Secretin and Autism Ranking:

Aims and Claims

Aims

The main medical use of secretin is as a diagnostic tool in various disorders of the pancreas. However some people believe that secretin can be used to treat gastrointestinal problems (such as constipation and diarrhoea) in autistic people. They also believe that treating those gastrointestinal problems will lead to improvements in other areas (such as sociability, speech, and sleep).

Claims 

There have been various claims made for the use of secretin as an intervention for autistic people. For example, 

• Horvath et al (1998) claimed “significant amelioration of the children was observed, as was a dramatic improvement in their behavior, manifested by improved eye contact, alertness, and expansion of expressive language”
• Lonsdale and Shamberger (2000) claimed that approximately half of the participants treated in their study showed “minor to major behavioral and/or bowel function improvement”.
• Robinson (2001) claimed that approximately half of the participants treated in his study improved in one way or another (such as being more relaxed, being more communicative or being less aggressive).

Updated

16 Jun 2022

Last Review

01 Dec 2018

Next Review

01 Aug 2024