Research summaries for autism therapy: gastrointestinal

definition of gastrointestinal: Parts of the body involved in eating and drinking, digestion, all the way through the making of waste products. Parts include throat, stomach, and intestines. Does not involve kidneys and parts included in the urinary tract.
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Gastrointestinal Symptoms in a Sample of Children with Pervasive Developmental Disorders, Summarized Nov 4, 2010

Children’s GI problems appear less likely to respond to autism treatment and therefore GI symptoms may need to be considered and treated when creating a treatment plan for a child with autism.

The purpose of this study was to study the GI problems in a large sample of children with autism. The authors studied 172 children who entered two large-scale autism drug therapy trials. The groups (GI problems and no GI problems) were the same with regards to sex, race, special education placement, and family background. It seemed that those children who had more GI problems also had more behavioral problems. Children with autism and GI problems also had more social problems than children without GI problems.

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Secretin Is an Ineffective Treatment for Pervasive Developmental Disabilities: A Review of 15 Double-Blind Randomized Controlled Trials, Summarized Oct 13, 2009

Secretin therapy may result in short term improvement of language and social problems in children with autism.

Secretin is a hormone produced by the gastrointestinal tract that helps the body to digest food. Secretin has been proposed as a therapy to treat autism This review article includes 15 studies of secretin therapy for children with autism. All 15 studies were double-blind, randomized, and placebo-controlled. None of the studies showed that secretin therapy could help children with autism. Some of the studies showed that language and social skills did get better, but the improvements did not last long. Four studies said that secretin may help children with autism who also have gut problems, but the data in these studies were not strong.

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Are There More Bowel Symptoms in Children with Autism Compared to Normal Children and Children with Other Developmental and Neurological Disorders? A Case Control Study, Summarized Oct 8, 2009

Children with autism may have more bowel trouble than mainstream school children, but about the same amount of bowel trouble as children with other developmental disorders.

This case control study compared 52 children with autism spectrum disorders to 35 children from special schools and 112 mainstream school children. There were more reports of constipation, diarrhea, and flatulence (farting) in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) as compared to mainstream school children. The children with autism had about the same bowel trouble reports as children attending special needs schools. Parent reports of digestive trouble ranged from 14-25% for the different conditions. Overall, 35% of parents of children with autism reported concern about their child's bowels.

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The School Nurse’s Role in Treatment of the Student with Autism Spectrum Disorders, Summarized Oct 7, 2009

The school nurse is the “front line” medical professional and may be an important part of the care of children with autism in school.

Children with autism may have a range of health issues and use a range of therapies during school. The school nurse may be most helpful if she knows about the treatments and medical conditions. Medical issues include seizures, gastrointestinal (GI) problems, sleep problems, and medications. The school nurse can also be a part of the individualized education plan (IEP) for the child with autism.

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Synonyms for gastrointestinal include: gut
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