Tag: asd

There will never be a sound-bite answer to what causes autism

Not our words, but those of Helen Tager-Flusberg a psychologist and expert on neurological conditions at Boston University inn the United States. Wise words indeed. Read this from Nature Briefing what we know about autism:

A claim by US health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr that “an environmental toxin” is responsible for autism has worried many researchers and autism groups, who say it seems to ignore what’s already known about the condition. Decades of research suggests that genetics plays a huge part, although parental age, infections during pregnancy and a string of other environmental factors have also been linked to autism. “There will never be a sound-bite answer to what causes autism,” says psychologist Helen Tager-Flusberg. Meanwhile, the increasing prevalence of autism is predominantly caused by an increase in diagnoses rather than a true rise in underlying traits.Nature | 12 min read [1]

What we know. Humble words in a way. Especially in world where the deeply unhumble fill the internet and newspaper columns with shrieking headlines about what they think they know. Even set out on demonstrations carrying placards, as if emotion and wishful thinking could somehow override the basic facts of science and the laws of logical deduction. We live in an age where emotion now seems to be trumping clear thinking on every subject at every turn. But for the benefit of the few of you left who still believe in intelligence and logic we offer these questions, as they mark the limits of our own knowledge, and everyone else’s.

1 Is there a single condition called “autism”? Or does the word mask several different underlying conditions?

2 If there is a genetic cause, what is its heritability?

3 Are epigenetic factors also involved? If so how can they be measured?

4 Is there a single underlying causal factor?

5 What are the statistical probabilities that factors such as the age of the parents, prevalence of environmental toxins and types of diet play a role in producing diagnoses?

6 Did the change in diagnostic criteria in the 1990s change the prevalence in reported cases of the condition?

7 Why are their two different diagnostic systems anyway? (DSM and ICD) Ok, this is a personal peeve, but it could be affecting the data.

Autism is a neuralgic issue because it touches so many emotions: guilt, fear, anxiety, unknowing, shame and the overwhelming need for a cause to hate and blame. The attempts to grapple with it lie right on the edge of the limits of human skill and technique. Which means there can be no easy answers and no cure any time soon. COVID-19 it isn’t. But LSS prides itself on being a truth telling blog and the truth right now is that we just don’t know. Distrust anyone who dooes.

[1] https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-02636-1?utm_source=Live+Audience&utm_campaign=a6bc173c35-nature-briefing-daily-20250827&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b27a691814-

#autism spectrum disorder #neurology #genetics #epigenetics #environment #diagnoses

What is Autism, anyway?

Photo by mali maeder on Pexels.com

“Everyone is a little bit autistic”. A view you hear quite often. And for us, rather comprehensively dealt with by Dr Aimee Grant of The Conversation [1] The phrase means that all of us show some behaviours(a liking for routine, for example) which are present to a much higher degree in neurodivergent people. Ergo, we don’t have to put in the hard yards of research and thinking which this fascinating condition really invites. Wrong says Dr Grant. Autism is a defined neurological condition with clinical boundaries. Herself autistic, we think she knows what she’s talking about.

The idea of not pontificating on something you know nothing about (autism; and other things) is precious to us here. A few years ago there was a rather hysterical fuss among certain journalists that Autism was caused by the MMR vaccine. Cool heads and reasoned minds showed this idea to be incorrect. What we didn’t know then was that some of the cases that the advocates of the MMR theory cited in support of their cause may not have been autism at all. One of the cases may have been something called Rett syndrome as the acute mind of Professor Nessa Carey pointed out [2] No, we hadn’t heard of it either. So to help you, gentle readers to wade through this minefield of definitions, syndromes and human suffering, we thought we’d offer this brief guide to some of the other things that are out there, and manifest some symptoms which overlap strongly with autism. If only to show the utter, mind boggling complexity of what clinicians and others have to deal with.

Rett Syndrome Cause: Mutations on MECP2 gene Normal early development followed by regression. Mostly affects girls

Fragile X syndrome Mutation on FMR 1 Gene Not all fragile X persons are autistic. Not all autistic persons are fragile X

Phelan McDermaid Syndrome Deletion on chromosome 22, often in SHANK 3 gene

Social Communication Disorder Communication problems Does not involve repetitive behaviours typical of autism

Intellectual Disability(ID) with behavioural challenges cognitive delay is global; but many autistic people have above average intellectual ability

Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) extreme sensitivity to stimuli e.g. light, touch, etc this is the closest to autism and it’s true many experts don’t differentiate it from autism

This is a tip of the iceberg, superficial treatment, as the bounds of our blog dictate. But it’s enough to make you pause and think “There are more things in heaven and earth than you have thought of in your philosophy, Horatio” as Hamlet once remarked. The real point is not what we know, but how much there still is to discover. And how those discoveries may yet be organised. But that’s a job for another day.

thanks to P Seymour

[1]https://theconversation.com/everyone-isnt-a-little-bit-autistic-heres-why-this-notion-is-harmful-256129?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest%20from%20The%20Co

[2] Nessa Carey La Revolution Epigenetica Biblioteca Buridan 2011 amazon completion point 19%

#autism #nessa carey #diagnosis #mmr vaccine #neurology #brain #genetics #behaviour #medicine #health