11/15/02

ANDY DWORKIN

and JULIE SULLIVAN

		From Our Advertiser

Many parents of autistic children suspect that their children and others with autism are prone to diarrhea, stomach pains and other digestive problems.

Several Boston doctors are launching a study to investigate that belief, with funding largely arranged by the Northwest Autism Foundation in Oregon City.

The doctors, from Massachusetts General Hospital, and Oregonians who work with autism, will announce the project this morning at Willamette Falls Hospital, where the foundation has its headquarters.

The doctors plan to study the kinds and frequency of gastrointestinal problems autistic children develop. They also want to study the best ways to treat those problems, said Dr. Harland Winter, a Harvard University associate professor of pediatrics who is one of the researchers.

"We plan to study and understand better what complaints they have, what type of therapies are effective, how to evaluate children with autism," Winter said.

Some autistic children might not normally have stomach troubles evaluated by their doctors because of language issues or other concerns, he said.

Autism is a disorder that strikes when children are toddlers. It causes problems with social interaction, language and often intelligence. No one knows its cause or cure. Some, although not all, studies of autistic children have reported that they are more likely to have digestive problems.

Dr. Timothy Buie, one of the Boston researchers, has studied hundreds of autistic children with gastrointestinal problems in his practice, said Joe Taylor, executive director of the Northwest Autism Foundation. Buie hopes the new study will let him see many more patients.

So far, Massachusetts General is the only hospital involved, Taylor said, but organizers hope to add West Coast sites and perhaps study some children outside the United States.

Buie and the foundation had been discussing the research for about 18 months, after he spoke at one of the educational foundation's conferences, Taylor said. Buie proposed more research, and the foundation found several donors who helped get the project started, Taylor said.

Although that is the main Oregon connection to the research, it's not the only one, he said. "In the world of autism, Oregon is known as very progressive, ahead of what's going on in most states."