United States: Disturbed gut flora in early childhood is linked to the likelihood of autism and ADHD diagnosis in the future.
About the latest research
The research is the first of its kind, a forward-looking (or prospective) study in which gut flora composition is examined along with many other factors in infants, as this is to understand how a child’s nervous system develops.
These scientists have established several biological parameters that could be related to future disease conditions, e.g., communication disorders, autism spectrum disorder or ADHD, and intellectual disabilities.
The research findings are published in the journal Cell, which was conducted by scientists at the University of Florida and Linköping University.
Significance of Biomarkers in Child – Experts
Eric W Triplett, professor at the Department of Microbiology and Cell Science at the University of Florida, US, one of the researchers who led the Study, stated, “The remarkable aspect of the work is that these biomarkers are found at birth in cord blood or in the child’s stool at one year of age over a decade prior to the diagnosis,” as medicalxpress.com reported.
For the Study, 16,000 children born between 1997-and 1999 participated and were considered by the researchers from their births to their twenties.
The Study was held as a part of the ABIS (All Babies in Southeast Sweden) Study, which was conducted by Johnny Ludvigsson at Linköping University.
Out of all, 1,197 children (about 7.3 percent of the total participating children) have been found to be with autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, communication disorder, or intellectual disability.
Through Study, various factors linked with lifestyle and environment were taken into consideration via the conduction of surveys on time-to-time occasions while children were growing up.
In some of the cases, children were found to have been analyzed for the substances in their umbilical cord blood, and after that, bacteria in their tools on reaching the age of 1.
Ludvigsson, senior professor at the Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences at Linköping University, who led the Study together with Triplett, said, “We can see in the study that there are clear differences in the intestinal flora already during the first year of life between those who develop autism or ADHD and those who don’t. We’ve found associations with some factors that affect gut bacteria, such as antibiotic treatment during the child’s first year, which is linked to an increased risk of these diseases,” as medicalxpress.com reported.