Autism Research: Gastrointestinal symptoms can affect autism in children.

Aug 11, 2020 /--- A new study from the University of California, Davis, has found that common gastrointestinal symptoms, such as diarrhea, constipation and bloating, are associated with sleep problems, self-harm and physical discomfort in preschool children.
study, published August 6 in the journal Autism Research, found that these gastrointestinal symptoms are more common and destructive in young children with autism.
and parents need to be aware of the high incidence of gastrointestinal diseases in children with autism," said Bibiana Restrepo, assistant clinical professor of child medicine and lead author of the study.
study highlights the link between gastrointestinal symptoms and some of the problem behaviors we see in preschool children.
(Photo: www.pixabay.com) Parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often report gastrointestinal discomfort in their children.
at the MIND Institute at the University of California, Davis, assessed the presence of gastrointestinal symptoms in preschool children with and without autism.
the study included 255 ASD children between the ages of 2 and 3.5 (184 males /71 females) and 129 children of the same age (75 males/54 females).
during the assessment, a pediatrician who specializes in autism interviewed a guardian.
the questions included how often their children had gastrointestinal symptoms, such as difficulty swallowing, abdominal pain, bloating, diarrhea, constipation, stool pain, vomiting, difficulty swallowing, stool and vomiting.
researchers divided children into two categories: those who had experienced one or more gastrointestinal symptoms and those who had never had or rarely had gastrointestinal symptoms in the past three months.
compared the development, behavior and adaptive functions of two groups of children.
study found that preschoolers with ASD were 2.7 times more likely to develop gastrointestinal symptoms than their normal development peers.
, almost 50 per cent of ASD children reported frequent GI symptoms, while only 18 per cent of typical developing children reported them.
about 30 per cent of ASD children experience a variety of gastrointestinal symptoms.
of gastrointestinal symptoms are associated with increased sleep and attention challenges, as well as problem behaviors associated with self-harm, aggressiveness, and restricted or repetitive behavior in children with autism and usually developing children.
children with autism are more likely to have these problems.
behavioral abnormalities can be a manifestation of gastrointestinal discomfort in preschool children," said Christine Wu Nordahl, an associate professor at the MIND Institute at the University of California, Davis, and in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.
gastrointestinal symptoms are usually treatable, it is important to recognize the prevalent of gastrointestinal symptoms in children with autism.
treatment of their gastrointestinal symptoms may provide some relief to children and their parents.
found no link between gastrointestinal symptoms and cognitive development or gender in children.
gastrointestinal symptoms are equally common in preschool men and women.
(bioon.com) Source: GI symptoms linked to behavioral problems in children, especially those with autism Original source: Bibiana Restrepo et al, Developmental-behavioral profiles in children with autism spectrum disorder and co-booking gastrointestinal symptoms, Autism Research (2020). DOI: 10.1002/aur.2354.