The Kings of Gastro- Wakefield & Krigsman

Drs. Wakefield & Krigsman shared 90 minutes and primarily discussed the gastrointestinal findings they are having in children with autism. They showed numerous photographs of both the external manifestations as well as internal findings photographed by a "pill-cam". External symptoms might include severely bloated bellies, posturing the body to place lots of pressure on the abdominal area, and unusual bowel movements. The photos taken internally with a pill-cam show lesions and inflammation which cause some of these children so much pain.

From the Thoughtful House website:

Many children with CDDs have GI symptoms that precede, coincide with, or appear after the onset of neurological symptoms or regression. A child should produce one formed stool per day--anything else merits attention. GI symptoms common in autistic children include constipation, diarrhea (often described as mushy or grainy, not watery), abdominal pain, abnormal posturing, malodorous stool, undigested food in stool, abdominal distention, and failure of the child to grow. Many children don't present obvious symptoms until they're older, and because of communication and pain-response issues, the GI symptoms of many autistic children are completely overlooked. , There is also a subgroup of autistic children that appear to lack GI symptoms, but without endoscopy evaluation, the question of an occult (hidden) GI inflammation remains unanswered.

The basic take-home message that I got from the presentation is that if you have a child who shows any possible symptoms, check it further. The doctors at Thoughtful House have helped numerous children to feel better. Once you have better information on what you are dealing with, effective treatment is available.

The Thoughtful House website to check further into supporting research. The web address is www.thoughtfulhouse.org

Here is a link to one of Dr. Wakefield's presentations:
http://www.thoughtfulhouse.org/0405-conf-awakefield.htm
and Dr. Krigsman:
http://www.thoughtfulhouse.org/0405-conf-akrigsman.htm
Both of these links show photos of both internal and external manifestations as well as lots more detail about the findings and research.
If your child has gastro issues, Thoughtful House is THE place to go.