In a recent study, researchers found that autism symptoms can be reduced nearly 50% two years after fecal transplant.
The research was conducted by a team at Arizona State University and elsewhere.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about one in every 59 children in the U.S. is diagnosed with autism, up from one in every 150 in 2000.
The apparent rise in autism and its stubborn resistance to treatment has motivated researchers to explore the disability in innovative ways.
Currently, effective treatments for autism include behavioral therapy, speech and social therapy, psychiatric medications, and dietary and nutritional methods.
However, no medical treatments have been approved to treat core symptoms of ASD such as social communication difficulties and repetitive behaviors.
One promising autism treatment involves the gut microbiome, which is the collection of microbes that lives in our intestines and helps us in many ways including digestion of our food, training our immune system and preventing overgrowth of harmful bacteria.
Recent research suggests our gut microbiomes also affect brain communication and neurological health.
Worldwide, interest is growing in the idea that changes in normal gut microbiota may be responsible for triggering a vast range of diseases.
Roughly 30-50% of all people with autism have chronic gastrointestinal (GI) problems, primarily constipation and/or diarrhea that can last for many years.
That chronic discomfort and pain can cause irritability, decreased attention and learning, and negatively impact behavior.
An earlier study with only vancomycin (an antibiotic) had found major temporary improvements in GI and autism symptoms, but the benefits were lost a few weeks after treatment stopped despite the use of over-the-counter probiotics.
In this study, the team demonstrated long-term beneficial effects for children diagnosed with autism through a revolutionary technique known as Microbiota Transfer Therapy (MTT).
It is a special type of fecal transplant originally pioneered by Dr. Thomas Borody, an Australian gastroenterologist.
Remarkably, improvements in gut health and autism symptoms appear to persist long after treatment.
At two years post-treatment, most of the initial improvements in gut symptoms remained.
In addition, parents reported a slow steady reduction of ASD symptoms during treatment and over the next two years.
A professional evaluator found a 45% reduction in core ASD symptoms (language, social interaction, and behavior) at two years post-treatment compared to before treatment began.
At the start of the study, 83% of participants were rated as “severe” autism. At the end of the study, only 17% were “severe,” 39% were “mild/moderate,” and 44% were below the cut-off for mild ASD.
The team says kids with autism are lacking important beneficial bacteria, and have fewer options in the bacterial menu of important functions that bacteria provide to the gut than typically developing kids.
The new treatment substantially increased microbial diversity and the presence of helpful bacteria in the gut, such as Bifidobacteria and Prevotella.
One author of the study is Arizona State University researchers Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown, Ph.D.
The study is published in Scientific Reports.
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