Re: Discovery Magazine, Autism, It's Not Just In the Head

[Guest guest]

wow, great read, thanks.

>

> Autism: It's Not Just in the Head

>

> The devastating derangements of autism also show up in the gut and

in the

> immune system. That unexpected discovery is sparking new

treatments that

> target the body in addition to the brain.

>

> by Jill Neimark, Discover

>

> March 22, 2007

>

> http://discovermagazine.com/2007/apr/autism-it2019s-not-just-in-the-

head

>

>

> Article Summary:

> Autism, traditionally seen as genetic and originating in the

brain, is

> starting to be viewed in a broader and very different light, as a

possible

> immune and neuroinflammatory disorder. As a result, autism is

beginning to

> look like a condition that can, in some and perhaps many cases, be

> successfully treated. A disparate group -- immunologists,

naturopaths,

> neuroscientists, and toxicologists -- is turning up clues that are

yielding

> novel strategies to help autistic patients.

>

> New studies are examining contributing factors ranging from

vaccine

> reactions to atypical growth in the placenta, abnormal tissue in

the gut,

> inflamed tissue in the brain, food allergies and disturbed brain

wave

> synchrony. Some clinicians are using genetic test results to

recommend

> unconventional nutritional therapies, and others employ drugs to

fight

> viruses and quell inflammation.

>

> Above all, there is a new emphasis on the interaction between

vulnerable

> genes and environmental triggers, along with a growing sense that

low-dose,

> multiple toxic and infectious exposures may be a major

contributing factor

> to autism and its related disorders. One can distill a few

revolutionary

> insights from among the many potential avenues of research. First,

autism

> may not be rigidly determined but instead may be related to common

gene

> variants, called polymorphisms, that may be derailed by

environmental

> triggers. Second, affected genes may disturb fundamental pathways

in the

> body and lead to chronic inflammation across the brain, immune

system, and

> digestive system. Third, inflammation is treatable.

>

> Harvard pediatric neurologist Martha Herbert has authored a 14,000-

word

> paper in the journal Clinical Neuropsychiatry that

reconceptualizes the

> universe of autism, pulling the brain down from its privileged

perch as an

> organ isolated from the rest of the body. " What I believe is

happening is

> that genes and environment interact, either in a fetus or young

child,

> changing cellular function all over the body, which then affects

tissue and

> metabolism in many vulnerable organs. And it's the interaction of

this

> collection of troubles that leads to altered sensory processing

and impaired

> coordination in the brain. A brain with these kinds of problems

produces the

> abnormal behaviors that we call autism. "

>

> Each child's path to autism may be distinct, she says, but they

may share

> common inflammatory abnormalities. She has shown through

morphometric brain

> imaging that white matter -- which carries impulses between

neurons -- is

> larger in children with autism. If white matter is chronically

inflamed,

> then one potential treatment approach is to down-regulate the

brain's immune

> response.

>

> Jill , director of the Autism Metabolic Genomics Laboratory

at the

> Arkansas Children's Hospital Research Institute (and professor of

pediatrics

> at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences) has found that

many

> children with autism do not make as much of a compound called

glutathione as

> neurotypical children do. Glutathione is the cell's most abundant

> antioxidant, and it is crucial for removing toxins. If cells lack

sufficient

> antioxidants, they experience oxidative stress, which is often

found with

> chronic inflammation. Oxidative stress in some autistic children

may be

> treatable with targeted nutritional intervention.

>

> Genetic vulnerability -- related to immune system, brain, and gut -

- must

> also be considered. Pat Levitt, director of the Vanderbilt Kennedy

Center

> for Research on Human Development, and his colleagues recently

discovered

> that a common variant of a gene called MET doubles the risk of

autism. The

> finding was widely regarded as a breakthrough because MET

modulates the

> nervous system, gut, and immune system -- just the kind of finding

that

> matches up with the emerging new view of autism.

>

> The gene variant occurs in 47 percent of the population -- in

other words,

> it is just one contributing factor, and it probably works in

concert with

> other vulnerability genes. The activity of the gene is affected by

what is

> known as oxidative stress -- the kind of damage one sees with

excessive

> exposure to toxins. Several large-scale, federally funded

epidemiological

> studies are under way to pinpoint possible environmental triggers,

as well

> as early biomarkers of autism. The trick is to build a large

enough study to

> be able to look at both genes and environment together. An

ambitious study,

> called the Autism Birth Cohort, by Columbia University and the

Norwegian

> Institute of Public Health will follow 100,000 pregnant women for

72 months,

> studying their health and genetics and testing everything from

blood to

> urine samples.

>

> The hope is to discover environmental factors that contribute to

autism

> risk, from diet or infection to toxins like heavy metals,

pesticides, and

> the countless synthetic molecules in products today. Other large

NIH- and

> EPA-funded studies are teasing out immune abnormalities that may

contribute

> to autism.

>

>

>

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