<p>Bridging the Gap Between Physical Health and Autism Spectrum Disorder</p>

Abstract

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a highly complex and heterogeneous developmental disorder that affects how individuals communicate with other people and relate to the world around them. Research and clinical focus on the behavioural and cognitive manifestations of ASD, whilst important, have obscured the recognition that ASD is also commonly associated with a range of physical and mental health conditions. Many physical conditions appear with greater frequency in individuals with ASD compared to non-ASD populations. These can contribute to a worsening of social communication and behaviour, lower quality of life, higher morbidity and premature mortality. We highlight some of the key physical comorbidities affecting the immune and the gastrointestinal systems, metabolism and brain function in ASD. We discuss how healthcare professionals working with individuals with ASD and parents/carers have a duty to recognise their needs in order to improve their overall health and wellbeing, deliver equality in their healthcare experiences and reduce the likelihood of morbidity and early mortality associated with the condition.

Rationale of an Advanced Integrative Approach Applied to Autism Spectrum Disorder: Review, Discussion and Proposal

“…Somatic health is a key point to move forward [15]. Several important reports have alerted about the need for the serious consideration of the CMPD of ASD [3,4,[16][17][18] with transdisciplinary and interdisciplinary collaboration in the context of the multimorbidity [19]. As reference [17] cites, ASD is defined behaviorally.…”

“…Historically the presentation of the treatment of CMPD was "XXX as treatment of ASD". Many recent manuscripts detect, count, and report the so called "comorbidities" instead of considering new models for the role of these CMPD [4,48,49]. Not all children with gut dysbiosis have ASD, not all children with mitochondrial dysfunction or with some immune deficiency have ASD.…”

“…With adequate training, many symptoms historically assigned to "autism" may guide the clinician to the diagnosis and treatment of CMPD in ASD [3,4]. The treatments of CMPD are only that, they are not "ASD treatments".…”

“…Recent manuscripts reviewed the so-called comorbidities in ASD [4,5]. Comorbidities may be psychiatric [6], neurological [7], or related to medical conditions beyond the brain in the field of Pediatrics or General Medicine [8].…”

Autoimmune Encephalitis and Autism Spectrum Disorder

“…Issues such as depression, anxiety and various eating disorders can also co-occur with ASD and are commonplace. Various physical health conditions also frequently accompany ASD (4). Most notably, epilepsy and/or seizure disorders and gastrointestinal (GI) disorders (both functional and pathological) can and do affect the expression of ASD, alongside sleeping issues, motor and gait problems and a myriad of other health complications.…”