October 2009 Archive
| Date: | 10/21/09 |
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| Title: | Less Sensitivity to Hormone May Play Role in Autism |
| Author: | Robert Preidt |
| Publication: | Web MD Health |
| Article: | WEDNESDAY, Oct. 21 (HealthDay News) — A new genetic signature that’ s strongly associated with autism has been identified by U.S. researchers, who said the finding may lead to new ways to diagnose and treat the disorder.
This genetic signature doesn’ t involve changes to DNA sequence itself, but rather to the way that genes are switched on and off, said the team from Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C. They found that people with autism have a higher-than-normal number of gene-regulating molecules called methyl groups in a region of the genome that regulates oxytocin receptor expression. ” In both blood samples and brain tissue, the methylation status of specific nucleotides in the oxytocin receptor gene is significantly higher in someone with autism, about 70 percent, compared to the control population, where it is about 40 percent,” study co-lead author Simon G. Gregory, an assistant professor in the Duke department of medicine, said in a university news release. Oxytocin is a hormone that affects social interaction. Previous research found that giving oxytocin to people with autism can improve their ability to socialize. The hormone is being investigated as a possible treatment for autism, the study authors noted. In their report, published in the Oct. 21 online edition of the journal BMC Medicine, the researchers noted that higher methylation of the oxytocin receptor gene may result in less sensitivity to the hormone. The authors suggested that their research may lead to ways to identify people who will respond better to treatment with oxytocin. ” We are excited about our findings because they represent one of the few occasions in which a mechanism other than genetic susceptibility or genome instability is implicated in the development of autism,” Gregory explained in the news release. ” These results provide a possible explanation of why social isolation forms part of the autism spectrum — because an autistic individual’ s ability to respond to oxytocin may be limited. Oxytocin has been tied to levels of trust and ability to read social cues,” Gregory added. |
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| Date: | 10/20/09 |
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| Title: | Mercury Levels Similar in Kids With, Without Autism: Study |
| Author: | By Jean-Louis Santini (AFP) |
| Publication: | © AFP |
| Article: | WASHINGTON — Blood levels of mercury are similar in children with autism and in those developing typically, a study released Monday found.
The research at the University of California–Davis, however, does not address whether the heavy metal, known to be able to cause developmental problems in children, plays a role in causing the disorder. ” We looked at blood–mercury levels in children who had autism and children who did not have autism,” said lead author Irva Hertz–Picciotto, a professor of environmental and occupational health. ” The bottom line is that blood–mercury levels in both populations were essentially the same. However, this analysis did not address a causal role, because we measured mercury after the diagnosis was made,” she added. Earlier research has shown that mercury can adversely affect development of the nervous system. The research, published in the journal ” Environmental Health Perspectives,” is the largest investigation to date on mercury levels in the blood of autistic children. The study was done as part of the California–based Childhood Autism Risks from Genetics and the Environment (CHARGE) Study, of which Hertz–Picciotto is lead investigator. CHARGE is a comprehensive epidemiological investigation that seeks to identify factors associated with autism and discover clues to its origins. Children who took part were aged between 24 and 60 months and diagnosed with autism as well as children with other developmental disorders. Children who developing typically were used as controls. The study probed sources of mercury in the participants’ environments, such as fish consumption, personal–care products (such as nasal sprays or earwax removal products, which may contain mercury) and the types of vaccinations they received, researchers said. ” The study also examined whether children who have dental fillings made of the silver–colored mercury–based amalgam and who grind their teeth or chew gum had higher blood–mercury levels,” they added. ” In fact, those children who both chew gum and have amalgams did have higher blood–mercury levels. ” But the consumption of fish –– such as tuna and other ocean fish and freshwater fish –– was far and away the biggest and most significant predictor of blood–mercury levels,” they stressed. The study was carried out on 452 children: 249 were diagnosed as autistic, 143 were deemed to be developing normally and 60 showed retarded development such as Down Syndrome. ” Just as autism is complex, with great variation in severity and presentation, it is highly likely that its causes will be found to be equally complex. It’ s time to abandon the idea that a single ’ smoking gun’ will emerge to explain why so many children are developing autism,” said Hertz–Picciotto. ” The evidence to date suggests that, without taking account of both genetic susceptibility and environmental factors, the story will remain incomplete,” she added. |
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| Date: | 10/14/09 |
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| Title: | Adults with autism 'cast adrift' |
| Author: | BBC News |
| Publication: | BBC News |
| Article: | The Commons’ Public Accounts Committee said the lack of understanding about the condition among GPs and social care staff was a key problem.
But MPs also attacked the arrangements in place to oversee the transition from child to adult services which led to people being ”cast adrift”. The government said a new strategy for autism would be published next year. There are about 400,000 adults in the country with the condition, split evenly between those with a learning disability, sometimes known as low-functioning, and those without one, known as high functioning. While children are often supported through the school system, adults require a very different network of help. They will often need concerted and individual support across health, social care, housing, education and employment. But the cross-party group of MPs said this was not happening. They blamed the poor transitional services being run by local Connexions services, which provide integrated services for 16 to 24-year-olds. Such services were often unaware of the needs of their clients, the report said. There was also a basic lack of data on the number of adults needing help. Just a fifth of local authorities and their NHS partners were aware of the numbers with low-functioning autism, while only 12% had details of those with the high-functioning form. The MPs also identified a weakness in diagnostic services. It is estimated that GPs see two adult patients with undiagnosed autism in each six-month period, but previous research has shown eight in 10 GPs felt they needed extra training and guidance on the condition. Less than a third of areas commissioned specialist diagnostic services to pick up those cases not identified in childhood, the report added. Committee chairman Edward Leigh said: ”Adults with autism are being left to fend for themselves with all the consequences this has for their access to further education, benefits or employment and for their mental health.” Discrimination Mark Lever, chief executive of the National Autistic Society, said: ”The government cannot possibly ignore the recommendations of this influential group of MPs. ”Adults with autism have been telling us for some time that they are frequently misunderstood and discriminated against, whether it’s trying to get a diagnosis, a job or access to health and social care. ”Thousands are experiencing serious mental health difficulties as a result and just 15% are currently in full-time paid employment. ”This has profound consequences for individuals, families and the wider economy.” A Department of Health spokesperson said measures were lined up to improve services for people with autism, along with research into the prevalence of autism among adults. ”Together this will help create a new approach which directly reflects the needs of people with autism and their families and will drive up standards of services. ”We will consider the detailed recommendations and make our formal response in due course.” |
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| Date: | 10/12/09 |
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| Title: | Melatonin Helps Autistic Kids Sleep |
| Author: | By Charlene Laino |
| Publication: | Web MD Health |
| Article: | Oct. 12, 2009 (Baltimore) — Low doses of melatonin may help children with autism get a better night‘ s rest, researchers report.
Eleven youngsters with autism ages 4 to 10 fell asleep more quickly and slept longer when given low-dose supplements of melatonin, says Beth Malow, MD, director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. The supplements didn‘ t appear to cause any side effects, suggesting parents can continue to give them to their kids as long as needed, she tells WebMD. Studies have shown that as many as 70% of children with autism suffer from sleep problems, according to Andrew Zimmerman, MD, of the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, who specializes in treating autism. Other research points to a deficiency of melatonin — the body‘ s natural sleep hormone — as the culprit, Malow says. Secreted at night by the pineal gland in the brain, melatonin is thought to control sleep cycles, which are frequently disturbed in the elderly — and kids with autism, she says. Importance of Good Sleep Habits To determine whether supplemental melatonin can overcome the problem, Malow and colleagues are studying children with autism who toss and turn for at least 30 minutes a night, three nights a week, before falling asleep. In the ongoing study, parents go through an educational program on good sleep habits. They‘ re taught to make sure their offspring maintain a bedtime routine, going to bed at the same time every night, for example. And if youngsters do get up in the middle of the night, parents are told to tuck them back into their own beds, not let them slip under the covers between mom and dad. Then, the children are given melatonin in liquid form, a half hour before bedtime, every night. Doses are increased every three weeks until the youngsters can fall asleep within 30 minutes of bedtime at least five nights a week. “ We give it as a liquid because not all children with autism can swallow pills easily,“ Malow says. So far, 11 kids have completed the first, four-month phase of the study. After 16 weeks of supplementation, the average time it took for them to fall asleep dropped from 38 minutes to 22 minutes. One milligram a night did the trick for three of the 11 youngsters, Malow says. Six required 3 milligrams, and only two children needed 6 milligrams, she says. They also slept longer, and parents reported they had less trouble getting their kids to agree to go to sleep, Malow reports. Additionally, the children exhibited fewer of the compulsive and ritualistic behaviors that can accompany autism, she says. The findings were presented here at the annual meeting of the American Neurological Association. Synchronizing Natural Sleep Patterns While there have been reports of bed-wetting, seizures, and daytime drowsiness among children given melatonin supplements, “ we didn‘ t see any of those problems. These are relatively small doses and they seem benign,“ Malow says. The children are continuing to take the supplements, and the researchers plan to see how they‘ re sleeping after six months. “ There‘ s some evidence that the melatonin supplements synchronize the natural sleep pattern and you can stop giving it after six months to a year,“ Malow says. Proper sleep hygiene is a huge part of the equation, Malow stresses. “ If kids watch videos late at night, that‘ s going to interfere with their sleep. They‘ ll be all hyped up, and the light will interfere with the body‘ s own melatonin,“ she says. The researchers also plan to collect blood and urine samples to confirm whether children with autism are deficient in melatonin and whether supplementation brings levels back to normal. Zimmerman, who was not involved with the work, tells WebMD that he often prescribes supplemental melatonin to his young patients with autism. “ It‘ s readily available and easy to use,“ he says. “ My experience is that it helps to get them to sleep, but doesn‘ t always help them stay asleep. I‘ m glad to see the children in the study had longer sleep duration.“ The big question is how long to give melatonin to children, he says. “ This is important work as it helps answer that question.“ Once the safety and effectiveness of supplemental melatonin is confirmed in more children, the researchers plan to conduct a larger trial pitting melatonin and behavioral therapy against behavioral therapy alone, Malow says. |
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| Date: | 10/07/09 |
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| Title: | Potential Pieces of Autism Puzzle Revealed |
| Author: | Robert Preidt |
| Publication: | Health Day |
| Article: | WEDNESDAY, Oct. 7 (HealthDay News) — New genes and genomic regions that might be associated with autism have been identified by an international research team.
The researchers identified a single-letter change on chromosome 5 near a gene called semaphorin 5A, which is believed to help guide the growth of neurons and their long progressions, called axons. The activity of this gene appears to be reduced in the brains of people with autism. The scientists also found a possible link between autism and parts of chromosomes 6 and 20. For the study, the researchers analyzed DNA from people with autism, their family members and unrelated people. The findings are in the Oct. 8 issue of Nature. “ These discoveries are an important step forward, but just one of many that are needed to fully dissect the complex genetics of this disorder,“ co-senior author Dr. Mark Daly, a senior associate member of the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT and an associate professor at the Center for Human Genetic Research at Massachusetts General Hospital, said in a Broad Institute news release. “ The genomic regions we‘ ve identified help shed additional light on the biology of autism and point to areas that should be prioritized for further study,“ he said. Though the study identifies some new genes and genomic regions that might be associated with autism, the findings are just one piece of a large and mostly unfinished puzzle, the researchers said. A better understanding of the link between autism and genetics could be achieved, they said, through future studies with larger numbers of people and improved genomic technologies. |
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| Date: | 10/04/09 |
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| Title: | Two government studies find autism disorders in 1 in 100 U.S. children |
| Author: | By Carla K. Johnson |
| Publication: | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS |
| Article: | CHICAGO — Two new government studies indicate about 1 in 100 American children have autism disorders — higher than a previous U.S. estimate of 1 in 150.
Greater awareness, broader definitions and spotting autism in younger children may explain some of the increase, federal health officials said. “ The concern here is that buried in these numbers is a true increase,“ said Dr. Thomas Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health. “ We‘ re going to have to think very hard about what we‘ re going to do for the 1 in 100.“ Figuring out how many children have autism is extremely difficult because diagnosis is based on a child‘ s behaviour, said Dr. Susan E. Levy of the Children‘ s Hospital of Philadelphia and a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics subcommittee on autism. “ With diabetes you can get a blood test,“ said Levy. “ As of yet, there‘ s no consistent biologic marker we can use to make the diagnosis of autism.“ The new estimate would mean about 673,000 American children have autism. Previous estimates put the number at about 560,000. One of the studies stems from the 2007 National Survey of Children‘ s Health. The results were released Monday, and published in October‘ s Pediatrics. In that study, based on telephone surveys, parents reported about 1 in 91 children, ages 3 to 17, had autism, including milder forms such as Asperger‘ s syndrome. The other government estimate has not been formally released yet. But because of the new published findings, officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention decided to announce Friday during an embargoed press briefing that their preliminary findings also show about 1 in 100 children have the disorders. The CDC uses an in-depth method for its estimate, said CDC researcher Catherine Rice. An agency network reviews the education and health records of 8-year-old children in selected cities and determines whether the children meet the diagnosis. Autism experts generally consider this method more rigorous than a telephone survey. President Barack Obama has made autism a priority for research, Insel said. Federal stimulus money has been earmarked for autism, and a 2006 law pumped millions of dollars of new federal money into autism research, screening and treatment. The published findings, which include state-level data, will help the government plan new services, said Michael Kogan, a researcher with the federal Health Resources and Services Administration, who led the new study, which lists authors from several government agencies, including CDC. The findings are based on the results of a national telephone survey of more than 78,000 parents of children ages 3 to 17. The survey dealt with many health issues and included two questions on autism. Parents were asked whether they had ever been told by a doctor or other health care provider that their child had autism, Asperger‘ s syndrome, pervasive developmental disorder or some other autism spectrum disorder. If the parent said yes, they were asked if their child currently has autism or an autism spectrum disorder. “ Yes“ to both questions was counted as a child with an autism disorder. The survey questions were flawed, said autism researcher Irva Hertz-Picciotto of the University of California, Davis. A broad definition, read to some parents who asked for clarification, didn‘ t include “ repetitive behaviours,“ Hertz-Picciotto said. And parents weren‘ t asked about a professional diagnosis in the second question. Children with autism can have trouble communicating and interacting socially. They may have poor eye contact and engage in repetitive behaviour such as rocking or hand-flapping. “ The wording and definition invited much broader interpretation,“ Hertz-Picciotto said, and researchers didn‘ t check what parents said against medical records. In another finding, nearly 40 per cent of the children ever diagnosed with autism disorders didn‘ t currently have autism, the parents reported. That rate is much higher than ever found by autism recovery researchers. Outside experts said they doubt it reflects a true rate of recoveries. Autism could have been suspected and later ruled out for some of the children, the authors wrote. One of the new study‘ s authors was supported in part by a grant from the advocacy group Autism Speaks. The others work for federal agencies. “ Autism is a highly prevalent disorder,“ said Geraldine Dawson, chief science officer of Autism Speaks. “ We‘ re looking at a major public health challenge.“ |
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| Date: | 10/03/09 |
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| Title: | For the First Time, a Census of Autistic Adults |
| Author: | By Claudia Wallis |
| Publication: | Time - Saturday, Oct. 03, 2009 |
| Article: | Among the many great mysteries of autism is this: Where are all the adults with the disorder? In California, for instance, about 80 % of people identified as having an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are 18 or under. Studies by the Centers for Disease Control and Protection (CDC) indicate that about 1 in 150 children in the U.S. have autism, but despite the fact that autism is by definition a lifelong condition, the agency doesn’t have any numbers for adults. Neither has anyone else. Until now.
On Sept. 22, England’s National Health Service (NHS) released the first study of autism in the general adult population. The findings confirm the intuitive assumption: that ASD is just as common in adults as it is in children. Researchers at the University of Leicester, working with the NHS Information Center found that roughly 1 in 100 adults are on the spectrum — the same rate found for children in England, Japan, Canada and, for that matter, New Jersey. This finding would also appear to contradict the commonplace idea that autism rates have exploded in the two decades. Researchers found no significant differences in autism prevalence among people they surveyed in their 20s, 30s, 40s, right up through their 70s. “This suggests that the factors that lead to developing autism appear to be constant,“ said Dr. Terry Brugha, professor of psychiatry at the University of Leicester and lead author of the study. “I think what our survey suggests doesn’t go with the idea that the prevalence is rising.“ In England, where there is widespread suspicion that the childhood vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella has led to an explosion in autism cases, the study was hailed as part of a growing body of evidence that the vaccine, which was introduced in the 1988, is not to blame. Brugha’s study was part of a larger national survey of psychiatric disorders among adults. In the first phase, researchers conducted 90-minute interviews with 7,461 people in 4,000 randomly selected British households; the interview included a 20-item questionnaire designed to screen for autism. (Sample yes-or-no questionnaire items: I find it easy to make friends. I would rather go to a party than the library. I particularly enjoy reading fiction.) Based on their answers in the first phase, investigators further assessed 618 individuals, using a battery of psychiatric measures, including a state-of-the art autism diagnostic tool. (About 200 of these participants had been selected for scoring high on the autism screen; the rest had been selected to sample for other disorders.) In the second phase, researchers identified 19 adults with ASD. But had they been able to evaluate all 7,461 in the survey, they estimate that they would have found 72 cases, or roughly 1 % of the total. One limitation of the study is its relatively small size, says Brugha. Being the first of its kind, it also needs to be confirmed by other studies. Another issue, notes Richard Roy Grinker, an autism researcher and professor of anthropology at George Washington University, who was not involved in the work, is that the study looked only at adults in the general population. Had it included people living in institutions, which is where the most severely autistic adults are likely to be, the estimated rate of ASD may have been even higher than 1 % . Michael Rosanoff, an epidemiology specialist with Autism Speaks, emphasizes that “the small sample size for estimating prevalence requires caution about interpreting this finding on a population-based scale.“ Despite its limits, the new study does begin to fill in the profile of high-functioning adults who are on the spectrum but living in an ordinary home in the community. Researchers found that they are primarily male and unmarried: about 1.8 % of men surveyed were on the spectrum — among never-married, single men, an estimated 4.5 % had ASD — compared with just 0.2 % of women. (Brugha notes, however, that autism screening tools may be poorly adapted for identifying autism in adult females.) People with autism are less likely than average to have finished college but about as likely to be employed. Only 0.2 % of adults who had finished college were on the spectrum, but the rate was 10 times higher among those without a high school degree. And, in contrast with people with depression or anxiety disorders, autistic adults were unlikely be receiving any sort of mental health services. Why has it taken so long to do a study of this sort? For one thing, you need an enormous sample size — at an enormous cost — to find significant numbers of people with autism. Second, it’s more difficult to detect autism in adults than in children. Children often have glaring symptoms, like delays in learning to speak, extreme social withdrawal and terrible tantrums. Less is known about how autism looks in adults. “To diagnose autism, you need to have good information on people’s behavior,“ says Brugha. “It’s much more straightforward to get that with children because you’ve got parents and teachers as observers. Adults with autism are not the best people to describe their own behavior.“ The Irish-born psychiatrist and epidemiologist says he sees a lot of adults with ASD in his own clinical practice, and “they have so much difficulty saying what their own difficulties are.“ He suspects that this lack of insight and inability to communicate emotional issues also reduces their ability to seek professional help. Efforts to identify and help adults with ASD have lagged far behind efforts to help children. And yet, Brugha notes that just having an ASD diagnosis to explain their troubles can be enormously beneficial to his adult patients, who often struggle with relationships at home and at work because of difficulty reading social cues. “Once you help them to understand that they are not the only person on the planet who is like this, and help their families understand, it can be a breakthrough. People also have a better chance of staying in their work, if their employer understands why they are the way they are.“ Moreover, Brugha says it is not expensive to provide services to adults with relatively mild autism. “The cost of treating a child with autism is phenomenally high. We are not talking about this. We are talking about support, helping people adapt their lives“ with help from a social worker. Grinker, who has a teenage daughter with autism, finds the study to be in some ways comforting. “I would think that a study like this would encourage people that children with autism could grow up and have futures that are meaningful and that they are not going to end up in institutions.“ |
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