Children With Autism Not At Increased Risk Of Bowel Disease

A paper published in the British Medical Journal on Thursday puts more doubt to the theory that children with autism also struggle with a type of bowel disease.

Many parents of autistic children report that their kids also exhibit symptoms of chronic inflammatory bowel disease, but the research suggests that no link exists.

The condition, “autistic enterocolitis” was first brought to the forefront by British physician Dr. Andrew Wakefield in a 1998 study that has since been discredited.

In the study, which was published in the Lancet, Wakefield suggested that autism as well as the associated bowel disorder was brought upon by the measles vaccine.

The new paper shows that digestive problems appear to be just as common in healthy kids as in those with autism.

As for Wakefield, he operates a clinic in Texas to treat autistic children with the supposed syndrome.