Posted on

SLEEP: it’s what’s important for autism

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Sleep disturbances affect up to 80% of people with autism, and as it turns out, these sleep problems translate to daytime problems like probability of hospitalization, severity of symptoms and even employment.  This week’s podcast focuses on three new studies that examine the relationship between sleep problems and function in people with autism across the spectrum, and provides new insights on how to study sleep.  Dr. Ashura Buckley from the NIH will be speaking about sleep in autism at the Day of Learning on April 11th – if you have’t registered yet, there is still time:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2018-autism-science-foundation-ted-style-autism-science-conference-registration-39878706284

Articles used in this podcast:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29500758

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5660229/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29455555

Posted on

Commonly used drugs that may help autism

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Sometimes treatment targets come from the places you wouldn’t expect.  This week, three new studies on the biological and sometimes, behavioral, effects of three commonly used compounds used to treat high cholesterol, edema, and angina were studied in people with autism.  Instead of focusing on just the behavior however, these studies took the approach of examining them from the behavioral side, determining if there was a biological reason why these compounds should be helping people with autism.  This means autism research has turned a corner – it’s not just about behavioral improvements, but about how the drug is working in the brain.  Also, a fun study about social media in people with autism.  They don’t just use it like the rest of us, it actually makes people with autism happy.

Here are the studies included in this week’s podcast:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29485900

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29484909

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29484149

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29483603

 

Posted on

Resources and Services for Adolescents and Young Adults

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Thank you to Sonia Agarwal, smart, efficient and eloquent ASF summer intern for putting together a summary of resources and services and rights for adolescents and young adults with autism, focusing on those who are not intellectually disabled.  They include resources for transitioning into college and support programs at college, with tips and hints along the way.  Sonia has a younger brother with autism and is committed to helping families access the help they need.

Posted on

A 4th of July quickie on new data for treatment of autism symptoms

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Happy 4th of July weekend.  This week’s podcast is devoted to the studies in the past few months focusing on autism treatments that didn’t make it into the regular weekly roundup.  They include data that shows promising results (peer networks and iPads) as well as those that didn’t do as well as hoped (social skills).  There were also some that showed that some therapies just don’t have any good studies to show definitively if they are helpful or not.  Take 8 minutes before the fireworks and listen to the latest on interventions of ASD.

Posted on

The Benefits of Being and Older Father

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Advanced paternal age is one of the more replicated risk factors for autism – but maybe not autism as it as seen as a disorder.  Recent studies by Mount Sinai School of Medicine and Kings College of London show in both animal models and in epidemiological studies that advanced age in fathers is associated with the “active but odd” phenotype and PDD NOS.  In people, older (but not “old”) age in fathers led to increased IQ and social aloofness that led to higher academic achievement.  Is this autism?  Or just a subtype of autism where the outcomes are adaptive rather than maladaptive?  There are lots of questions about the nature of autism in these findings.

Posted on

Brain tissue: what has it done for autism lately?

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

In order to ensure that researchers have enough brain tissue to understand autism spectrum disorders, the education and outreach campaign is being expanded past families to doctors and professionals that have access to tissue.  One of these groups is neuropathologists.  At their annual meeting this past week in Los Angeles, and entire afternoon was spent dedicated to autism and the features of autism in the brain.  A summary of the presentations is included in this podcast. Speakers emphasized that the way the brain works in childhood is not the same way it works in adulthood, and a study out of UCSD showed that the genes that are affected in children with autism are different than those in adults with autism.  The mechanisms of genes controlling the developing brain vs. those which affect ongoing maintenance are different.  This calls to make sure scientists understand all ages of people with autism, because as the brain changes, so do the needs of people with ASD.

Posted on

What treatments are lacking sufficient evidence for autism?

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

This week two new publications reported on systematic reviews for nutritional and sensory treatments for ASD.  This means the existing research was sorted, summarized, scrutinized and evaluated.  They found insufficient evidence to show any dietary or nutritional therapy was effective, but sufficient evidence that sensory integration therapy helps people with ASD.  In light of new data on heavy metals found in baby teeth, it’s important to remember that chelation is NOT effective and dangerous.  While “insufficient evidence” does not rule out these interventions forever and always, lots more needs to be done in these areas to conduct rigorous experiments that don’t have any major shortcomings so they hold up to scrutiny.

Posted on

Memorial Day Memoriam: Isabelle Rapin

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

This week, autism lost a pioneer and advocate for autism research:  Isabelle Rapin, MD, a neurologist from New York’s Albert Einstein University.  The first part of the podcast is a brief summary of her accomplishments.  The second part is an study called “how to keep your child out of the hospital”, presenting a recent study which looked at risk factors for being an inpatient, rather than an outpatient.    These risk factors may not be able to be prevented, but hopefully through identification of what they are, situations might be managed to help those with autism and their families during a crisis situation.

 

 

Posted on

Internet addiction is a real thing and it is worse in kids with autism

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Two studies of importance came out this week.  The first looked at the interactive effects of genetic mutations called copy number variations and air pollution.  Previously, ozone was not listed in the factors in air pollution that increased risk for autism.  But combine it with copy number variations – now the two together dramatically increase risk.  Ozone levels are something that can be reduced through legislation.  Second, the role of internet addiction is generally not acknowledged or appreciated, but a recent study demonstrated that people with autism show triple the rate of internet addiction compared to those without autism.  This is something that psychiatrists and psychologists should know about when they think about treatments and comorbidities of people with ASD.