Yesterday the news headlines were all about the latest study into the cause of Autism.  The findings of this particular study was very large and looked at 93,000 children!  The study found that mothers that reported having the “Flu” during their pregnancy were at least  twice as likely to have a child with autism as those who didn’t report having the flu.

So, what do you think???

I know in the case of my own child, this study really hit a nerve as I did have the flu when I was pregnant with him and he is my only child out of 4 that is on the Autism Spectrum.  My other 3 are not at all, and I did not have the flu with any of their pregnancies.  Coincidence or an Autism Factor???   For many other moms that I have spoken to, this is not the case at all, and they never got the flu during pregnancy.  So then, what caused their child’s autism?

We then are back to the mystery…“What causes Autism?”

***Could it be just one thing or a number of factors?

***Is it Environmental or Genetic?

***Do Vaccines cause Autism?

The questions are vast, and there are many answers, however, for our particular child, which answers fit our questions?  This is up to you, and your child depends on you to find that answer. 

Here is the news report that inspired me to write this article, and at the same time inform as many as possible of any and all possibilities of an answer to Autism Spectrum.  Spread the word!  Please watch!  Inform and arm yourselves  with knowledge in order to fight as the ultimate advocate for your child!

ABC World And Local News – Headlines – Yesterday…

  Autism – New Study Links “Flu” to Autism!

ABC Action News, Linda Hurtado interviews Dr. Nelson Mane’

Link to News Story:

http://www.abcactionnews.com/dpp/news/health/tampa-experts-on-new-study-linking-flu-druing-pregnancy-with-autism

A new research study at the University of California suggests that women who were obese during pregnancy were about 67 percent more likely than normal-weight women to have children with autism. They also faced double the risk of having children with other developmental delays.

The study involved about 1,000 California children, ages 2 to 5. Nearly 700 had autism or other developmental delays, and 315 did not have those problems.

“This is quite a concern”, said Tampa’s own Dr. Nelson Mane’, “especially with regard to the rates with which Obesity is increasing in our society, including pregnant mothers.”

More than one-third of U.S. women of child-bearing age are obese.

Since the CDC’s recent statistics on Autism rates increased to 1 in 88 chance of having a child with autism; the results suggest that obesity during pregnancy would increase that to a 1 in 53 chance.

 “There are many risks factors that have been linked with Autism, including genetics, premature birth, jaundice, maternal and paternal age, etc. however this particular risk factor of Obesity during pregnancy can be avoided and controlled by maintaining a healthy weight and diet during pregnancy”, adds Dr. Mane’.

When it comes down to any and all risk factors that may contribute to Autism and our children it is imperative to take note and take all necessary precautions.  Their successful future and ours depends on it!

Just a Few Words…Can Make a HUGE IMPACT in Early Diagnosis of Autism!!!

What Words??? 

Why are they important??? 

When in a child’s development should they know and speak these words???

Researchers have compiled a list of twenty five words that every toddler should know by age two. In some cases it can be a sign of greater problems from deafness to autism and so parents should keep this in mind when they observe their child’s speech development and when consulting with their pediatrician.

These are the 25 ‘must have’ words:

    1.  Mommy

  2.  Daddy

    3.  Baby

  4.   Milk

    5.  Juice

    6.  Hello

    7.  Ball

   8.  Yes

   9.  No

10. Dog

11. Cat

12. Nose

13. Eye

14. Banana

15. Biscuit

16. Car

17. Hot

18. Thank you

19. Bath

20. Shoe

21. Hat

22. Book

23. All gone

24. More

25. Bye bye

This article quotes Professor Rescorla, of Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, who has tested and tracked the progress of 78 two-year-olds for 15 years. Half had been slow to start talking but didn’t have any other problems. By age 17, their vocabulary was classed as at least as good as average – but still wasn’t as good as those who were better talkers as toddlers.

Professor Rescorla says that if a child is otherwise developing normally, parents shouldn’t panic as many late-talkers are simple late bloomers. But if the child is still struggling for words by two and a half, they should consider help such as speech therapy, and certainly not put this off past the age of three.

Early Intervention is always best!

Here is the link to the rest of this article:

http://blog.hear-our-voices.org/2012/02/22/25-words-to-determine-if-your-child-is-a-late-speaker/

Dr. Frances Jensen, neuroscientist at Children’s Hospital Boston and president-elect of the American Epilepsy Society, spoke at TEDMED 2010 conference about the developing brain.

Dr. Jensen has been active in exploring the connections between autism and epilepsy. This month Nature Medicine featured her work, which suggests that there’s more overlap between autism and seizures than previously thought.

A.D.H.D, attention deficit hyperactive disorder currently affects 5 to 10% of school age children in the United States.  Your child may have ADHD if he has difficulty focusing, difficulty waiting in line, interrupts conversations, has difficulty keeping still, cannot remain seated in the classroom, is easily distracted, procrastinates, makes careless mistakes with schoolwork or homework and is disorganized.  Children with ADHD tend to have difficulty in school and at times socializing with others.  Approximately 50% of children with ADHD grow up to be  adults with ADHD.  The same issues make it more difficult to obtain and sustain employment as adults. A recent study in the scientific journal Attention Deficit Disorder found two factors associated with ADHD which everyone concerned with this condition should be a aware of especially since these factors are modifiable.  Specifically, the study found a more than two fold increase in the incidence of ADHD from mothers who smoked during their pregnancy.  Obviously, if your child has already been born and has ADHD, you can not go back in time.  However, if you’re an expectant mother or planning to have children and are concerned about having a child with ADHD then not smoking during pregnancy should be a top priority for you.  If you have a child that has ADHD you should be aware that this study also found the rate of children with ADHD is five times as great in children with obesity.  Thus, if you are pregnant and smoke or your child is overweight, these are issues that are difficult to deal with but will certainly make a difference over your child’s lifetime and is worth putting in the effort.

Many children on the Autism Spectrum have difficulty recognizing emotional cues such as nonverbal  expressions which are thought to be conveyed through the eyes as well as connecting with others emotionally on an interpersonal basis.  A large part of communication between humans is nonverbal communication.  This means to say that it is not just the words that are spoken but in addition how they are spoken, inflection, as well hand gestures, body postures and facial expression.  The inability to recognize faces and facial expression is called prosopagnosia.  This inability to interpret facial expressions often leads to difficulty in social situations with others.  It is also been thought to be involved with a lack of empathy toward others which also is at times associated with autism.  The area of the brain most associated with prosopagnosia is the fusiform gyrus of the temporal lobe. Although it is thought that the fusiform gyrus has a specific face area, it is also thought to be responsible for things such as processing of color information as well as number and word recognition.  As an example, people with prosopagnosia can recognize a different pens or forks but not faces.  Until recently it was thought that propsopagnosia or face blindness and is is sometimes called could not be improved.  Instead,  patients were taught techniques to compensate for the face recognition deficiency such as looking at clothing, voice or hair color in order to attempt to identify who the patient was speaking with. A recent study in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders published out of the University of Alabama Birmingham used a computer based social skills training program for children with autism spectrum disorders.  This interactive program showed a positive impact in a group with Autism and a group with Asperger’s Syndrome.  Both groups showed improvement in the ability to recognize faces as well as improvements in the ability to recognize emotion. The Asperger’s group also showed improvement in social interactions in a natural environment. This should come as great news to parents who see their children have difficulty making friends and struggle while attempting to socialize at school or the park. This feeds well into the current model of neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to change, in which practitioners of functional neurology are looking for tools to activate specifically targeted under functioning areas of the brain. With regular stimulation of these areas at the correct intensity and frequency, positive changes can be made to help address various deficiencies whether sensory, motor or in this case social. If you have a child on the Autism Asperger’s Syndrome and this type of treatment sounds interesting to you, look for a physician that practices functional neurology in your area.

Last week ABC Action News, Medical Correspondent, Linda Hurtado came to my office to interview me about my thoughts on this study.  The study in BMC Medicine suggests that it may be possible to predict which infants are at risk of developing ASD based on patterns of brain activity.  In this study, there were 79 infants, between ages 6 to 24 months, 46 of whom were considered at a high risk of developing ASD. Infants were fitted with net containing electrodes and their brain waves were measured, as the children watched a researcher blow bubbles. The brain wave pattern in the high risk group was different.   If they can find a marker like this, it will give us some glimpse of early detection and therefore incorporate earlier intervention,  thus leading to the best outcomes for these children.

 Link to study and ABC News Story:

http://www.abcactionnews.com/dpp/news/health/using-brain-waves-to-predict-autism-spectrum-disorder-in-infants

There is still considerable debate regarding a connection between autism and vaccines.  On one side there are those citing that the original Wakefield study has now been deemed to have been fraudulent.  On the other side are parents whose children were perfectly fine, but developed a a fever right after the vaccine and were never the same since. Those of us that are involved with the Autism community and treat these children know that the latter is something that we have heard frequently enough to raise suspicion.  As I’ve stated previously, my concept is one of total load on the system.  It is the sum total of all the stressors on the child that decompensates the child’s health.  This would to explain why if thousands of children are vaccinated every year  only a small percentage developed symptoms relating to the autism spectrum.  It is the child with a latent virus, immature liver etc., that now receives the vaccine with mercury or aluminum which the child, do to other stressors is not able to handle.  In this case, the vaccine becomes the straw that breaks the camel’s back.  It can be one huge stress or more than likely a multifactorial cause. At this point there’s going to be a lot of resistance from pediatricians to those parents that want to delay or spread out the vaccination of their children. The purpose of this article is to give those parents a rational way to approach your pediatrician with regard to Autism and vaccines.  I will attempt to lay out some risk factors and early indicators of autism that would suggest that a parent might want to procede with caution with regard to vaccinations.  The more of these risk factors or indicators that your child has, the more persuasive your argument will be. 

Is there someone in your family that has autism?

Was your child premature?

Was your child breech birth?

Was your child jaundice?

Was your child of low birth weight, less than 5.5 pounds?

Is your child a boy?

Were you older parents?

Is there less than two years from birth to birth of your children?

Did you smoke while you were pregnant?

Did your child have a low Apgar score at 5 minutes, less than 7?

Were you exposed to toxins during your pregnancy?

Now let’s look at three early indicators of Autism. Obviously, if your child is showing early signs of Autism you may want to moderate additional risk factors.  Is your child not looking, vocalizing and smiling at others?  Is your child a picky eater?  Does your child have issues with joint attention?  Joint attention is how we alert others about an object or event  in a nonverbal way utilizing techniques such as gaze and pointing with another person. An example would be when you see something interesting and point at it (initiating joint attention ) in an attempt to get somebody else to become engaged.  This type of activity should be present at about nine months of age.

So whether or not you are involved in the vaccine debate or have a loved one that is concerned with regard to the Autism crisis, this article should serve as valuable information and a starting point for discussion.

One in 10 school age children have ADHD and half of those children will grow up to have ADHD as an adult.  ADHD is defined as having difficulty with inattentiveness, hyperactivity and impulsivity. This tends to lead to children having difficulty in school and adults having difficulty with employment. Those with ADHD, particularly adults, commonly complain of difficulties with executive functions.  The medical  dictionaries defines executive function as   ” the cognitive process that regulates an individual’s ability to organize thoughts and activities, prioritize task, manage time effectively and make decisions.” One can easily see how this would make it difficult to maintain and progress in a job especially one that requires any type of managerial duties. By the time those suffering from ADHD become adults most have tried the stimulant medications which are commonly prescribed for this condition. Having treated many adults with ADHD is very common to hear that the medication does not help them with organizational type skills and other types of skills which are executive function type task. A recent study in the European Journal of Neuropsychopharmachology seems to confirm what those of us that treat ADHD and those that have its already were aware of. The study found that methylphenidate the chemical compound in many of the commonly prescribed stimulant medications was not effective in moderating psychometric measures dealing with executive function. Translation- methylphenodate did not help with executive functions such as organization, planning and regulating inappropriate actions. Recently, there was a study published using children but not adults that  found that a restricted elimination diet was effective in dealing with symptoms related to ADHD. Also studies relating to physical activity have been published which have demonstrated improvement in ADHD symptoms.  There is also literature published which reflects that certain nutritional supplementation can at times be as effective as the stimulant medications.  Hemispheric Integration Therapy also recently published a study in which significant objective progress with psychometric testing was made in a 12 week period. Most of the research is done on children and many times the adult with ADHD has been forgotten.  In this case, it was nice to see a study done with adults.  So there are alternatives available to treat adults with ADHD. For those who would like to simply manage their ADHD as adults, there are certain organizational skills which can aid you with executive functions. These include things such as using list, setting up a filing system, prioritizing your list and your activities, using a calendar or day planner and limiting your activities so as to not become overwhelmed.If you’re interested in improving your situation and not just managing it, consult a physician that is familiar with not only ADHD but the treatment interventions listed above.

 Eur Neuropsychopharmacol.2011 Feb 7. [Epub ahead of print]