Monday with Maureen: 8 Autism Myths

Do you find yourself having to dispel autism myths often? It’s something I run into all the time. Today’s article highlights some of the more common ones.  

Autism Awareness: 8 Myths (And Realities) About The Spectrum Disorder

By Susan Scutti | Medical Daily

Myth #1: Autism is a form of mental illness.

Reality: Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are considered a group of developmental and neurological disorders, as brain scans and studies show that people with an ASD have abnormalities in both brain structure and neurotransmitter levels. (more…)

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Monday with Maureen: What is the risk my next child will be autistic too?

????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????I’m sure you have asked yourself, “if I have a child with autism, what is the risk my next child will too?” Today’s article is a synopsis of a study just published that addresses that very important question.

Environmental factors as important as genes in understanding autism

Environmental factors are more important than previously thought in understanding the causes of autism, and equally as important as genes, according to the largest study to date to look at how autism runs in families.

The study also shows that children with a brother or sister with autism are 10 times more likely to develop autism; 3 times if they have a half-brother or sister; and 2 if they have a cousin with autism, providing much needed information for parents and clinicians for assessing individual risk. (more…)

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Monday with Maureen: New Autism Numbers Released

The CDC releases new numbers for autism–and they are staggering! Today’s article responds to the data.

Autism Groups React to New CDC-Reported Prevalence of 1 in 68 Children

AUTISM POLICY REFORM COALITION URGES GOVERNMENT EXAMINATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL CAUSES, AND FOCUS ON TREATMENT AND SERVICES

WASHINGTON, DC (March 27, 2014)—Today, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued the newest autism prevalence statistics. For children born in 2002, the prevalence of autism was 1 in 68; 1 in 42 boys. Almost 60,000 US 12 year-olds likely have autism. Thirty years ago, autism affected 1 in 2,500 children; there has been a 37-fold increase.

Katie Weisman of SafeMinds stated, “Broader criteria and awareness cannot account for this magnitude of increase. The federal government continues to spend millions of dollars ineffectively and ‘potentially duplicatively’ according to a recent GAO report. We need to identify environmental triggers for autism, prevent them, and develop effective treatments.” (more…)

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Monday with Maureen: MSG link to Autism?

Today’s article highlights an important question many of us have, “Is there a link between the food we eat & autism?”

Chemist Claims She Reversed Daughter’s Autism Symptoms

By Kate Seamons, FoxNews

A Bay Area biochemist thinks she’s found a sort of autism smoking gun: monosodium glutamate, or MSG.

It’s a chemical compound almost exclusively connoted with Chinese food, but Katherine Reid points out that it’s found in all but 5 percent of processed food, largely unbeknownst to us: It appears on the food label only about 1 percent of the time. (more…)

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Monday With Maureen: Air Pollution Exposure?

An article that definitely makes you think about the air you breath!

 

imagesAir pollution exposure may increase risk of autism, schizophrenia

Air pollution exposure has long been suspected to increase the risk of both heart and lung diseases, but another important organ may also be at risk of injury from this contaminated air: the brain.

Researchers at the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences (AAAS) annual meeting in Chicago recently detailed the impact that constant exposure to air pollution may have on the developing brain.  According to the panel, a series of mouse models have suggested that constant inhalation of air pollution may lead to enlargement of the brain’s ventricles – a hallmark of neurodevelopmental disorders such as schizophrenia and autism. (more…)

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Monday with Maureen: New Drug on the Horizon?

Drug shows promise in kids with autism, researchers say

by Karen Weintraub, Special for USA TODAY

Autism may result from a faulty chemical switch that doesn’t get flipped in time to help the brain develop normally, a new research study suggests.

Building on what they hope will be an important insight into the cause of autism, French researchers are testing a high blood pressure medication on dozens of European children with autism.

The team, which has a financial stake in the drug, has tried it on 30 children with autism; now they are testing it in more, hoping to improve core characteristics of autism for the first time. (more…)

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