Autism and Schizophrenia

Researchers have found the autism and schizophrenia link between a parent and an autistic child. Here we are adding something else to possible causes of autism. It is said that if a parent has a mental illness such as schizophrenia, there will be a 70% chance of the child of the parent to end up having autism. What I found interesting was one of the comments by a dad of six. This is what he writes:

"Now it's Schizophrenia. The bad thing about research is for every 'study' that supports one set of views, there are three others that support an opposite conclusion. Autism? It's the water, bad parenting, vaccinations, genetics, heavy metals, pollution, preservatives, etc.. etc., etc...
As the Dad of six children with Autism I'm more concerned with research that can help the Autistic person to have a more full life. Research to uncover the best in education, social training, nutrition and treatments. Some funding spent on 'why' is acceptable, but the bulk needs to be addressing the here and now and plan for the future. Funding for Autism research is good, funding to help with day to day living, is better. Autism is a spectrum disorder, caused by a spectrum of reasons, needing a spectrum of treatments and a spectrum of funding. (Spectrum: A broad sequence or range of related qualities, ideas, or activities). Our country must get moving to discover what can be done improve this situation. If every parent of Autism will be an advocate we can make a HUGE difference for our children. So make calls, write, search and read. Do what you can when you can. We are all in this together and we need each one of us."

I agree with him, and I will add that every piece of new research will one day come together, even if it is water, bad parenting, vaccinations, genetics, heavy metals, pollution, preservatives, etc.. etc., etc... All of these plus unfound ones is the cause of autism when our genes are becoming more sensitive to the environment that we have created or helped anyways.



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MET Gene LinkedTo Gastrointestinal Problems In Autism

A new discovery in autism news today. A study author named Daniel Campbell is focusing on a gene called MET, which is involved in brain development before birth and in connections between brain cells after birth, as well as in the process through which the gastrointestinal system repairs itself. He found this in 118 of 214 families, but researchers found no link to the genetic variation in autistic patients who didn't have gastrointestinal problems. That suggests the genetic variation may be responsible for causing autism in this specific group of people, although it may not be related to other cases of autism, Campbell says.

This is very good news for the autism community. Gastrointestinal problems are present in up to 30% of children according to this article. Hope that we will hear more about this in the future. Good luck to all the people who are associated with this finding. Congratulations!!




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Risperdal Not Effective Treatment for Autism

One of the only FDA approved medications for autism has been proved to be ineffective against a placebo or sugar pill. That is just to bad. I had once wanted to try this with my kids, but the doctor would not let them try for his own reasons I guess. Autism Speaks announced initial results for the first industry-sponsored trial of the Autism Clinical Trials Network (ACTN), the Study of Fluoxetine in Autism (SOFIA). Neuropharm Group Plc., helped out in the research. They are a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on neurodevelopment disorders. You can read more about Risperdal being ineffective for autism with in the article. It is really nice to know that they are out there trying to keep our kids safe when medication seems the only road to take at a certain point in ones life.



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Robots and Autism

One day robots will help autistic children with their social skills one day according to this article out of Nashville, TN. For sometime now robots have been used to treat people with autism to do many things. The only problem they have now would be that they had no way of monitoring the emotional state of the child and be able to respond. Quite a task if you ask me. The research was made possible by a grant from the Marino Autism Reasearch Institute, and two papers, the results of the study, will be published in IEEE Transactions on Robotics and the International Journal of Human -Computer Science. I hope that you will enjoy reading the article. There is another one here as well. Robots helping our children react to the world.

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Autism and Gene Duplication

I do believe in genetics when it comes to autism and other diseases. I have always felt that the increase in autism is due to a genetic duplication of genes. We are evolving as we speak and this article explains on how that it is possible. Our genes are always changing with every new birth, and we are at an age where autism is becoming that change. The article explains that segments of DNA in its genome began to form duplicate copies at a greater rate in the past, creating an instability that persists in the genome of modern humans and contributes to diseases like autism and schizophrenia. Hopefully this will come of age and we can find out what or why there are so many autistic individuals in our current gene pool.

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Genes Implicate Autism

Once again more research is being done on mice. Autism individuals are 25% more likely to have larger brains than normal. They have been researching on the PTEN and the serotonin transporter genes. Mutations in these two genes have been recognized in the potential link with autism. Very good researchers. Hope that it will take us farther into the research of a disease that affects so many. You may read up on the article here. Here are the words from Damon T. Page. Hope that you don't mind. Sometimes they can just explain it better. LOL

"We found that two genetic risk factors for ASDs act cooperatively in mice to influence brain size and social behavior, both of which are altered in ASDs," lead investigator Damon T. Page, a postdoctoral fellow at MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, said in an MIT news release.

"Our results provide evidence that the severity of autistic symptoms may be the product of variations in DNA in multiple locations in the genome," Page added.

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Fragile X Granule and Autism Link

Looking through my Google alerts, I came across something astonishing. The Fragile X granule and autism could be linked. Justin Fallon professor of neuroscience at Brown University discovered that there was something in the brain that could lead to future autism and mental retardation treatments. You can read the article here from Medical News Today.

The explanation of how his research seems very logical is explained through the article. Now maybe for once we may have something to go on. Very interesting so get on over there and read the story. Leave a comment on what you think about this article below. I will reply on your answer my fellow readers. Thanks again for reading and I hope that you will find this article of use to you.

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