Individuals with autism often display symptoms of ADHD. A recent literature analysis of ten studies involving 2,191 subjects and 1,196 cases of ADHD (Wang, Y., Huang L., Qu., and Mu, D., "Iron Status in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Systemic Review and Meta-analysis," PLoS One, 12(1), e0169145, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0169145) showed that individuals with ADHD have lower levels of seurm ferritin. Ferritin is a protein inside cells which stores iron and a low level can detect an iron deficiency early on. Although this deserves further study, it may make sense to check a ferritin level when someone has ADHD symptoms and consider iron supplementation which is both safe and inexpensive. *
autism, sleep and behaviors
Individuals with autism sometimes have problems with sleep. Not getting sufficient sleep can increase behavior problems. Often these individuals are placed on medication. However, let's also look at diet. According to one recent study, (St-Onge MP, Roberts A, Shechter A, Choudhury AR. Fiber and Saturated Fat are Associated with Sleep Arousals and Slow Wave Sleep. J Clin Sleep Med 2016;12(1): 19-24), high amounts of saturated fat and sugar and low fiber were associated with problems sleeping. More sugar and other carbohydrates excluding fiber were associated with more arousals. Low fiber and high saturated fat were associated with lighter sleep. Even though this controlled study was small with only 26 subjects and further testing is needed, unlike medications, increaing fiber and decreasing saturated fat and refined carbohydrates carry no risk for side effects and individuals will not develop tolerance.