Breaking News: The Latest Autism Research
With last week’s International Meeting for Autism Research in Philadelphia came new reports on autism research ranging from good to guilt-inducing: an inkling of hope from a clinical drug trial, research defying the persistent myth that divorce is one likely encore to an autism diagnosis, a rigorous study debunking claims that changes in diet can result in changes in a child’s behavior and two more studies linking common infertility treatments to a slight increase in autism risk. The real good news is that the research is being done, and the real bad news is that with all the headlines, we still don’t know much. (Although we do know that Dr. Andrew Wakefield, whose “research” supposedly linked the MMR vaccine to autism, lost his license to practice in Great Britain today, which won’t affect his Texas clinic.) None of the reported studies did much more than give researchers a lead on where to look next.
The best of the good news was also the least tangible: researchers have had promising results testing a drug that may help resolve communication issues in the nerve cells of the brain that can lead to learning disabilities of a type considered to fall under the autism spectrum. It’s barely on the scale of news–nothing could be more preliminary than a few restored mice–but it’s the first time a drug has shown any signs of an affect in this area.
Brian Freedman, Ph.D., took aim at a persistent belief that parents of children with autism are more likely to divorce. ”You can imagine the impact of getting a diagnosis of autism, and immediately following that getting a diagnosis of divorce,” he says. What he found offers some support for those parents: a diagnosis of autism alone isn’t enough to increase the risk to a marriage. What does put a marriage at risk is a diagnosis of ADHD, with or without a diagnosis of autism. Freedman, who serves as clinical director at the Center for Autism and Related Disorders at Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, says families of kids with autism are, “incredibly resilient.”
Strollerderby blogger Madeline Holler reported last week on research showing that a gluten- and casien-free diet had no effect on the behavior of the 14 autistic children studied. Parents like Jenny McCarthy have lauded the diet–McCarthy says it contributed to her son’s eventual recovery, and many others claim to see benefits–but it’s been difficult to test in clinical trials. This one will be a disappointment to parents hoping to help their kids control their symptoms (and gain some control themselves), but the researchers themselves pointed out that a study of 14 kids is hardly conclusive.
The hardest news to process came from two studies revealing possible links between infertility treatments and autism. Previous studies have found a possible correlation between autism and actual infertility (regardless of whether it’s resolved by treatment, or just eventually results in an unassisted birth), but these were the first studies to find a possible link between infertility treatments and autism. One study, conducted at Harvard, found that autism was nearly twice as likely in children of women treated with fertility drug Clomid (and the longer the women took the drug, the stronger the correlation). Another study done in Israel found a higher rate of autism among children born through IVF than in the general population. Both studies were, again, preliminary–the epidemiologist who led the Harvard study cautions women against drawing any conclusions from the study, saying that even if a link is later proven, the additional risk remains small (4% in treated women, 2% in untreated women, in a group with an average age of 35, and even lower in younger women).
But it’s what to do with all this new information, preliminary as it may be, that’s difficult. Parents who’ve already undergone infertility treatment can worry more, test more, watch more. Parents who received treatments and whose children have already been diagnosed gain an additional burden of guilt, however unwarranted. And women or couples considering treatment have to struggle with an additional question in a field that’s already unclear. The research should be done, the results reported, and the implications dealt with by parents and professionals as best they can, until more–and more, and more–is known.
I have always wondered if there was a connection between ASD’s increased incidence and ART’s increased use. Specifically I wonder about progesterone supplementation. And some women use progesterone supps WITHOUT any other treatment. Hmm.
What I’m saying is, if they could find a definitive link with progesterone supplementation, or low-dose steroids (also commonly used in a variety of ARTs) and Autism, you could just adjust ART treatments accordingly. This is very interesting research and certainly isn’t to be feared. The more we know, the more that women struggling with infertility can get the best treatment.
The true as a mother is that in my experience gluten free casein free works , and ask to parents not to who knows!!!! And if gf cf is not working is because also needs very low oxalates diet or/and low phenols .
This is everything I need to know about Autism?
[...] points to research covered recently by Strollerderby that indicates parents of autistic children are not more likely to get divorced than anyone else. However, studies suggest that an ADHD diagnosis is a sign of impending [...]
On May 20, 2010, researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health presented their findings from a study exploring the possible relationship between the use of fertility drugs and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The scientists reported to attendees at the International Meeting for Autism Research in Philadelphia that women who used fertility drugs to get pregnant had almost double the risk of having a child with ASD verses nonusers. The drugs studied included Clomid (clomiphene citrate) and Pergonal (gonadotropin).
This recent study is part of a growing body of research that strengthens the argument that Clomid and other fertility drugs are a cause of ASD via their ability to deny cholesterol to a developing embryo shortly after conception. About 58% of ASD children have low total cholesterol (<160 mg/dL) and about 19% have extremely low total cholesterol (<100 mg/dL). The average level for children is 165 mg/dL. It has also been observed that a high percentage of children (71-86%) born with Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome (SLOS), in addition to a wide array of birth defects are also born with ASD. Infants with SLOS are born with a defective enzyme that impairs the body’s ability to convert a precursor (7-dehydrocholesterol) to cholesterol. Cholesterol is essential for growth of the myelin membranes that cover the brain and abnormalities in the myelin sheath are believed to be a contributing cause of ASD. Many experts thus believe that low cholesterol during early embryonic development is one of the causes of ASD.
Clomid has a long half-life and is present during the embryonic period (first 8 weeks) even when taken before conception. Studies have shown it to be biologically active for up to 54 days after ingestion and that it can accumulate over successive cycles of treatment. In the Harvard study they found that the longer the use of fertility drugs, the higher the risk of developing ASD. A critically important fact – and one not known by most physicians prescribing the drug – is that Clomid is a cholesterol inhibitor and impairs its production by acting upon enzymes in the body similar to Lipitor and other statin drugs. Its chemical structure is also similar to the cholesterol-reducing drug, Triparanol, which was briefly available during the 1960s. Animal studies have shown that Clomid and Triparanol both act on the same enzyme and affect developing organs in a similar way, with Triparanol being slightly more potent.
Pergonal (also known as human menopausal gonadotropin or hMG) likewise reduces cholesterol, but by way of a different mechanism. Namely, it suppresses cholesterol levels in early pregnancy via its ability to elevate estrogen production. Studies have established that following hyperstimulation of the ovaries by Pergonal, the resulting elevated estrogen during the luteal (post-ovulation) phase of the cycle suppresses the level of total cholesterol. In fact, there is an inverse correlation between concentrations of estrogen and the level of total cholesterol – the higher the level of estrogen, the lower the concentration of total cholesterol.
The GOOD NEWS is that many ASD children with low cholesterol, treated with cholesterol supplementation, have shown dramatic improvement. Scientists at Johns Hopkins University Medical Center, led by Dr. Richard Kelley, have shown such treatment resulting in improved mobility, verbalization, growth, behavior, sociability and alertness. More importantly, once we have a full understanding about one of the causes of ASD, some day in the future we might be in a position to eliminate that cause. http://www.terencemix.com.