Dysbiosis is a problem becoming more and more prevalent in our society in general and it affects many children with autism. Children with autism have often been strongly impacted by antibiotics, either in utero or early in life. Even if your child has never taken antibiotics, they are unfortunately in our food chain and affecting all of us. The standard modern diet is also sadly lacking in beneficial bacteria.

Signs of yeast/fungal overgrowth include: crazy, almost drunken laughing; night waking; a red circle around the anus; fluffy or even stringy bowel movements, or bowel movements that float; constipation; excessive blinking; playing with genitals excessively or humping; craving sugar; spinning whole body or standing on head; general spaciness. There are other signs too--each child is individual.

Signs of bad bacterial overgrowth include: gas (often foul smelling), bloating, diarrhea or loose stool, foul smelling bowel movements, stool that sticks to the toilet, gut pain, nutritional deficiency (and perhaps weight loss or failure to grow), and aggressivity (including self-injuring behaviour).

Bacterial overgrowth can be caused by a number of factors common in children with autism: low stomach acid, decreased motility in the small intestine, stress, poor diet, antibiotics usage, pancreatic enzyme deficiency, and hypothyroidism.

Treating dysbiosis is most often a two pronged attack: attempting to kill the candida (yeast, or fungal) and "bad" bacteria overgrowth while simultaneously trying to promote the growth of beneficial bacteria. Often it is helpful for people to picture a garden overgrown with weeds. You must remove the weeds (and their roots) while filling the garden with the plants that you want. If you do not have a strong, healthy cover of the plants you want, the weeds will return. You must also have healthy, nourishing, and welcoming earth for your plants to grow well, otherwise the hardy and opportunistic weeds will return.

Antifungals are used to fight yeast (candida) overgrowth, a common condition because of antibiotic use, excacerbated by our children's often compromised immune systems. Antifungals can be over the counter (OTC) such as garlic, capryllic acid, grapefruit seed extract (GSE), oil of oregano, uva ursi, Lauricidin®, virgin coconut oil, a non-colonizing yeast called saccharomyces boulardii, or enzyme products such as Candex® or Candidase®. Biotin is not an antifungal exactly, but biotin deficiency will allow candida to transform into its fungal form, which is much more difficult to get rid of.

It is important to note that because a major source of biotin is gut bacteria, most children with yeast and/or bad bacterial overgrowth will actually be suffering from biotin deficiency. Antifungals can also be prescription, such as Nystatin® or Diflucan®. If you use a prescription, be sure to consider whether your child tolerates artificial flavor or color--if not, a compounding pharmacy can help you avoid those.

Antibacterials are used to fight the opportunistic "bad" bacteria. Over the counter products which help to fight bad bacteria include oil of oregano, olive leaf extract, Culturelle®, garlic, and relatively recent product called LDM 100® (lomatium dissectum). Doctors will sometimes use prescription antibiotics as well.

Low stomach acid can be rectified by using fresh lemon juice, plain ascorbic acid, or Betaine HCl.

Dietary enzyme supplements can be used to address enzymatic insufficiency. Always use probiotics in conjunction (but generally not at the exact same moment--space them by a couple hours) with an antifungal and antibacterial otherwise you risk the overgrowth of bad bacteria. For a good overview of probiotics, click here

Most parents choose to rotate probiotics, as there are hundreds of strains of beneficial bacteria in our intestines. Many parents also choose to use cultured foods to promote intestinal health (see Cultured Foods in Useful Documents section). Do note that killing candida and/or bacteria cause real physical discomfort (Herxheimer reaction or simply die-off) and it is important to not address fungal problems too aggressively--fungal overgrowth and bacterial overgrowth are chronic conditions that require long-term solutions.

There are a number of supplements that can be used to help heal a leaky gut. The more common ones are listed below.

Digestive enzymes can often improve intestinal health. A good place to begin reading about enzymes is here

Aloe Vera is sometimes used to promote intestinal healing. It is also used to address constipation.

N-acetyl glucosamine has been in a small study to work well against diarrhea, perhaps because this sugar prevents damage to the gut from dietary lectins. You can read a free copy of this study by Dr. E. Danczak at the Lectins in Autism group in the Files section

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/lectins_in_autism/

Vitamin A is highly implicated in gut integrity. Vitamin A deficiency can lead to leaky gut.

Omega 3 fatty acids can improve the strength of the junctures in the gut, reducing leaky gut syndrome.

Glutamine is an amino acid that has been shown to help heal a damaged gut. There is much controversy about free glutamic acid (MSG is one form of this) which can act as a neurotoxin. Some parents do supplement glutamine and see improvements. Other parents choose instead to add glutamine into the diet by using stocks made from free range poultry, beef, or pork. These homemade stocks offer many nutritional benefits, including glutamic acid in the form our body expects it and can use it safely. For more information on this alternative, see http://www.westonaprice.org/foodfeatures/broth.html

Sulphates can also be important to healing a leaky gut. Many parents choose to provide sulphates by using Espom salts (see Detoxifying).