I have been hearing for a long time that the rate of autism isn't really increasing it is just better diagnosis. And that more "problems" are being lumped onto the spectrum, so there really isn't an epidemic. I find that way of thinking very nearsighted and limiting because in doing the research we are seeing a real increase in autism and autism related disorders. Dr. Kenneth Bock, in his book The New Childhood Epidemics, links the increase of asthma and allergies to the increase in autism. He feels they are all related autoimmune disorders, and he also feels that Alzheimers could fall on that category but it doesn't effect children so it was left out of the book. And I know in talking with most doctors they are certainly seeing a rise in allergies and asthma.

Recently I reported on a finding reported in the J. Child Neurol that showed a case of Celiac's Disease presenting as Autism. The child, who was severely autistic, got better once gluten and casein were removed from his diet! Sounds suspiciously like the biomedical protocol used by Defeat Autism Now! (DAN!) doctors and other physicians using biomedical interventions to treat autism.

Now it seems as if the recent increase in gluten intolerance isn't just better diagnosis but actually a real increase in the disorder. Let's take a look:

Blood samples from '50s show it isn't just improved diagnosis, and
researchers wonder if diet is a factor.

By JOSEPHINE MARCOTTY, Star Tribune

Last update: July 1, 2009 - 9:27 AM
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/health/49558522.html

A Minnesota study using frozen blood samples taken from Air Force
recruits 50 years ago has found that intolerance of wheat gluten, a
debilitating digestive condition, is four times more common today than
it was in the 1950s.

The findings contradict the prevailing belief that a sharp increase in
diagnoses of wheat gluten intolerance has come about because of greater
awareness and detection, and raises questions about whether dramatic
changes in the American diet have played a role.

"It's become much more common," said Dr. Joseph Murray, the Mayo Clinic
gastroenterologist who led the study. No one knows why, he said, but one
reason might be rapid changes in eating habits and food processing over
the last half century.

"Fifty years is way too fast for human genetics to have changed," Murray
said. "Which tells us it has to be a pervasive environmental influence."

Researchers at the Mayo Clinic and the University of Minnesota who
conducted the study also found that the recruits who had the undiagnosed
digestive disorder, called celiac disease, also had a four-fold increase
in the risk of death.

Today an estimated one of 100 people suffer from the inherited disorder,
though most of the time people don't know they have it.

The disease occurs in people whose bodies cannot digest gluten, a
protein found in wheat, rye and barley. The undigested protein triggers
the body's immune system to attack the lining of the small intestine,
causing diarrhea, nausea and abdominal pain. Though people live with it
for many years, over time it destroys the lining of the small intestine,
leading to an inability to absorb nutrients such as iron and calcium.
That, in turn, causes serious problems, including anemia, osteoporosis
and even infertility.

The only treatment is a gluten-free diet -- no wheat, rye or barley.

Murray said he initiated the study to find out whether the disease is on
the rise, and whether it had long-term health consequences if
undiagnosed and untreated.

http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/health/49558522.html

I believe these reports are moving in the right direction and are showing that autism, Celiac Disease and other disorders are on the rise due to our dependence on processed, modified food sources that have little nutritional value and other detrimental environmental factors.