Fever Suppression/Autism Article

[Guest guest]

Below is an article I found while doing some internet research on

fever responses, which puts forth a theory that some cases of autism

may have been caused or exasperated by over-use of over-the-counter

anti-inflammatory meds like tylenol and ibuprofen which in turn

prevents necessary fever responses during neurodevelopment causing

immune system damage. It kind of spooks me because I gave my son

way too much ibuprofen in hindsight, every time he was vaccinated,

for toothaches, and it seems like his pediatritian told me to give

it to him all the time when he was having chronic ear infections

from 15-20 months of age along with chronic anitbiotic use. It

literally makes me ill thinking of this, because my son would never

spike high fevers with illnesses or with his ear infections like

many children do. I quite giving it after he had his first set of

tubes, except for a rare occasion as I was finally educated on the

fact that it is not necessary unless the fever is particularly high

and not for mild fevers or anything else (maybe most mom's already

know that, but I only have one child and like an idiot, I did

everything my pediatritian said at the time). Has anyone ever

discussed this kind of thing with Dr. G or had a history similar?

Would love any comments.

Abstract of Article and Link below:

Is fever suppression involved in the etiology of autism and

neurodevelopmental disorders?

AR.

Centers for Persons with Disabilities, Utah State University, Logan,

Utah 84321-6895, USA. rtorres@...

BACKGROUND: There appears to be a significant increase in the

prevalence rate of autism. Reasons for the increase are unknown,

however, there is a substantial body of evidence that suggests the

etiology involves infections of the pregnant mother or of a young

child. Most infections result in fever that is routinely controlled

with antipyretics such as acetaminophen. The blocking of fever

inhibits processes that evolved over millions of years to protect

against microbial attack. Immune mechanisms in the central nervous

system are part of this protective process. HYPOTHESIS: The blockage

of fever with antipyretics interferes with normal immunological

development in the brain leading to neurodevelopmental disorders

such as autism in certain genetically and immunologically disposed

individuals. TESTING THE HYPOTHESIS: Epidemiological studies to

determine associations between the use of antipyretics and

neurodevelopmental disorders should be undertaken. Biochemical tests

will involve the examination of fluids/serum by mass spectrometry

and the determination of cytokine/chemokine levels in serum and cell

culture fluids after stimulation with fever-inducing molecules from

bacteria, viruses and yeast. Postmortem brain can be examined by

immunohistochemistry or other methods such as fluorescent in situ

hybridization (FISH) to determine altered expression levels of

chemokines/cytokines and other molecules. IMPLICATIONS OF THE

HYPOTHESIS: 1) The use of antipyretics during pregnancy or in young

children may be reserved for more severe fevers. 2) The perplexing

genetic findings in autism may be better understood by categorizing

genes along functional pathways. 3) New treatments based on immune,

cell, pharmacological or even heat therapies may be developed.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?

cmd=Retrieve & db=PubMed & list_uids=12952554 & dopt=Abstract