Rice University biochemist Michael Stern has published a paper talking about the potential link between diabetes and autism.  After reviewing studies and data on the two conditions, he posits that impaired glucose tolerance and hyperinsulinemia are underlying mechanisms in both disorders.  If you are affected by diabetes or autism, this is exciting news.  Figuring out the root cause of these conditions will get us closer to finding better treatments and even cures.

Stern suggests testing his theory by putting a group of children with autism on low carb diets to see if their symptoms improve at all.  This is such an easy solution that parents of autistic children could easily implement to run their own informal studies.  When you have an autistic child, any thread of hope is worth chasing.

Another topic Stern thinks needs some serious attention is a potential connection between gestational diabetes and autism risk factors.  This could be a tremendous leap forward for diagnosing and preventing autism.  As a current sufferer of gestational diabetes, I would love to know how this disease could be impacting my baby.  Studies now do not give us much to go on.

While this may be a dead end, the dramatic increase in both autism and diabetes over recent years lends credibility to Stern’s theory.  With such an easy, low-cost way to test the theory, I hope researchers get started right away.  The more we know about these two disorders, the more we can do to prevent and treat them in the future.