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An abandoned study has hinted that autism can be treated with 'friendly' bacteria.
Together with earlier evidence, the findings suggest a link between the behavioural disorder and a bug that causes stomach upsets.
Children aged four to eight with autism were found to have unusually large numbers of harmful clostridia bacteria in their guts.
The researchers wanted to see what would happen if the children were given a probiotic drink containing 'friendly' bacteria to combat the harmful organism.
They were startled to find parents reporting significant improvements in behaviour - to such an extent that the study itself was undermined.
So many parents refused to let their children remain in the 'placebo' group, containing those not allowed the treatment, that the research could not continue.
Professor Glenn Gibson from the University of Reading told the BA Festival of Science in Norwich: "The children were showing better concentration and behaviour.
"Parents didn't want their children in the placebo group. The study failed because half dropped out.
"I'd really like to go back to it and do it in a better way, perhaps with professional help from people who know how to work with autistic children."
Prof Gibson admitted that the study was very small, involving just 40 children. However, it provided a "hint" of a causal link with clostridia that could not be dismissed out of hand, he said
very hopeful
tigress
RE: friendly bacteria
I am sure that if I got my son to eat Yoghurt with Good Bacteria it would help him so much. Trouble is Asperger's kids often won't touch many foods they don't like smell, taste, texture etc. There are so many other foods I would love him to eat but I can just hope for now! At least he will eat Omega 3 supplements!
RE: friendly bacteria
ORIGINAL: Ayres Rock
I am sure that if I got my son to eat Yoghurt with Good Bacteria it would help him so much. Trouble is Asperger's kids often won't touch many foods they don't like smell, taste, texture etc. There are so many other foods I would love him to eat but I can just hope for now! At least he will eat Omega 3 supplements!
I think that although the yoghurts may contain good bacteria, they often contain sugars etc that feed the bad bacteria, and for some it would be too low a dose. Depends on the gut ecology to start with I think.
Another option is to buy probiotic powders, or capsules, (which can be opened up if swallowing them is a problem). They can besprinkled onto other foods, stirred into smoothies etc. You can also consider using a therapeutic dose to start with, (toimprove the gut ecology) and then going on to a maintenancelevel or occasional use as necessary,depending onongoing diet, digestive problems etc.
RE: friendly bacteria
Surely the acid in our stomachs kills most if not all the bacteria we consume (friendly or otherwise!).
My view of this and I'm no expert but: We all consume millions of bacteria eachday and very rarelyget stomach upsets which is strong evidence that our stomach acid is very effective at killing bacteria (friendly or otherwise!) before it enters our intestines which is where the naturally present 'friendly' bacteria are found. To my mind the idea of supplementing intestinal bacteriain this way is fundamentally flawed.
As for a clinical study where the recipients of the placebo knew they were receiving a placebo!! I couldn't think of a better way to guarantee a false positive response than to do such a test with parents and their children!
Is anyone aware of any independent research which supports the claimed benefits of 'Healthy Bacteria' products? I would be very interested to find out more about this.
RE: friendly bacteria
ORIGINAL: Mad Monk
Surely the acid in our stomachs kills most if not all the bacteria we consume (friendly or otherwise!).
Someone with adequate stomach acid is less likely to get stomach upsets, butisn't immune to (say) food poisoning. Depends on the quantity and the type of bacteria I think. So I tend to think of probiotics in the same way, if given in a therapeutic dose, a proportion will make it through, and be able to multiply.
Some of the new formulations of therapeutic probiotics are designed to withstand stomach juices, and come with things that support their growth in the gut. If gut problems are a factor, then its well worth a try I think.
RE: friendly bacteria
ORIGINAL: Mad Monk
Is anyone aware of any independent research which supports the claimed benefits of 'Healthy Bacteria' products? I would be very interested to find out more about this.
I've been asked not to putso many links to offsite sources so if you enter the followingbold text in [link= http://scholar.google.com/ ]Scholar[/link]you should be able to find some interesting reading.
Probiotics as an adjuvant to detoxification protocols.
Application of genomeceuticals to the molecular and immunological aspects of autism.
these are a couple of papers showing how there MAY be a use for them in Autism.
This research Survival and persistence of Lactobacillus plantarum 4.1 and Lactobacillus reuteri 3S7 in the gastrointestinal tract of pigs. shows probiotics work in pigs and isn't all killed off by stomach acids.
Effects of probiotics on enteric flora and feeding tolerance in preterm infants. shows some researchers trying to establish with 37% success probiotics in the stomachs of preterm babies.
Effect of Lactobacillus GG supplementation on pulmonary exacerbations in patients with cystic fibrosis: A pilot study. shows how it helps children with Cystic fibrosis.
These are just the results of a few minutes searching. I could spend longer to produce some more relevant and better examples but they are sufficient to show the reasons why it may be beneficial and to provide clear examples of the process actually working.
So I personally think we need friendly bacteria in our stomachs. I think the little pots in the supermarket are overpriced. But when they are reduced I buy them. I make kefir and yoghurt all the time at home andadd the (reduced end of date)probiotic to my yoghurt starter and hope it will grow on in harmony with the live yoghurt. I've no way of knowing if it does.
One of the papers I considered linking to was showing how encapsulating the probiotic was effective in enabling it to survive stomach acids better and thrive in the intestine.
RE: friendly bacteria
Thanks Ted,
There's certainly a fair amount to go at there. I'll let you know what I think when I've had chance to plough through it, might not be today!!!
Best regards
Adam
Edit:
I've already read enough to realise my case against probiotics might not be quite as cut and shut asI thought.
There does seem to bea real question over the highly variableprobiotic levels contained in the 'Food/lifestyle' type probiotics which are obviously not subject to pharmaceutical controls. Although, having said that, evidence of the beneficial effects of probiotics, whilst not definitive, does seem to be mounting and is stronger than I had expected.
great post.
great post. Thank you. here is some of my thought.