I found this artcile about autism and gut bacteria on yahoo

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Autism Gastro Problems May Be Linked to Gut Bacteria
HealthDay – 22 hrs agoEmailShare2PrintTUESDAY, Jan. 10 (HealthDay News) -- Children with autism have bacteria in their gut that is different from the bacteria seen in kids who do not have the disorder, researchers have found.

In their report, published Jan. 10 in the online journal mBio, researchers from the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University in New York City suggested that this finding could help explain the link between autism and gastrointestinal problems, such as inflammation.

The study authors added, however, it is still unclear if these differences are a cause of autism or a result of the condition.

"The relationship between different microorganisms and the host and the outcomes for disease and development is an exciting issue," the study's editor, Christine Biron, a professor of medical science at Brown University, said in an American Society for Microbiology news release. "This paper is important because it starts to advance the question of how the resident microbes interact with a disorder that is poorly understood."

The researchers found a relatively large amount of Sutterella bacteria in 12 out of 23 tissue samples taken from the guts of children with autism. In contrast, they did not find this type of bacteria in any samples taken from children without autism who were studied for comparison.

"Sutterella has been associated with gastrointestinal diseases below the diaphragm, and whether it's a pathogen or not is still not clear," explained a reviewer of the research, Jorge Benach, chairman of the microbiology department at Stony Brook University. "It is not a very well-known bacterium," he pointed out in the news release.

The findings are significant because digestive complications can be very serious in kids with autism, contributing to their behavioral problems, the study authors noted.

The study results are also more definitive than previous studies that used stool samples, because tissue samples surgically removed from the gut are more reflective of the bacteria found in the children's intestinal walls.

While the study uncovered an association between the bacteria and autism, it did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship, so more research is needed to explore the link between Sutterella and gastrointestinal problems in autism, the researchers said.

I have had stomach inflammation.

This again? It's an old idea that won't go away--even though it doesn't have much of a future in autism treatment. It seems to stick around, though.

Scientifically:
1. Autistic kids are no more likely than any other group of disabled kids to have digestive problems. And digestive problems are extremely common among children, in general, autistic or not. Depending on how you count it, the majority of children may have digestive problems of one sort or another.
2. However, autistic kids are more likely to be severely bothered when they do have stomach problems, due to sensory sensitivity.
3. Therefore, autistic kids likely benefit more from resolving stomach problems than typical kids do.

But there's no more of a link than that; or, if there is, it's so weak that we haven't been able to detect it even with some large-scale studies.

So, if you or your kid have stomach problems, sure, get treatment for them. You would be silly not to. It's like refusing to wear sunglasses to combat light sensitivity, or refusing to wear comfortable shoes, or refusing to replace your flickering fluorescent bulbs. Digestive problems can cause physical distress that, even if mild, is enough of a distraction to take up cognitive resources when you need every scrap of your brain to deal with learning how to cope with an already overwhelming, NT-centric world.

There's no specific connection between digestive problems and autism; but that doesn't mean that you wouldn't benefit from seeing a doctor about it if you happen to have them.

And I'd ask, between group differences vs. within-group differences?

From the book Good Germs, Bad Germs by Jessica Snyder Sachs, I got the idea that gut bacteria are a rich ecosystem and are often different for different people.

I will acknowledge that 12 out of 23 for the kids on the spectrum vs. zero for the kids not on the spectrum, that does kind of jump out. Even though one microbiology guy also adds, "It is not a very well-known bacterium."

http://bit.ly/x1xbdx <-- shorter link for Philly news article