Gut and Psychology Syndrome describes Andrew Wakefield and his Royal Free Hospital team using endoscopy and biopsy in children with autism referred with gastrointestinal symptoms. Campbell-McBride says their 1998 paper suggested a connection between chronic inflammatory bowel disease and autism and named the bowel findings ileal lymphoid nodular hyperplasia and non-specific colitis.[1]
Who Led the Research
Campbell-McBride identifies Andrew Wakefield as a consultant gastroenterologist at the Royal Free Hospital in London. She cites the 1998 Lancet paper by Wakefield, Murch, Anthony and colleagues on ileal lymphoid nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis and pervasive developmental disorder in children.[1][2]
Who Was in the 1998 Paper?
The original 1998 paper reports twelve referred children with developmental regression and gastrointestinal symptoms. Nine were described as having autism; the remaining three had other developmental diagnoses in that report. They were a selected clinical group, not a sample of all children with autism.[2] That detail is worth keeping beside the broader way the book describes the work.
What Endoscopy and Biopsy Mean
Campbell-McBride describes endoscopy as direct visual examination of the digestive tract using an inserted instrument. During the procedure, a small tissue sample can be taken from the gut wall and examined under a microscope; that sample is the biopsy.[1]
These are two different kinds of information: an endoscopy describes what can be seen, while a biopsy report describes the tissue examined microscopically. When reading a report, keep the site of the sample beside the finding. A colon biopsy and an ileal biopsy do not describe the same part of the bowel.
The team used ileocolonoscopy and tissue biopsies to examine the bowel. The paper describes additional assessments too; the endoscopy and biopsy findings are the part discussed here.[2]
What the Team Named the Condition They Found
The book says the team identified ileal lymphoid nodular hyperplasia and non-specific colitis. Its following sections explain the enlarged lymphoid tissue in the ileum, the chronic inflammation and injury found in the bowel, and the term autistic enterocolitis.[1]
The Paper and the Later Clinical Work
The book’s statement that the team examined hundreds of children refers to the wider clinical work it describes, not the twelve participants in the 1998 paper. Its account of later researchers and clinical observations is covered in my research guide.[1][2]
The Lancet fully retracted the 1998 paper in 2010, and its current publication record links that notice.[3] This page explains the historical paper as discussed in GAPS; the later bowel studies have their own populations, methods and findings.
The book goes on to discuss measles-virus research, but that is a separate question from what a bowel examination or biopsy found. For the material on this page, keep the original paper, its publication record and the later gastrointestinal studies distinct. The research guide follows those related studies.
Your Next Step
Read my Peyer’s patches guide for the immune tissue in the ileum, the enterocolitis guide for the terminology, and the later studies for their separate findings. If you are gathering a child’s reports and observations, my Care Team Log is in the WFLI Shop. Keep the exact report wording beside your questions rather than translating every bowel term into an autism diagnosis.
References
- Natasha Campbell-McBride. GAPS: Gut and Psychology Syndrome, expanded second German edition (2015), Part 1, discussion of endoscopy, biopsy and bowel findings in referred children.
- Wakefield AJ, Murch SH, Anthony A, et al. Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in children. Lancet. 1998;351:637–641. Retracted publication.
- The Editors of The Lancet. Retraction of the 1998 paper. Lancet. 2010;375:445. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(10)60175-4.
Leave a comment