Help With Autism

The link between vaccination and autism continues to become a hot issue as doctors vehemently deny it, while both parents and others in the medical community claim that the link is valid.

In a letter to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, physician, Dr. David Ayoub, claims that pediatricians rely on information provided by the American Academy of Pediatrics, which is funded by the companies that manufacture vaccines.

“With the recent concession by government health officials that childhood vaccines worsened a rare, underlying disorder that ultimately led to autism-like symptoms in a Georgia girl, and that she should be paid from a federal vaccine-injury fund, the facade of lies is beginning to crumble. I urge parents and pediatricians to do their own research with a thorough review of available literature and stop trusting reassuring claims from the very agencies that are responsible for this horrible debacle,” wrote Dr. Ayoub.

A joint study by two U.S. universities found further evidence of a genetic contribution to autism, researchers said Tuesday.

The autism research found that some parents of autistic children evaluate facial expressions similar to their children, researchers from California Institute of Technology in Pasadena and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill said in a news release.

The researchers and autism experts from the two universities studied 42 parents – 15 of whom were classified as socially aloof – of autistic children with autism.

Researchers said parents participated in an experiment that measured how they make use parts of the face to judge emotions. They were shown expressions filtered so only certain parts of the face were visible and asked to decide quickly if the emotion were happy or fear.

Aloof parents relied more heavily on the mouth to recognize emotion than the eyes, research showed.

We found that some parents who have a child with autism process face information in a subtly, but clearly different way from other parents, said Cal-Tech neuroscientist Ralph Adolphs.

It may lead us to finding genes that are responsible for the face-processing component in autism, added UNC psychiatrist Joe Piven.

The findings will be published Thursday in the online edition of Current Biology.

Middle Eastern families, sophisticated genetic analysis and groundbreaking neuroscience have implicated a half-dozen new genes in autism research. More importantly, it strongly supports the emerging idea that autism stems from disruptions in the brain’s ability to form new connections in response to experience consistent with autism’s onset during the first year of life, when many of these connections are normally made.

Autism genes have been difficult to identify because the disorder is complex, with a variety of causes stemming from many possible genes or combinations of genes. In addition, since people with autism tend not to have children, most of the genes identified thus far aren’t inherited from a parent, but instead are mutated during embryonic development, making them hard to track through traditional linkage studies in families.

Just over 6 percent of the 88 families showed rare, inherited deletions within DNA regions linked to autism. These affected DNA regions varied among families, further indication of autism’s large variety of genetic causes. In all, the technique identified five chromosome deletions affecting at least six identifiable genes.

Government researchers are pushing to have an official federal study on chelation therapy.  Chelation removes heavy metals from the body which may have been caused by vaccines.

The push for finding the positive effects of chelation is brought on by parents of autistic children who feel that the government isn’t doing enough.  This is also coming as several legislative sessions have ended with some states allowing insurance companies to deny coverage for autistic childre

A mother who believes the MMR shot caused her son’s autism has contributed to a book all about the issue.

Deborah Nash saw the first symptoms of autism in her son David on July 9, 1994 - just four days after he received the vaccination for measles, mumps and rubella (MMR).

She said: “I honestly believe the MMR jab caused it because he wasn’t born autistic. He was happy and bright and doing all the usual things. He slept well and was walking at 11 months. We had absolutely no concerns about him.”

Mrs Nash believes parents of children who developed the condition after getting the vaccination are not being listened to by the Government.

Frustrated by this, she and other parents have united to write a book voicing their opinions. Mrs. Nash wrote chapter seven of Silenced Witnesses, which was published in March.

In it, she describes her experiences of caring for David and her frustration at the Government’s refusal to begin research into the repercussions of the jab.

She wrote: “There is little hope of finding a cure’ for regressive autism unless and until there is properly funded clinical research into the victims.”

If research found the MMR vaccination had caused autism, the Government and pharmaceutical companies responsible may have to pay compensation to its victims. Mrs. Nash believes this may be the reason why they are reluctant to research the link between the vaccination and autism.

PENNSYLVANIA – Parents of autistic children would be able to pay for autism therapy and related services with private health insurance starting next year, under legislation that strikes a compromise between the insurance industry and advocates for the disabled.

The House of Representatives on Tuesday unanimously passed the measure, which also would give the state Insurance Department power to approve the proposed merger of Pennsylvania’s two largest insurance companies. The Senate’s Republican leader said Wednesday he expects that chamber to send the bill to Gov. Ed Rendell, who said he would sign it, before the Legislature’s two-month summer break.

A recent breakthrough scientific study has shown that neural stem cell development may be linked to Autism. The study demonstrated that mice lacking the myocyte enhancer factor 2C (MEF2C) protein in neural stem cells had smaller brains, fewer nerve cells and showed behaviors similar to those seen in humans with a form of autism known as Rett Syndrome.

This work represents the first direct link between a developmental disorder of neural stem cells and the subsequent onset of autism.

The research team was led by Stuart A. Lipton, M.D., Ph.D., a clinical neurologist and Professor and Director of the Del E. Webb Neuroscience, Aging and Stem Cell Research Center at Burnham.

“These results give us a good hint of how to look at Rett Syndrome and potentially other forms of autism in humans,” said Dr. Lipton. “Having identified a mutation that causes this defect, we can track what happens. Perhaps we can correct it in a mouse, and if so, eventually correct it in humans.”

At the close of this autism research, the researchers will continue to follow for six months all participants who respond favorably to treatment to examine the safety, effectiveness and tolerability of long-term treatment

 Autism treatment news: Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic of UPMC have received $3 million from the National Institute of Mental Health to conduct a national study of the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children with autism spectrum disorders.

“ADHD symptoms are common in children with autism, but children with autism often do not respond well to stimulant medications, the conventional treatment for ADHD,” said Benjamin Handen, Ph.D., principal investigator of the study and associate professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

In this 10-week clinical trial, which will start enrolling patients in September, Pitt researchers and colleagues from the University of Rochester and Ohio State University will recruit 144 children ranging in ages from 5 to13 who have autism with ADHD symptoms. The researchers will assess the safety and effectiveness of two treatments: atomoxetine, a nonstimulant medication for treating ADHD, and parent management training in which parents learn how to use behavioral interventions as another form of conventional ADHD treatment.

Market America announced that it is in the development and testing stages of a new line of nutraceutical products that will support the health of children with autism and related neurodevelopmental challenges. Specialized laboratory testing often demonstrates sub-optimal levels of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and fatty acids in people with autism, which can be addressed with nutritional supplements. Despite these findings, Market America found in its research that parents and health professionals alike are frustrated with the limited nutritional products available in the marketplace.

Market America is working in conjunction with these doctors to develop a regimen of nutraceutical products that will promote a high quality of life for those living with autism.

“It is simply mind-blowing and disheartening when you read the statistics about children afflicted with autism,” said Marty Weissman, executive vice president of Market America.

“One out of every 150 children is diagnosed with autism and 67 new children are diagnosed per day. As a company founded on science based products, it is time that we use our expertise to support the health of these children.”

The conference was held to identify areas that are lacking in autism therapy and how Market America could develop products that meet the special needs of these children.

In the latest autism news, Marathon County residents who worry about a loved one at risk of wandering away will have an added safety net when a local agency can raise enough money and volunteer support.

The Aging and Disability Resource Center of Central Wisconsin needs about $15,000 and trained rescue personnel to start Project Lifesaver in the county, said Lonnie Cole, the center’s Older Americans Act director.

Project Lifesaver provides traceable radio-transmitter wristbands for people who suffer from dementia or other conditions such as autism that make them vulnerable to becoming lost and endangering themselves.

The resource center already has implemented Project Lifesaver in Wood County. The agency serves both counties.

Wood County authorities joined the national program in February 2007, four months before a 7-year-old autistic boy went missing from his Wisconsin Rapids-area home. He was found dead in a nearby pond a year ago today. The boy’s mother since has become a Project Lifesaver donor.

“For the most part, those we have on the program in Wood County are children with autism,” said Tami Drew-Huiras, a social worker in charge of the county’s Project Lifesaver efforts.

“We could have hundreds of people signed up for it,” she said. “I know for a fact that there are many more people out there who could use it.”

Cole said she has yet to calculate how many Marathon County residents would qualify for Project Lifesaver, which asks that families pay $25 a month for the service.