If you have an autistic child, you have probably been consumed with thoughts regarding how you can provide the best care possible for your son or daughter. Different techniques and approaches with regards to therapy are seemingly constantly emerging, and many of these new approaches are leading to tremendous progress for children who suffer from an autism spectrum disorder. You spend every day hoping that your child will be able to live as happy and as healthy a life as possible, but you also never forget the reality that this is a lifelong condition.
You have probably never thought about a vaccine for some of the symptoms that your child endures every day, because no one has ever really come out with such a medication and you have not heard about any type of possibility in that regard. That could all be changing as of now, as researchers in Canada believe that they may have discovered a vaccine that could help to control some of the common symptoms associated with autism.
As is often the case, it almost seems as though this discovery was made by accident. Researchers at the University of Guelph have been looking at a vaccine that was intended to help the gut in the autistic child. This is a carbohydrate-based vaccine against the gut bug, Clostridium bolteae. C. bolteae is known to play a role in gastrointestinal disorders, and it tends to appear in much higher numbers in children who have autism than in those children who are not dealing with this condition.
More than 90 percent of children with an autism spectrum disorder deal with chronic and severe gastrointestinal symptoms, and more than 75 percent of autistic children live with chronic diarrhea. This is what led the researchers to begin building this vaccine, as this type of suffering was obviously leading to additional problems for everyone. The researchers tested the vaccine in rabbits and it was successful in raising the level of Clostridium bolteae antibodies.
While this development is very exciting, it should also be noted that it could be some time before any vaccine actually makes it to a status where everyday people can begin to use it. The next step would be to work through clinical trials involving humans, and that could take several years. Even then it could be some time before any vaccine is reviewed by the authorities and ultimately approved for the market.
However, this is still an exciting development that could provide some hope for families who may someday be able to eliminate some of the most common and troubling symptoms of autism. We have been fighting for families with autistic children as New York medical malpractice lawyers for 42 years, and one of the most difficult things to see time after time is the acceptance of extremely difficult circumstances. Hope is a powerful thing, and people who no longer have to worry about a child’s diet can focus on other things. The team at The Fitzgerald Law Firm hopes that this vaccine represents a true breakthrough.