EiR Blog

Autism evaluation covers a spectrum of children with different skills and impairment. It varies child to child depending on the severity and outcomes of symptoms. It can be challenging to diagnose because there is no significant medical test to diagnose it. The evaluation depends on child history and his behaviour to diagnose. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is diagnosed mostly at the age of 18 months or younger. If the child is of 2 years, it's tough to diagnose as the behaviour varies often. Somehow in many children, it is difficult to diagnose autism in adults, and this may lead to some severe consequences. The diversity of autistic child behaviour makes it difficult for early diagnosis, sometimes autistic patients are diagnosed as ADHD, which is not as alarming as Autism, and sometimes a healthy child is told to be autistic. That's why proper information is needed for parents to know exactly which factors...

This and last week have been bumper weeks for interesting studies related to autism and ADHD. First, the Lancet published the results of a controlled trial on the use of a few-foods rotation diet on the symptoms of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The link to the abstract for the study by Pelsser and colleagues is shown below: http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(10)62227-1/abstract A break down of the study and the main findings can be viewed here: http://evolutionarypsychiatry.blogspot.com/ In short, a very well conducted and controlled study that showed that diet can affect some cases of ADHD. As to how and why it works is more of a mystery. Second, a review study has been published looking at the connection between gastrointestinal disorders and autism spectrum conditons. The link to the abstract for the article by Chen and colleagues is shown below: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21297509 The results: the studies so far have a number of methodological issues...

A quick update: ESPA Research announces the publication of a new article in the peer-reviewed journal Autism Insights titled: How could a gluten- and casein-free diet ameliorate symptoms associated with autism spectrum conditions? The article is open-access and free to download for non-commercial purposes via the ESPA Research or publishers website (Libertas Academica). www.espa-research.org.uk Building on the various pieces of research attempting to determine how such dietary intervention may work in some cases of autism spectrum conditions, the authors detail the various evidence for a direct or co-morbid link between autism and (i) gluten sensitive enteropathy or coeliac disease, (ii) allergy and atopic disease, and (iii) hyperpermeability of the gastrointestinal membrane (leaky gut) and passage of biologically active material to the central nervous system. Many thanks All at ESPA Research ...

While adding the latest research abstracts to the site the other day I came across a very interesting paper regarding the effects gluten can have on the brain and nervous system. As you are no doubt ware, gluten is a protein found in grains including wheat, rye and barley, which is the trigger for the damage to the tissues of the small intestine in those with celiac disease. In this condition the immune system produces antibodies that attack the gluten consumed in the diet as well as the body's own tissues. As such celiac disease is classed as an autoimmune disease - the body attacks itself (in this case triggered by gluten). Those with celiac disease frequently suffer from mood disorders and neurological symptoms such as epilepsy, ataxia (coordination problems), and peripheral neuropathy, which results in symptoms including temporary numbness, tingling, and pricking sensations, sensitivity to touch, or muscle weakness...

After my own very positive experiences with vitamin D therapy for seasonal affective disorder (S.A.D) which I wrote about a couple of months ago, my interest was peaked this week when I came across a story linking autism to deficiency of the "sunshine vitamin". Researchers from Cornell University carried out a "more refined" analysis of data collected during a 2006 study and confirmed that autism rates are highest in the rainiest counties of the three Pacific coast states of the US: Washington, Oregon and California.  The study is published in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine. The original 2006 study, conducted by the National Bureau of Economic Research was highly controversial, as the authors were not medical researchers and blamed higher amounts of TV viewing by children in the rainiest areas for the higher incidence of autism. I reported on this research when it was originally published: Autism Associated with...

Hi everyone. My time is currently very limited due to just returning from a trip to California and having a backlog of studying and assignment deadlines for my degree course. I didn't want to leave another week "blogless" however so I thought I'd just draw your attention to a potentially powerful therapy known as 'phospholipid exchange' which Helen64 posted a question about in the forums this week.  Read the forum thread on phospholipid exchange therapy To explain the principal of the therapy we first need a little bit of biochemistry. Basically, cells in the human body have a cell membrane made up of fatty substances called phospholipids along with fatty acids. These fatty substances give the cell membrane a level of fluidity that allows them to efficiently allow nutrients to enter the cell and toxins to be expelled amongst other important functions such as maintaining the structure and shape of...

I am lucky enough to be spending two weeks in California having arrived on Wednesday of this week.  So as a UK resident I had planned to write a blog entry about how the extra daylight hours and sunshine had improved my mood and energy levels as they always do when I visit at this time of year.  ....the only problem being that as soon as I arrived a major storm system also did so! After weeks of 80 degree temperatures and wall to wall sunshine in California I am yet to see more than a glimpse of the sun. Typical! So with little time to come up with other blog ideas I thought I'd discuss a subject that I believe is important not just in environmental illnesses but in illness in general. As part of my degree in nutritional therapy I recently heard a lecture by Khush Mark, Ph.D. Khush is...

Back in February of this year the US government admitted that in the case of young Hannah Poling, a reaction to vaccinations she received had resulted in her developing autism. This admission sent the media, bloggers and online autism forums into a spin with many seeing it as concrete proof that vaccines are the cause, or at least a cause, of the developmental disorder. Medical experts however maintained that Hannah had an underlying mitochondrial disorder, which they said, was extremely rare and so the same process could not account for a significant number of other cases of autism. It now turns out however, that the medical experts may have been wrong! Results of a new study announced on Monday by the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation (UMDF) reveal that at least one in 200 healthy humans "harbors a pathogenic mitochondrial mutation that potentially causes disease." The landmark study is published in the current issue of the...

The Daily Telegraph (London) this week reported on another study linking chemicals in common household products to autism. This time the culprit is a group of insecticides commonly found in pet shampoos designed to kill fleas. It seems there is increasing acceptance that an interaction between genetics and environmental triggers (including synthetic chemicals) may be the key to understanding autism which now affects around 1 in 150 children in developed countries. The latest study reported by the Telegraph was carried out by Professor Irva Hertz-Picciotto and colleagues at the University of California, who found that expectant mothers who used pet shampoos containing pyrethrins to kill their pet's fleas were twice as likely to go on to have children with autism. Pyrethrins are a pair of chemicals that act as insecticides by attacking the nervous systems of insects In terms of human health They have been regarded as one of the safest...

There are currently reports circulating on the internet about a study showing that the electromagnetic radiation from wi-fi routers could contribute to the development of autism.

The study in question was conducted by Dr. George Carlo

In the news this week I discovered that the Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP)  journal is getting a new editor-in-chief so I thought this would be a good opportunity to tell you a little bit about EHP for those who haven't come across it before.

Environmental Health Perspectives is a journal published by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS