Probiotics, Mood and Autism

A new literature analysis showed that probiotics improved depression, cognition, anxiety and even social anxiety although there needs to be more reasearch done including more placebo controlled trials, (Caroline J. K. Wallace and Milev Roumen, "The Effects of Probiotics on Depressive Symptoms in Humans: A Systemic Review," Annals of General Psychiatry (2017) 16, No.14 doi: 10.1186/s12991-017-0138-2). Changes in the mircobiology of the gut may have profound effects.

Ten studies were analysed for depression, seven for anxiety and three for cognition. Depression and anxiety can manifest as increased health dangerous behaviors in individuals with autism. One study in the analysis found a reduction in anger-hostility scores on a standaridzed outcome measure. Individuals with autism often have problems coping with emotions including anger. One placebo controlled study discussed in the analysis showed "reduced overall cognitive reactivity to depression, in particular aggressive and ruminative thoughts." Ruminative thoughts are common in individuals with autism spectrum disorders. Unlike medications, probiotics have not shown to have side effects.

Supreme Court Unanimously Overturns Gorsuch's Discriminatory Ruling

Two days ago, the US Supreme Court stated in a unanimous decision that education for children with special needs has to go beyond, what Neil Gorsuch ruled, which was "merely... more than de minimus" progress. Children who do not have special needs have to take rigorous standardized exams. If they perform poorly, even if there is merely more than minimal progress than the year before, teachers and schools will be blamed. Many schools have closed due to students performing poorly on these exams. Making merely more than minimal progress does not apply to children without disabilities. If it did, standardized exams and even much of the cirriculum would be unnecessary.
Applying a lower standard for educational progress for neurotypical children than individuals, who through no choice of their own need additional services, clearly is discriminatory. The United States Supreme Court made the right decision.

ADHD, iron and ferritin

Individuals with autism often display symptoms of ADHD. A recent literature analysis of ten studies involving 2,191 subjects and 1,196 cases of ADHD (Wang, Y., Huang L., Qu., and Mu, D., "Iron Status in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Systemic Review and Meta-analysis," PLoS One, 12(1), e0169145, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0169145) showed that individuals with ADHD have lower levels of seurm ferritin. Ferritin is a protein inside cells which stores iron and a low level can detect an iron deficiency early on. Although this deserves further study, it may make sense to check a ferritin level when someone has ADHD symptoms and consider iron supplementation which is both safe and inexpensive. *

autism, sleep and behaviors

Individuals with autism sometimes have problems with sleep. Not getting sufficient sleep can increase behavior problems. Often these individuals are placed on medication. However, let's also look at diet. According to one recent study, (St-Onge MP, Roberts A, Shechter A, Choudhury AR. Fiber and Saturated Fat are Associated with Sleep Arousals and Slow Wave Sleep. J Clin Sleep Med 2016;12(1): 19-24), high amounts of saturated fat and sugar and low fiber were associated with problems sleeping. More sugar and other carbohydrates excluding fiber were associated with more arousals. Low fiber and high saturated fat were associated with lighter sleep. Even though this controlled study was small with only 26 subjects and further testing is needed, unlike medications, increaing fiber and decreasing saturated fat and refined carbohydrates carry no risk for side effects and individuals will not develop tolerance.