Nutritional and metabolic status of children with autism vs. neurotypical children, and the association with autism severity EXTRACT FROM REPORT :nutritionandmetabolism/content/8/1/34 Vitamins, minerals, and essential amino acids are, by definition, essential for human health, primarily due to their critical function as enzymatic cofactors for numerous reactions in the body, such as the production of neurotransmitters and fatty acid metabolism Historically attention has focused on inadequate intake of vitamins and minerals due to poor diet as a major contributing factor to many child health problems in the US and around the world, including anemia (low iron), hypothyroid (low iodine), scurvy (vitamin C deficiency), and rickets (calcium and/or vitamin D deficiency). However, nutritional status depends not only on intake, but also on digestion, absorption, metabolic processing, and metabolic demand. Overall, it appears that children with autism do have many abnormalities in their nutritional and metabolic status. The underlying causal relationships of these abnormalities are not yet well understood. An important issue in the clinical care of ASD children is that most vitamins, minerals, and plasma amino acids were within the reference range, but other biomarkers (oxidative stress, methylation, sulfation) were very abnormal, suggesting that those other biomarkers can be important guides for treatment. The regression analysis found that some vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and (to a lesser extent) other biomarkers are significantly associated with variations in the severity of autism, with vitamins being especially important. We hypothesize that support for these nutritional and metabolic problems by increasing nutrient intake may reduce the symptoms and co-morbidities that are associated with autism. Posted by PJ
Posted on: Fri, 15 Nov 2013 17:12:23 +0000
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