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A group of researchers are proposing that intestinal inflammation could cause autism. The numbers of children diagnosed with autism or an autism-like disorder have risen in the developed world over the last few years, perhaps as much as 200 per cent. Some people believe the figures have gone up because the criteria for diagnosis have become looser, while others think there's been a real rise in the numbers and have searched around for a cause. One research group found a small number of children with autism had intestinal symptoms, perhaps caused by inflammation. They went on to generalise and say that intestinal disorders might actually be one of the causes of autism. A study of over 200,000 children has tested that proposition and found it not to be true. Children with autism are no more likely than any other child to have a history of intestinal problems, particularly of the kind originally described. This also further undermines the suggestion that the Measles Mumps Rubella (MMR) immunisation is implicated, because it has been alleged that the MMR is the cause of the bowel symptoms, which in turn might be linked to the autism. No such association emerged from this huge group of kids.
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