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Autistic Special Diets Debunked
Strike another one against Jenny McCarthy: the special diet that the actress claims cured her son’s autism is nothing but a bunch of hooey. Or at least so say the researchers in this months issue of the Pediatrics.
The study completed by researchers at Harvard has been reported by the AP to refute the concept of “autistic enterocolitis,” one of the buzzwords for the pro-diet crowd (including McCarthy) that essentially means kid with autism have a special inflammatory bowl disease.
That’s not to say gastrointestinal illnesses don’t exist in autistic kids – this study goes hand in hand with a study published last year in Pediatrics that determined “data suggest that a neurobehavioral rather than a primary organic gastrointestinal etiology may account for the higher incidence of these gastrointestinal symptoms in children with autism.”
And that’s actually good news for parents with autistic kids – they’re getting some answers to why their kids have gastrointestinal issues and answers for how to treat them. They’re also getting new marching orders.
McCarthy may be the best known adovacate of the practice, but she’s hardly the only one. Autism Speaks estimates sixteen percent of families are using special diets to attempt to treat their child’s autism. And though dietary approaches are listed as a treatment option on the CDC website, the CDC warns “many of these treatments do not have the scientific support needed for widespread recommendation. An unproven treatment might help one child, but may not help another.”
Image: blw photography via flickr
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5 Comments
JCF commented on Jan 04 10 at 4:35 pmI don’t know a lot about these diets or autism; however, I have seen first hand how the diet my severely autistic cousin is on helps lessen his “autistic symptoms.” It by no means cures him (he is non-verbal and remains so even with the diet), but it does make a world of difference in his life, and I’d hate to see other people not at least give the diet a try to see if it would help their child!
Bekka commented on Jan 04 10 at 7:25 pmAll this means is that diet doesn’t cause (or cure) autism. Still, any special diet (or any type of treatment) for those with gastric problems that makes a kid less uncomfortable will improve their mood and reactions. If autistic kids have a higher prevalence of gastric disorders, it makes sense that many of them would benefit especially from appropriate dietary treatment – and as anyone with kids with or without emotional problems knows, uncomfortable kids are badly behaved kids, period.
at commented on Jan 05 10 at 1:25 pmi’d trust parents w/ first hand experience over this. don’t you wonder who funded this study??
TM commented on Jan 05 10 at 7:59 pmHarvard researchers. Second paragraph. Click on the link to the study, there’s the names of the researchers too.
Unless you’re expecting some nefarious source like twinkie manufacturers and cola bottlers. This cult of paranoia over science is really out of hand.
Lisa commented on Jan 07 10 at 9:52 pmyeah, because the OT and Speech and other therapies probably don’t make a difference. It’s all watching the sugar and glutton.
Sheesh. This is every bit as stupid as the vaccine thing.
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