It is a pity most of the papers above are behind pay walls, some interesting stuff,

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10937400600882079#.VFCtnPmUciU

"Abstract

According to the Autism Society of America, autism is now considered to be an epidemic. The increase in the rate of autism revealed by epidemiological studies and government reports implicates the importance of external or environmental factors that may be changing. This article discusses the evidence for the case that some children with autism may become autistic from neuronal cell death or brain damage sometime after birth as result of insult; and addresses the hypotheses that toxicity and oxidative stress may be a cause of neuronal insult in autism. The article first describes the Purkinje cell loss found in autism, Purkinje cell physiology and vulnerability, and the evidence for postnatal cell loss. Second, the article describes the increased brain volume in autism and how it may be related to the Purkinje cell loss. Third, the evidence for toxicity and oxidative stress is covered and the possible involvement of glutathione is discussed. Finally, the article discusses what may be happening over the course of development and the multiple factors that may interplay and make these children more vulnerable to toxicity, oxidative stress, and neuronal insult."

Just out of curiosity, what exactly do you think a philosophical argument is?

In this case I took it to mean purely theoretical and not evidence based.

Which is exactly what you've been on about I this thread. You have posted a handful of ideas that are already well known (not philosophical) such as links between gut and brain activity. I reiterate, this specific link has been established for the last 20 years. It is well known those who suffer from autism have major constipation issues non responsive to conventional treatment.

When you say statements like this:

I am also certainly not suggesting this is a cause of autism, but it could play a roll in some cases.

= philosophical

The gut connection in autism is known and studied and evidence points to a top down relationship more than anything else. Impaired motor networks in the enteric motor system is the hypothesis believed to be due to impaired migration, similar to that seen in hirachsprungs albeit not as severe.

The article you posted above is not interesting at all. It has no research of its own in the article and is purely speculative of links that may or may not exist while simultaneously discussing KNOWN physiology. Not only that but it is over 15 years old and many publications have been released discussing the non-presence of these cause-effect relationships.

For example:
"Third, the evidence for toxicity and oxidative stress is covered and the possible involvement of glutathione is discussed."

A 3rd year undergraduate student could explain to you the relationship between glutathione and oxidative stress, and how certain cell likes are more susceptible to damage. Ultimately the article reveals zero new insights.

And by the way it is not behind a paywall. Free at pubmed, not sure what engine you are using since pubmed is the first choice on these types of topics.

You have been expressing your belief of a wealth of information on autism available to avoid making hasty conclusions and judgements. You would do well to follow your own advice.

The front line theory on autism right now is mirror neuron dysfunction. It is truly a fascinating area and a lot of progress on autism spectrum disorders are occuring here (such as the benefit if Alzheimer's medications for autism patients). Unfortunately because this is cutting edge research, you will find ridiculous pay walls here (like $500 for some articles).

This post was edited by iMMze on Oct 30 2014 12:11pm

iMMze I wanted to reply to your post in full but just have not found the time/mind set.

My philosophical comment about may or not play a role in some ASD cases was just that I am in no position to really know how much of a factor it is, but philosophical to me came across as lacking in real evidence, which specifically relating to gut issues exists.

Someone shared this on a forum I am on recently which also shows how it relates to gene expression,

http://www.mailman.columbia.edu/news/study-finds-children-autism-and-gastrointestinal-symptoms-have-altered-expression-genes-involve

The mirror neuron dysfunction sounds interesting but appears to me to just be looking at a specific issue after the storm, but of course that is how medical science works, specifics symptoms for specific patented drugs, sometimes it works out but in many conditions like autism it appears multi system and will probably need an integrative approach, in the end. That is already clear when simple dietary changes can help some/reduce symptoms, I believe Dr. Amy Yasko uses methylation treatment for Autism as well with some success. I had undiagnosed MTHFR mutation for years myself, random set of symptoms too much for the over specific medical system to handle, B12 shots, methyfolate, change of diet and my life is saved; although thankfully this specific issue and mutations like it are becoming mainstream, at least with doctors with half a brain who are aware you can now get a wide scale gene test for $99.

This post was edited by Psychonautica on Nov 7 2014 12:30am

Hi friend,

My point through all of it was that to better understand autism spectrum illnesses the kitchen sink approach is not beneficial. We know many systems are affected by the disease, if you attempt to look at the disease with every aspect in mind you will not get anywhere. Nobody could, it's too much information. The past decade we have made A LOT of progress by investigating the various avenues we know are impact by this disease, like the ability to digest specific sugars as you have mentioned. More work in each of these specific areas needs to occur before an underlying process can be mapped. Right now it is way too chaotic with random experimental drugs being tried, and with quite good success. An example of this is Iowa university placing these patients on anticholinergics (Alzheimer's meds) and improving patient outcomes.

I agree with you that at some point an integrative approach will be required, and this is true of all multi system diseases. However I personally feel the point at which this approach will be needed will be obvious. It will be when we are able to link all the issues and have a mechanism in place for every symptom. This is unfortunately still some ways away.

The majority of information I know about autism is not through studies but because my wife's younger sister has autism. Because of this she has been actively involved in the autism community and also has a couple articles published. Her thinking, it's been awhile since I talked to her about this, is that these mirror neuron investigations will reveal important insights. It explains more than it's being credited for, and most notably explains the animal connections these patients have. If you are especially interested in this topic we can talk about it further via some other way. It's hard to have strong conversations through posts.