Microbiome and Autism Awareness

Today is the first day of AUTISM AWARENESS month. With epidemic numbers of children being diagnosed with Autism, I am fairly confident that many are AWARE that Autism exists. What you may not be AWARE of is the cutting edge research that is being done, showing that Autism may be much more than “just” a psychological disorder. In fact, with ever increasing research findings showing links to gastrointestinal dysfunction, immune dysregulation and  acquired mitochondrial disease, I believe “autism” is much more of a medical condition than anyone may have first suspected.

Last summer, I wrote about this conference in Arkansas (and what the microbiome has to do with Autism).  If you missed it, the GREAT news is that the conference was archived and can be viewed here.

If you prefer to read versus watch te conference replay you can view this special edition of the scientific journal Microbial Ecology in Health and Disease. Read the collection of articles in the section “The Microbiome in Autism Spectrum Disorders”. Open access to the journal can be found here:

http://www.microbecolhealthdis.net/index.php/mehd/pages/view/clusters

This special edition is still “in process” so check back often for even more research and updates!

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If you have a child with Autism and have been told there is little you can do besides therapy, ABA and come to terms with the diagnosis, I would encourage you to KEEP looking and asking questions!! You may find somethings to try in these posts about AUTISM PREVENTION.