Aspies For Freedom

http://www. alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N15269596.htm

WASHINGTON, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Children with autism have inflammation in their brains, although it is not yet clear whether the inflammation actually causes the condition, researchers said on Monday.

Tests on the brain tissue of 11 patients with autism who had died and spinal fluid from six living children with autism showed the activation of immune system responses, the team at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore and the University of Milan found.

"These findings reinforce the theory that immune activation in the brain is involved in autism, although it is not yet clear whether it is destructive or beneficial, or both, to the developing brain," said Dr. Carlos Pardo-Villamizar of Johns Hopkins, who led the study.

Autism is a brain disorder usually seen as children become toddlers. Affecting an estimated two to five out of every 1,000 children, autism has a spectrum of symptoms that include difficulty with social interaction and repetitive behaviors.

In a study published in the online edition of the Annals of Neurology, Pardo and colleagues said they found abnormal activity by immune system signaling chemicals called chemokines in the autistic patients.

"This ongoing inflammatory process was present in different areas of the brain and produced by cells known as microglia and astroglia," said Pardo.

"Scientists have found hints that the immune system may be involved in autism, but not all studies have confirmed this," Pardo added in a statement.

"We wanted a more definitive answer, so rather than looking at the overall immune system, we focused on immune responses inside the relatively sealed environment of the nervous system."

No one knows what causes autism, although experts have largely rejected purported links with childhood vaccines.

The condition is strongly influenced by genes. If one identical twin has autism, for instance, the other is also usually affected.

Pardo said more study would be needed to show if the inflammation itself underlies autism, or is a reaction to something else that causes the condition.

Its a very small study, it didnt say what the people who were deceased and were tested had died from, could that have been a factor?

Doubtful, since they also tested living people.

This reminds me of what Simon Baron-Cohen said about testing for the level of testosterone in human embryos. I was hoping nobody would use that research to test unborn babies but unfortunately they do. It needs to be stopped somehow

Blackjack they only tested six living people, out of the millions of those with autism, and they didnt test the brain or see inflammation in the brain, they tested the spine.

Simeon you are so right, it is greatly concerning.

Autistic people may have a higher incidence of allergies and immune system problems, but even if that is the case, it doesn't necessarily suggest that inflammation affects the development of autistic children's brains.  The researchers need to do better science and stop jumping to conclusions.

I think it is very wrong when they do a tiny study and jump to conclusions, it is this kind of thing that will lead to another dramatic "this is the cause of autism" that they have done with MRR, mercury, and now folic acid.

As lots of prenatal testosterone is thought to mess with the immune system as well as altering brain development, it should come as no surprise that researchers have found an immune abnormality in autistic people. I would be surprised if they didn't. What we have here is two characteristics with one common cause, not cause and effect.

I know there's a way to test brain tissue on living people. Isn't it as simple as a scan?

Yeah, they tested 6 living people, but didn't they also test 11 dead people? That's still not very much.

Whooooaaah Lili! How do you know it's not our genotype which leads to higher levels of pre-natal testosterone? And one advantage of Aspies is supposed to be, by some authorities, an improved immune system?

What is your definition of autism here?

According to who? Most Aspies I know, both myself and my father included, seem to get sick *more* often than non-Aspies.

Hardly statistically relevant; and by what definition are you determining who's an Aspie? There's also the question of degree; sure I had a lot of illnesses as a kid, but was my asthma due to my AS? I had cousins who had it worse, but I can't see they were AS. I had lots of colds which were short term, and few cases of flu, and they were short lived (except the one year I took the flu jab...) and even my fatigue syndrome is seemingly mild (with respect to some reports) and even my appendacitis (which should, by convencional theory, have been fatal) turned out to be a non-event; the major problem was they wouldn't let me out of bed to go to the toilet!

There is plenty of evidence in the medical literature that autism and autoimmunity are associated, and there is much anecdotal evidence of a link between the different forms of atopy, such as food allergies, and autistic conditions. There are also definite sex differences in the workings of the immune system.

A defective immune system could be a "weak" one that fails to fight infection or a "strong" one that is so aggressive that it attacks the patient's own body tissues.

atopy?

Um...by a combination of experience and diagnosis. Why, how do *you* define it?