Could Autism be diagnosed via Stool Samples Soon?

[Misty Avich]

If it is heredity, absolutely you are born with ND.
I like to stay open-minded, but this hasn't reached my threshold of taking it seriously.
If I had an infinite number of spoons, maybe.

It is as hereditary as blonde hair. In my 14 years of being on autism sites it seems that the vast majority of autistic parents have autistic children, usually more than one. Some have like 5 and all have autism.

 

[Jonn]

It is as hereditary as blonde hair. In my 14 years of being on autism sites it seems that the vast majority of autistic parents have autistic children, usually more than one. Some have like 5 and all have autism.

I am convinced my mother was autistic.
I suspect my sister is.

 

[Mary Terry]

Well I am already used to regularly collecting my dogs samples. I'm even happy about it sometimes because its an important part of troubleshooting illness's. 'Oh boy I got one! And I even know whose it is!' It was really hard when I had 4 dogs

Zoos solve that problem by adding different colors or dyes to each animal's food. Each one's poop is a different color.

 

[Misty Avich]

I appear to be the only one with both AS and ADHD in my family. Well, as far as I know. Only one notable enough to be diagnosed, anyway.

I was thinking my mum and dad might have ADHD traits but I can't be sure. I was going to make a thread here to see what others think (opinion) but I know I'll only get a load of "we can't diagnose for you".

 

[Mary Terry]

Kind of the same here. I don't know how many root canals and fillings; working on third implant. My dentist might buy another yacht with the proceeds! In contrast my brother never had a cavity.

There's a place called Los Algodones on the Baja California/ California border, many people from USA and Canada go there for cheap dental work. Some call it Molar City. Can Australians do the same if they go to Indonesia or other country? Just curious.

Mexico promotes "medical tourism" to Americans. One of my brothers-in-law flies from Florida to Cancun, MX for all his dental work because it is much cheaper there. He goes to a dental surgical clinic that is affiliated with and located across the street from an all-inclusive beach resort. The resort takes care of the patients and has room service 24 hours a day.

His wife, my SIL, is planning to get some dental work done there, too, and I will go with her to be the babysitter to make sure she's okay. Nice vacation for me!

Personally, I'll stick with my American health care providers.

 

[Aspychata]

I had excellent care done for teeth and a freshen up look after divorce. But now l wouldn't go back, the city is unsafe that l went to. But my doctor and dentist were extremely caring and proficient, and had better procedures, and medical equipment then US. But l think l was lucky with who l chose for medical care.

 

[FoxLovinPat]

I read the article a couple of days ago and agree with your assessment that much more research is needed. I can see a lot of variables affecting the outcome of the sampling. Picky eater children won't have the same gut flora as children who eat a range of different foods, and many autistic kids are very picky about their diets. Many autistic children I've been around put things in their mouths like twigs, sticks, rocks, pieces of plastic, etc. that could easily introduce fungi, bacteria and viruses to their stomachs that other children aren't exposed to because they rarely, if ever, put those things in their mouths. It's unclear to me whether the mothers' gut flora is a contributing cause to autism in their offspring.

Thanks for posting.

Hmm true, I didn't think of that at all.
But ya just found it interesting and figured I'd share, and see what others in the community might have to say on it.

It is entirely possible that autism influenced the gut biome and not the other way around.

Also, you generally inherit your gut biome from your parents. Same folks you'd get your autism genes from.

Studies pop up all the time and turn out to be incorrect. It would have to be repeated elsewhere for me to pay much attention. The article stated that it takes years to get an autism diagnosis and not until a child is 6. We can get very high-reliability autism diagnoses as early as two. Sometimes one. It only takes a few visits.

I honestly didn't know about any of that, that's very interesting.

But yeah I agree, this is just one study but still thought it was interesting regardless.

Btw anybody know what the article was referring to when it mentioned that scientists have known there was a difference in gut bacteria in ND people?
That would suggest this is just part of a line of similar studies, or was that part incorrect and this is still new Territory?
It was kinda just a quick blurb about it, but it did leave me wondering what it could be referring to.

 

[Alexej]

I don't know about testing for autism but here our health department constantly monitors and screens sewerage samples for diseases and puts out warnings whenever something nasty shows up.

well then If they have not put a warning for autism you should be OK then!

 

[Au Naturel]

You get your gut biome from your environment. It then modifies according to your own unique biochemistry.

As an infant, you come into contact with your parents more than anyone else. For many people, the mother is primarily involved, but if the father is involved, his biome will be a part of it as well. Regardless, both parents are likely to have similar gut biomes because they live together intimately. Pets and random people will add to it.

The authors posit correlation but don't claim causality in either direction. That means this is not junk science. However, I still want to see a large, randomized, double-blind study by a major institution to have a lot of confidence.

I think that claiming a gut biome is causal for autism would be stretching things to the point of junk science. The most you can say is a correlation. You'd need multiple studies with a similar result to confirm the correlation. As any good scientist admits, correlation is not evidence for causation. Also, any one study is always going to be contaminated by a scientist's expectations. It needs to be replicated and stand up to strict scrutiny.

Junk science can be science that is agenda driven or it can be treating science that has not been properly vetted as if it were confirmed fact. Conflating coincidence with correlation with causation is probably the most common logical error that most people make when looking at science. Bias towards preexisting beliefs is another very, very common flaw. Reversing the arrow of causality is yet another. That's how junk science flourishes.

 

[Au Naturel]

I don't know about testing for autism but here our health department constantly monitors and screens sewerage samples for diseases and puts out warnings whenever something nasty shows up.

That is an excellent method for detecting communicable diseases before they become common. People will often have pathogens in the stool long before a disease becomes symptomatic and many people will not go to a doctor even when they feel ill. You can use the sewer system to track disease to the specific area it shows up in. Epidemiology has lots of cool tricks.

 

[Mary Terry]

That is an excellent method for detecting communicable diseases before they become common. People will often have pathogens in the stool long before a disease becomes symptomatic and many people will not go to a doctor even when they feel ill. You can use the sewer system to track disease to the specific area it shows up in. Epidemiology has lots of cool tricks.

I think they can track the rate of illegal drug use through public sewage, too. Epidemiology is fascinating to me.

 

[Au Naturel]

I think they can track the rate of illegal drug use through public sewage, too. Epidemiology is fascinating to me.

They've been able to track heavy drug usage to a specific house and then do a bust.

 

[Jeff T]

Mexico promotes "medical tourism" to Americans. One of my brothers-in-law flies from Florida to Cancun, MX for all his dental work because it is much cheaper there. He goes to a dental surgical clinic that is affiliated with and located across the street from an all-inclusive beach resort. The resort takes care of the patients and has room service 24 hours a day.

His wife, my SIL, is planning to get some dental work done there, too, and I will go with her to be the babysitter to make sure she's okay. Nice vacation for me!

Personally, I'll stick with my American health care providers.

Sounds a lot more appealing than Molar City, which is in a boring desert next to the dried-up Colorado River! But it's only 2.8 miles from the California border, and people can drive to it if they wish from inexpensive US hotels in Yuma AZ 10? miles away.

Personally I'd try out Cancun- I've already seen the Molar City area.

 

[Jeff T]

They've been able to track heavy drug usage to a specific house and then do a bust.

I wonder if that is a reason so many meth labs are in rural areas that use septic systems?
I imagine the clay soil filters it clean, otherwise I'd be worried about my well water.

 

[Outdated]

They've been able to track heavy drug usage to a specific house and then do a bust.

We wouldn't bust them, just watch them to find out who the suppliers are. That's if we did things that way. In my city all sewerage is managed at one single processing plant which is where they do their sampling.

Connected to that plant is a large industrial chemical refinery producing a large amount of chemicals for industrial use, and a byproduct of that process is purified water that gets pumped back into our public water system. No need for a desalination plant.

 

[Mary Terry]

I wonder if that is a reason so many meth labs are in rural areas that use septic systems?
I imagine the clay soil filters it clean, otherwise I'd be worried about my well water.

I think meth labs are in rural areas because they stink to high heaven. With fewer people around to smell it, they're less likely to get busted.

 

[FoxLovinPat]

How did this turn into a discussion about the ideal locations for meth labs?

 

[Mary Terry]

How did this turn into a discussion about the ideal locations for meth labs?

We're free-range posters.

 

[Judge]

I think meth labs are in rural areas because they stink to high heaven. With fewer people around to smell it, they're less likely to get busted.

Until "Jed" and his bloodhound "Blue" catch wind of it. Quite literally, I might add.

"There ain't no kickin' ma dawg around....come on Blue! Ma puppy-dawg yoo."

 

[Mary Terry]

Until "Jed" and his bloodhound "Blue" catch wind of it. Quite literally, I might add.

"There ain't no kickin' ma dawg around....come on Blue! Ma puppy-dawg yoo."

Were Jed and Blue looking for the moonshine still or the meth lab? I understand the stills stink really bad, too. They put those thangs down in the hollers of Tennessee and Kentucky.