Autism is a disorder that affects a person's ability to interact with others, use language, and behave as might be expected in a given situation. It's understandable that you'd want to look for any way possible to reduce your child's chances of developing autism, but there's no established link between autism and lactose intolerance.
Lactose Intolerance
Lactose intolerance results from your body's inability to produce enough of the digestive enzyme lactase to break down the sugar -- lactose -- in dairy products. If you have lactose intolerance and consume dairy, the sugar from the milk will pass through your small intestine into your large intestine without being digested, explain Drs. Reginald Garrett and Charles Grisham in their book "Biochemistry." This leads to symptoms including gas, bloating and cramping.
Autism
Autism is a disorder that affects a person's social behavior in some striking ways. It's generally diagnosed in childhood, and in many cases, may show up as early as infancy, explains MayoClinic.com. Typically, your doctor or a specialist will begin to suspect autism if your child has significantly lagging social or linguistic development by age one or two. For instance, a child who does not babble at all by age 1 should be evaluated for autism.
Causes of Lactose Intolerance
Lactose intolerance sometimes shows up very early in life -- it's possible for some individuals to be born without the ability to digest lactose -- but this is quite rare. Generally speaking, you develop lactose intolerance as you age, since your body can't produce as much lactase when you're older as it can when you're young. You can also develop lactose intolerance as a result of illness or injury to the intestine, but this is usually temporary.
Causes of Autism
The cause or causes of autism aren't scientifically established at this point. There are many conjectures about the causes, some of which are based upon reasonable scientific evidence -- though they're still hypotheses at this point -- and others of which are based upon no evidence whatsoever. For instance, there's no truth to the claim that vaccines cause autism, explains MayoClinic.com. Further, there's no evidence to suggest that special diets can help, or that if you have lactose intolerance, you're more likely to have or develop autism.
References
- "Biochemistry"; Reginald Garrett, Ph.D.. and Charles Grisham, Ph.D.; 2007
- MayoClinic.com: Lactose Intolerance
- MayoClinic.com: Autism
- MayoClinic.com: Autism and Food
