping

and move

to a scientific foundation . . . then you can start some real

progression

because the medical community needs a scientifically rigorous

study. "

Like many parents of autistic children, Patchell- took his

daughter off

wheat and dairy about a year after she was diagnosed on the basis of

anecdotal evidence that it could help.

The difference, he said, was " night and day. She learns better, she

pays

better attention, her hyperactivity decreases, her sociability

increases .

and she sleeps through the night. "

The research team began looking into a possible link between autism

and diet

after hearing many accounts from parents claiming their children had

digestive problems.

Patchell-' findings were similar to those of thousands of

parents, said

MacFabe, who studied whether digestive upsets could worsen autistic

symptoms

such as repetitive behaviours, social isolation and poor impulse

control.

The team focused on a compound called propionic acid, present in

some foods

such as refined wheat and dairy products.

The acid is also produced by many types of digestive bacteria,

particularly

those associated with antibiotic-associated diarrhea, MacFabe said.

Scientists put the compound into the brains of lab rats, which became

hyperactive and repetitive, showing signs of social impairment that

resembles that in autistic patients.

Repeated exposure showed worsening behavioural effects, said

MacFabe, and

brain changes that resemble seizures that often co-exist with

autism.

Then analysing the brains of these animals, researchers showed an

inflammatory response closely resembling those found in a recent

Hopkins study on autistic brain material.

The UWO research team includes MacFabe, psychology chair Dr. Klaus-

Ossenkopp, Dr. Cain, Dr. Kavaliers, Dr.

Hampson and

Dr. Fred Possmayer.

MacFabe and other team members are in Atlanta to present their study

at a

major neuroscience conference.

Soon to appear in the prestigious biomedical journal Behavioral Brain

Research, the study is garnering international attention for the

team.

Some of the team's work has already been well received at a Montreal

conference, the International Meeting of Autism Researchers.

The paper has also attracted the attention of the Brain Development

and

Disorders Project at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

(MIT).

" We need this kind of integrative research to understand what is

going on in

autism and how the gut-brain axis is involved, " said project

director Dr.

Martha Herbert, who will be collaborating with MacFabe to further

examine

this in human patients.

The next step for the UWO group is to work with Queen's University's

Dr.

Jeanette Holden, director of the Canadian-American Autism Research

Consortium.