Why children with autism often have diarrhea or constipation

Pediatrician Jerry Kartzinel, MD, shares advice for parents with a child who has autism on why diarrhea or constipation is often a common issue and what can be done to help with those symptoms
Why Children WIth Autism Often Have Diarrhea Or Constipation
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Why children with autism often have diarrhea or constipation

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When the gastrointestinal tract doesn't work, it only has so many clinical manifestations. In other words, there are only so many ways that a child can express to the parent that, "My tummy doesn't feel good." One way is with constipation, and another way is diarrhea; sometimes it alternates between constipation and diarrhea. Another one is just stomach cramps or just pure pain. I remember when I was first getting into this, I had a child who was just screaming all the time, but he was a savant artist. He had great artistic skills. I said, "Dude, I just don't understand why you are crying and just crazy all the time." I said, "Can you just draw me a picture?" He drew a picture of himself and he drew a little campfire right there. I said, "Oh man, I get it. You've probably got reflux and esophagitis." So I put him on an antacid and within three days, he improved dramatically. Bottom line is that these child have bowel issues that we have to address. It could be pain. When we remove the pain, the tantrums and self-injuries and behaviors improve. The pain could be from constipation, too much stool in the bowels, that hurts. It could be diarrhea. If anyone's had diarrhea, you know that hurts. If you fix the underlying mechanism, the children are bound to improve.

Pediatrician Jerry Kartzinel, MD, shares advice for parents with a child who has autism on why diarrhea or constipation is often a common issue and what can be done to help with those symptoms

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Jerry Kartzinel, MD

Pediatrician

Dr. Jerry Kartzinel is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics. He specializes in the recovery of neurodevelopmental, chronic neuro-inflammatory diseases, and hormonal dysfunctions. After receiving his medical degree at St. Louis University School of Medicine, he completed his residency in pediatric medicine in the Air Force. Following Desert Storm, Dr. Kartzinel practiced general pediatrics in private practice for 10 years until his fourth boy was diagnosed with Autism.

A nationally recognized speaker and New York Times Best Selling Author, Dr. Kartzinel has presented medical interventions that work to improve the lives of his patients who suffer from many types of medical conditions that include: autism, allergies, inflammatory bowel disease, chronic constipation, chronic diarrhea, sleep cycle disruptions, and hormonal imbalances. He regularly teaches Continuing Medical Educations courses on children's health issues to physicians and other health professionals.

His clinical approach is to treat the whole patient by carefully obtaining a full and complete history and based on this history, obtaining very detailed laboratory evaluations. Individualized plans are implemented integrating the very latest medical interventions that include both traditional and complimentary medicine approaches.

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Transcription: 
When the gastrointestinal tract doesn't work, it only has so many clinical manifestations. In other words, there are only so many ways that a child can express to the parent that, "My tummy doesn't feel good." One way is with constipation, and another way is diarrhea; sometimes it alternates between constipation and diarrhea. Another one is just stomach cramps or just pure pain. I remember when I was first getting into this, I had a child who was just screaming all the time, but he was a savant artist. He had great artistic skills. I said, "Dude, I just don't understand why you are crying and just crazy all the time." I said, "Can you just draw me a picture?" He drew a picture of himself and he drew a little campfire right there. I said, "Oh man, I get it. You've probably got reflux and esophagitis." So I put him on an antacid and within three days, he improved dramatically. Bottom line is that these child have bowel issues that we have to address. It could be pain. When we remove the pain, the tantrums and self-injuries and behaviors improve. The pain could be from constipation, too much stool in the bowels, that hurts. It could be diarrhea. If anyone's had diarrhea, you know that hurts. If you fix the underlying mechanism, the children are bound to improve.