Gill Hornby of UK's Telegraph: There's more to the pain of autism than the MMR debate

Please click HERE to comment on Gill Hornby's piece at the Telegraph UK site. Here's an excerpt:

It is sad that Dr Andrew Wakefield's research on a gut condition linked to autism has been lost along with his reputation, says Gill Hornby.

My dear nephew, Danny, is autistic. He is at the more severe end of the autistic spectrum: he has only a few words and gets locked into repetitive behaviour. Now 15, he has been cheerfully watching the same episodes of Pingu since he was one. And yet, at the moment, autism is not Danny's biggest problem. He is a sunny, gentle soul, lovely to have around, benign. He goes, with great enthusiasm, to a brilliant school and he demonstrably loves his mum and dad.

The real blight on Danny's life is a disorder in his gut which is so severe it has him bellowing with the pain, harming himself, banging his head against the wall. He cannot describe it because he cannot speak. He can't warn of an attack, but if one strikes when he is in the park, or on a bus, it is a nightmare.

Nobody knows if this gut condition is linked to his autism. Nobody knows how many autistic children suffer from it. Anecdotally, it is common but there has been no systematic exploration of it, and there are no statistics. The only doctors who have shown any interest are those at the Royal Free Hospital. They had started to research it. Then Dr Andrew Wakefield published his paper linking the MMR jab, bowel disease and autism, and the world went mad.

Comments

[anonymous]

Dr. Wakefield was named 'Worst Person in the World' tonight on MSNBC's Countdouwn with Keith Olberman. Surreal and sickening to witness such distorted character assassination.

[Stagmom]

Elizabeth, are you OK?

KIM

[Elizabeth Hensley]

My gut is on fire. I love my brain. I want my gut healed.

[Cathy]

The picture is of a child sitting on a toilet...NOT too common in our world. More appropriate would be a leaking, fetid diaper - even on an eight year old. Or in my case - sadly empty (constipation kid). A poop filled potty is something of a dream to me....

[Jack]

"Nobody knows if this gut condition is linked to his autism. Nobody knows how many autistic children suffer from it. Anecdotally, it is common but there has been no systematic exploration of it, and there are no statistics. The only doctors who have shown any interest are those at the Royal Free Hospital. They had started to research it. Then Dr Andrew Wakefield published his paper linking the MMR jab, bowel disease and autism, and the world went mad."

I just keep reading that paragraph and it gives me chills every time. Dr. Wakefield published and paper and the world went mad...indeed it did.

[Tracey Eaton]

Recently I read a book by Jenny McCarthy and her autistic son. "Louder than Words" shows her experience with her son. "one" of the many things she discovered that helped her son was the learning about Candida. When she started treating her son regarding this with diet, supplements, etc. He began to speak and turn around. Candida is in the gut. It is an overproduction of yeast which can lead to many disfunctions in the body such as IBS, mental health issues, diarreah, etc. I recommend anyone who has an autistic child or knows a parent struggling with autism and their child, to read it.