Pregnant women might now have one more good reason to watch their diet and exercise: A new study links autism and developmental delays in young children to metabolic conditions, like obesity and diabetes, in their mothers. The findings, published in Monday's edition of the journal Pediatrics, found that women who had diabetes or hypertension or were obese were 1.61 times as likely as healthy wo... (read more)
Teams of scientists working independently have for the first time identified several gene mutations that they agree sharply increase the chances that a child will develop autism. They have found further evidence that the risk increases with the age of the parents, particularly in fathers over age 35. The gene mutations are extremely rare and together account for a tiny fraction of autism cases — in these stud... (read more)
People with autism have a greater than normal capacity for processing information even from rapid presentations and are better able to detect information defined as 'critical', according to a study published March 22 in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology. The research may help to explain the apparently higher than average prevalence of people with autism spectrum disorders in t... (read more)
Brain changes in infants as young as six months of age suggest that MRIs could be used to detect autism in children at least half a year before the emergence of other symptoms, according to a new study published online Friday in the American Journal of Psychiatry. According to Lara Salahi of ABC News, Dr. Joe Piven, director of the University of North Carolina’s (UNC) Carolina Institute for De... (read more)
Autism tends to go hand in hand with a variety of other mental and behavioral conditions in kids, suggests a new study that highlights the fuzzy nature of autism diagnoses themselves. Researchers said that other disorders that often go along with autism -- such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or learning disabilities -- may complicate the diagnosis, or slow down any improvement in kids who ... (read more)
Proposed changes in the definition of autism would sharply reduce the skyrocketing rate at which the disorder is diagnosed and may make it harder for many people who would no longer meet the criteria to get health, educational and social services, a new analysis suggests. The definition is under review by an expert panel appointed by the American Psychiatric Association, which is completing work on the fifth... (read more)
The brains of autistic children have far more neurons in the prefrontal cortex than the brains of kids without autism, finds a new study that could advance research into the disorder. "For the first time, we have the potential to understand why autism gets started," said study author Eric Courchesne, a professor of neurosciences at the University of California, San Diego School of Medic... (read more)
An autism diagnosis means different things depending on who is doing the diagnosing, suggests a new study. Researchers found that clinics varied in what skills and behaviors they considered when evaluating kids with an autism spectrum disorder and deciding where on that spectrum they fell. In kids with severe social problems, "everyone agreed that the child had (autism)," said study author ... (read more)
Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital have used a novel method for analyzing brain-scan data to distinguish children with autism from typically developing children. Their discovery reveals that the gray matter in a network of brain regions known to affect social communication and self-related thoughts has a distinct o... (read more)
In a first study, researchers have shown autistic brains develop more slowly than healthy brains. The finding may explain why children with autism think differently than their peers. In their study, researchers from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Health Sciences found slower growth in brain areas that could explain social impairment, communication deficits and repetitive ... (read more)
Babies born with a low birth weight are five times more likely to be diagnosed with autism than those born at a normal weight, according to an American study published Monday. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing followed 862 children who were born in New Jersey from 1984 to 1987, each weighing between 500 grams (17.6 ounces) and two kilograms (4.4 pounds), for a period of 21 years. To continue reading, click the link below.
Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their synapses connect and organize; how this occurs is not well understood. It is one of three recognized disorders in the autism spectrum (ASDs), the other two being Asperger syndrome, which lacks delays in cognitive development and language, and Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified (commonly abbreviated as PDD-NOS), which is diagnosed when the full set of criteria for autism or Asperger syndrome are not met.
Autism has a strong genetic basis, although the genetics of autism are complex and it is unclear whether ASD is explained more by rare mutations, or by rare combinations of common genetic variants. In rare cases, autism is strongly associated with agents that cause birth defects. Controversies surround other proposed environmental causes, such as heavy metals, pesticides or childhood vaccines; the vaccine hypotheses are biologically implausible and lack convincing scientific evidence. The prevalence of autism is about 1–2 per 1,000 people worldwide; however, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports approximately 9 per 1,000 children in the United States are diagnosed with ASD. The number of people diagnosed with autism has increased dramatically since the 1980s, partly due to changes in diagnostic practice; the question of whether actual prevalence has increased is unresolved.
Parents usually notice signs in the first two years of their child's life. The signs usually develop gradually, but some autistic children first develop more normally and then regress. Early behavioral or cognitive intervention can help autistic children gain self-care, social, and communication skills. Although there is no known cure, there have been reported cases of children who recovered. Not many children with autism live independently after reaching adulthood, though some become successful. An autistic culture has developed, with some individuals seeking a cure and others believing autism should be accepted as a difference and not treated as a disorder.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autism
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