More News - all the news most recently posted on this website

All the News - a running tab of everything posted on this website since October 29, 2003

Top Stories Archives - daily breaking and other important news stories

Daily News Archives - all the news posted on this website each day (from April 2001)

Six New Research Abstracts * The Next Government Target: Mercury

SCHAFER AUTISM REPORT "Healing Autism:

No Finer a Cause on the Planet" ________________________________________________________________

Wednesday, December 17, 2003 Vol. 7 No. 250

--- > PROMOTE YOUR MEETINGS, CHAPTER OR CONFERENCE

No Cost to List

In the Largest, Widest Read "The Autism Calendar"tm

--- > NOTE CALENDAR DEADLINE ** DEC 24 ** FOR JAN UPDATE

--- > Check out Mid-Month Update: Dozens of new listings:

RESEARCH (Abstracts - contains technical language.)

* Neurological Manifestation & Genetic Dx of Angelman, Rett & Fragile-X Syndromes

* Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic Imaging of the Brain In Childhood Autism

* Adult Psychopathic Personality With Childhood-Onset Hyperactivity And Conduct Disorder: A Central Problem Constellation In Forensic Psychiatry

* Behavioral Phenotype of the Reeler Mutant Mouse: Effects of Reln Gene Dosage and Social Isolation

* National Institutes of Health Center Grants. Final Rule

* Quadratic Trajectories Of Brain Myelin Content: Unifying Construct For Neuropsychiatric Disorders

PUBLIC HEALTH

* The Next Government Target: Mercury

EDUCATION

* Progress Stalled For Some Students

MEDIA

* TV Drama Sparks MMR Fear

CARE

* Like the Golden State, the Sunshine State Crunches Disabled Over Budget

RESEARCH (Abstracts - contains technical language.)

Neurological Manifestation & Genetic Dx of Angelman, Rett & Fragile-X Syndromes

Veiga MF, Toralles MB.

Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, BA, Brazil.

OBJECTIVE: To discuss clinical and electroencephalographic aspects and the genetic mechanisms of three neurogenic syndromes that can be related to nosologic entities in the heterogenic pathological group presenting symptoms of mental retardation and autism.

SOURCES: The authors carried out a bibliographic review on each syndrome involved, correlating and characterizing the neurological manifestations, as well as describing genetic mechanisms and identifying biological markers.

SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS: The authors were able to confirm that Rett Sydrome is a genetic disease resulting from the mutation of the MECP2 gene and clinical variations can be explained by different mutations in this gene. Angelman syndrome has four genetic mechanisms responsible for phenotypic variations and different risks of recurrence. In Fragile-X syndrome, the degree of cognitive impairment is related to the number of trinucleotide repeats.

CONCLUSIONS: Different genetic mechanisms of the three syndromes are responsible for clinical variability. By identifying the biological markers, the diagnosis will be performed earlier and it will be possible to identify new subtle expressions of the disease.

PMID: 14676869 [PubMed - in process]

* * *

Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic Imaging of the Brain In Childhood Autism.

Levitt JG, O'Neill J, Blanton RE, Smalley S, Fadale D, McCracken JT, Guthrie D, Toga AW, Alger JR. Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Neuropsychiatric Institute (JGL, JO, SS, DF, JTM, DG), Los Angeles, California, USA

Autism is a developmental disorder of unknown neurologic basis.

Based on prior work, we used proton magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging ((1)H- MRSI) to investigate brain structures, including cingulate and caudate, that we hypothesized would reveal metabolic abnormalities in subjects with autism.In 22 children with autism, 5 to 16 years old, and 20 age-matched healthy control subjects, (1)H-MRSI assessed levels of N-acetyl compounds (NAA), choline compounds (Cho), and creatine plus phosphocreatine

(Cr) at 272 msec echo-time and 1.5 T.In subjects with autism compared with control subjects, Cho was 27.2% lower in left inferior anterior cingulate and 19.1% higher in the head of the right caudate nucleus; Cr was 21.1% higher in the head of the right caudate nucleus, but lower in the body of the left caudate nucleus (17.9%) and right occipital cortex (16.6%).Results are consistent with altered membrane metabolism, altered energetic metabolism, or both in the left anterior cingulate gyrus, both caudate nuclei, and right occipital cortex in subjects with autism compared with control subjects.

PMID: 14675799 [PubMed - in process]

* * *

Adult Psychopathic Personality With Childhood-Onset Hyperactivity And Conduct Disorder: A Central Problem Constellation In Forensic Psychiatry.

Soderstrom H, Sjodin AK, Carlstedt A, Forsman A.

Department of Forensic Psychiatry and Institute of Clinical Neuroscience, Goteborg University, Goteborg, Sweden

To describe lifetime mental disorders among perpetrators of severe inter-personal crimes and to identify the problem domains most closely associated with aggression and a history of repeated violent criminality, we used structured interviews, clinical assessments, analyses of intellectual functioning, medical and social files, and collateral interviews in 100 consecutive subjects of pretrial forensic psychiatric investigations.

Childhood-onset neuropsychiatric disorders [attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD), learning disability, tics and autism spectrum disorders] affected 55% of the subjects and formed complex comorbidity patterns with adult personality disorders [including psychopathic traits according to the Psychopathy Checklist (PCL-R)], mood disorders and substance abuse.

The closest psychiatric covariates to high Lifetime History of Aggression (LHA) scores and violent recidivism were the PCL-R scores and childhood conduct disorder (CD).

Behavioral and affective PCL-R factors were closely associated with childhood AD/HD, CD, and autistic traits.

The results support the notion that childhood-onset social and behavioral problems form the most relevant psychiatric symptom cluster in relation to pervasive adult violent behavior, while late-onset mental disorders are more often associated with single acts of violent or sexual aggression.

PMID: 14675746 [PubMed - in process]

* * *

Behavioral Phenotype of the Reeler Mutant Mouse: Effects of Reln Gene Dosage and Social Isolation.

Salinger WL, Ladrow P, Wheeler C.

University of North Carolina, Department of Psychology, Greensboro, NC, US. salinger@uncg.edu

Reeler (rl/rl) and reeler/wild-type (+/rl) mice synthesize Reln at subnormal rates, as do patients with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and autism, thereby forming the basis for a Reln hypothesis for vulnerability to these psychopathologies and justifying attention to the behavioral phenotypes of Reln-deficient mice.

Tests of gait, emotionality, social aggression, spatial working memory, novel-object detection, fear conditioning, and sensorimotor reflex modulation revealed the behavioral phenotype of rl/rl, but not +/rl, mice to be different from that of wild-type (+/+) mice.

These results reveal no effect of Reln gene dosage and provide significant challenges to both the Reln and the neurodevelopmental hypotheses of the etiology of major psychopathologies.

((c) 2003 APA, all rights reserved)

PMID: 14674845 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

* * *

National Institutes of Health Center Grants. Final Rule.

National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is amending its regulations governing center grants to reflect their applicability to several new grant programs, including research on autism, Alzheimer's disease, fragile X disease, and minority health disparities and other types of health disparities.

PMID: 14674396 [PubMed - in process]

* * *

Quadratic Trajectories Of Brain Myelin Content: Unifying Construct For Neuropsychiatric Disorders.

Bartzokis G.

Department of Neurology, UCLA, 90095, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Myelin plays an essential but largely underappreciated role in human brain structure and function.

The central challenge raised by the six commentaries is whether the developmental model of age-related cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease

(AD) (Bartzokis, 2003, this issue) is applicable to a wider range of neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders.

The model's premise that the trajectory of myelin development and breakdown is essential to our very uniqueness as a species, directly addresses this issue.

In its widest perspective, the model primarily delineates a myelin hypothesis of human brain evolution and normal development and is "secondarily" useful in conceptualizing a wide range of age-related neuropsychiatric diseases.

The unique vulnerabilities of oligodendrocytes and the highly protracted and extensive developmental process of human brain myelination delineated in the model are directly pertinent to many uniquely human brain functions and neuropsychiatric diseases including late-life neurodegenerative disorders.This lifelong perspective classifies AD as a disorder likely to arise in old age after a normal trajectory of myelin development.

Genetic and environmental factors causing deviations in the myelination trajectory at any point in the lifespan will contribute to differences in the manifestations of later-life degenerative diseases and/or be detected in epidemiologic studies as risk factors or risk mitigators (age, cholesterol, iron, gender, education, brain, trauma, etc.).

Ultimately, these perturbations of the myelination process could result in divergent-appearing disorders, such as frontotemporal dementia, dementia pugilistica, AD, dementia with Lewy bodies, and Parkinson's disease, that nonetheless have overlapping neuropathologic and/or clinical manifestations.

Furthermore, the model's developmental perspective suggests that dysregulation in the uniquely vulnerable myelination process also contributes to highly prevalent early-life psychiatric disorders such as autism, attention deficit, schizophrenia, addiction, as well as their striking male predominance.

Eventually, the dysregulated myelination associated with such disorders may have a direct and predictable impact on the appearance and manifestations of the later-life dementias.By increasing the scientific focus on the process of myelination, this model may facilitate our understanding of the pathophysiology of multiple disorders and pathophysiologic processes that cut across our current classification of diseases.

Ultimately, the model provides a rational framework for the development of novel, myelin-centered treatments that may have widespread efficacy across multiple disease states and could potentially be used in delaying or even preventing some of the most devastating of human disorders.

PMID: 14675731 [PubMed - in process]

-- > DO SOMETHING ABOUT AUTISM NOW < --

SUBSCRIBE. . . !

. . .Read, then Forward the Schafer Autism Report.

(Delivered Fresh Daily to Your Emailbox)

_______________________________________________________

* * *

PUBLIC HEALTH

The Next Government Target: Mercury

The EPA proposes a 'cap-and-trade' approach to reducing emission levels in air. Critics say it's a step backward.

In his first speech as the recently confirmed head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Mike Leavitt said the Bush administration's plan for cleaning up air pollution would result in “the most productive period of air-quality improvement in American history.”

That was two weeks ago, and this week Mr. Leavitt proposed new regulations and standards he said would “bring Americans the most rapid and significant air-quality improvement in a decade.”

The rhetoric is forceful, but is it likely to be borne out in fact? Someone else will be president before that question can be answered, so it's not surprising that there's a sharp difference of opinion right now - particularly given the administration's controversial record in other areas of environmental protection.

The focus this week is on reducing three forms of pollution: mercury, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxide resulting mainly from power generation. Unlike his predecessor's tendency to rely on strict government regulation of such substances, George W. Bush wants to set mandatory industrywide standards, and then let the marketplace decide who takes the lead in cleaning up the air.

It's called “cap-and-trade,” and it's the basis of the Bush administration's “Clear Skies” legislative proposal to reduce pollution. Or as President Bush told a White House gathering in September, “Instead of government telling utilities where and how to cut pollution, we will tell them how much to cut and when we expect progress to be made.”

Most of the attention is focused on mercury, the substance deemed most dangerous to human health.

The Clinton vision The regulatory path begun by the Clinton administration would have reduced mercury emissions (now 48 tons a year) some 70 to 90 percent by 2008. This would have required coal-burning power plants (the largest human-generated source of mercury emissions) to install what the EPA calls “maximum achievable control technologies.”

The Bush administration plan pushes substantial mercury reductions back a decade by rolling it into less stringent EPA requirements and instituting cap-and-trade measures. One reason: It costs less for energy companies and consumers. Still, the proposal to reduce mercury emissions nationwide, as well as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide (which form smog and fine particles) in 30 eastern states, could cost the industry $5 billion or more to implement.

Critics say cap-and-trade may be fine for less toxic pollutants. Since its inception in 1990, such a plan has helped curb acid rain, for example.

But mercury can be far more harmful, potentially causing neurological and developmental damage to humans - especially infants. According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 8 percent of American women of childbearing age have unsafe levels of mercury in their blood, putting more than 300,000 children at risk each year. Last week, a scientific advisory panel told the federal Food and Drug Administration that it needs to give clearer advice to pregnant women and young children on the risks of mercury in food - especially some tuna fish products.

Mercury “bioaccumulates” in the environment, becoming more concentrated as it moves up the food chain. Forty-three states have issued warnings about eating fish with high concentrations of mercury. New research by academic scientists, announced this week, adds to the concern, showing “severe” impact to fish from mercury.

“For example, in our new research in New Hampshire we estimate that fish in 54 percent of lakes in the state violate the most stringent EPA standard for mercury,” says Charles Driscoll, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Syracuse University in New York. “This is a significant impact.”

The problem with cap-and-trade, environmentalists say, is that it can create “hot spots” of dangerous pollutants (including mercury) near plants that have purchased “credits” to avoid lowering their emissions from plants that do better than federal standards - the basic way cap-and-trade works.

Politically speaking The political context of the issue is as murky as the Los Angeles basin on a bad-air day. The US Supreme Court this week agreed to hear a case in which consumer and environmental groups are trying to find out whom Vice President Dick Cheney talked with in putting together the administration's energy plan.

The groups charge that Mr. Cheney mainly listened to industry officials - campaign contributors among them - who stand to benefit from less-stringent standards. The White House says forcing Cheney to reveal details of his energy task force intrudes on the executive branch.

Copyright © 2003 The Christian Science Monitor.

* * *

EDUCATION

Progress Stalled For Some Students

Data shows special-needs pupils falling behind in 11 towns

stalled_for_some_students/

Grace Burega has two children in the Canton school system: Her 10-year-old son is a special-needs student; her 7-year-old daughter is not Burega wants both to succeed. “I want them both to get what they need,” she says.

Burega's goal is one shared by school districts throughout Massachusetts. But, according to a Globe analysis of data recently provided by the state Department of Education, the mission is not being accomplished in many districts, as special education students continue to fail to progress -- even in districts that are successfully moving the overall student population forward.

Statewide there are 62 school districts where students overall showed adequate yearly progress but special-needs students did not. Eleven districts in the area fall into that category: Braintree, Canton, Duxbury, Holbrook, Middleborough, Norton, Norwood, Rockland, Wareham, Freetown, and Old Rochester Regional.

The federal No Child Left Behind Act requires educators to help all students meet or exceed state standards in reading and math by the year 2014. However, special education students in the 62 districts are not progressing fast enough to reach that goal, according to the Globe's analysis of the “2003 Mid-Cycle Adequate Yearly Progress Reports” recently released by the Department of Education.

Adequate yearly progress determinations are made for schools and districts based on the performance of the overall student population and of subgroups. For the first time, the Department of Education released progress determinations for student subgroups in each district and school, including special-needs students. To receive a passing grade, schools and districts must meet performance targets and other criteria.

Locally, parents, school superintendents, and special education directors say there are many challenges contributing to the inadequate progress. The reasons include school budget cuts; special education students not always having had equal access to the curriculum upon which all students are now tested; and the difficulty in pinpointing how to help students when a complexity of factors are involved, including economic disadvantages and limited English proficiency.

To meet the challenges, many schools have been training teachers to deal with a more academically diverse classroom as well as adding technology services to help students with testing.

Norwood's schools superintendent, Edward Quigley, points out that some students who are severely challenged are educated in residential or day programs, but their scores are counted as part of the school district.

“That is another thing we are looking at,” to make sure the services are adequate, he said.

Burega says Canton schools are improving, although slowly.

“For me, I'm seeing that we are inching our way toward progress. But in no way, shape, or form are we there. It will take time,” she said.

Quigley agrees that time is key -- time to decipher the state data and target plans accordingly, and time to continue to rework the curriculum and present it in a way that special education students will benefit from it.

“You slowly start building a plan to address it over time,” he said. The state's report “is not anything other than like a road sign, giving us a sign of where we are going. We're not getting to the goal quickly enough.”

One initiative the Norwood school system has taken is running a pilot full-day kindergarten program. “If we can provide [students] with additional services at a younger age, we might be able to avoid some of the failure,” said Quigley.

Canton educators have been focusing on inclusion efforts, trying to make sure special education students are not separated from the rest of the student population.

“We can do more,” said Alan Dewey, administrator of student services for Canton schools, which has had a large turnover of special education directors -- 11 in 13 years. That may have contributed to the lack of progress, he said.

Another factor was that $1.6 million was cut last year from the Canton School Department's budget, which is now about $22.5 million, said Dewey. In the next fiscal year, officials anticipate having to cut $1.1 million more, he said.

“If that kind of money is being cut, it impacts everyone,” Dewey said. The special education budget is about 20 percent of the overall school operating budget. (A citizens group has been organized to push for an operational override to offset cuts to the town budget, to help schools and other departments.) There are federal and state mandates that prohibit special education budgets dropping below a certain level. However, if schools are cutting their overall budget, special education students who need to be mainstreamed into classrooms to adequately progress suffer because class size grows as budgets shrink, said Dewey.

He said that at the middle school level, an adjustment counselor was cut, leaving three counselors to deal with a student body of 700. Having one fewer counselor can be critical, considering that they help special needs students through emotional and social problems that may interfere with progress.

Burega knows how critical an adjustment counselor can be.

Her son, a fifth-grader at Hansen Elementary, has Asperger syndrome, a highly functional form of autism. She likens him to a gifted engineer who might be brilliant but socially stunted. His counselor has helped him calm his desire to be perfect, which is symptomatic of the syndrome.

“If you don't have the supports, it's very hard,” said Burega.

Globe correspondent Bill Dedman contributed to this report.

© Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.

_______________________________________________________

LOOKING FOR SOMETHING - ANYTHING - ABOUT AUTISM?

Search The Most Complete Autism News & Info Database

The Schafer Autism Report -- Updated Fresh Daily

. . .OR ASK A NEIGHBOR: Free Readers' Posts

________________________________________________________

* * *

MEDIA

TV Drama Sparks MMR Fear

on=1

Health chiefs today feared a huge slump in MMR uptake after a television drama portrayed the triple vaccine as unsafe.

Thousands of parents are expected to reject the controversial jab after the screening of Hear The Silence by Channel Five last night.

The drama, seen by up to two million viewers, suggested a strong link between MMR and autism and bowel disease.

Medical experts taking part in a televised debate after the programme insisted the drama was misleading. They defended the jab warning that measles, mumps and rubella will claim lives if youngsters are not vaccinated.

The drama, starring Juliet Stevenson and Hugh Bonneville, told the story of a mother who becomes convinced the MMR jab is responsible for her son's autism.

Opening scenes showed the mother desperately chasing the boy as he runs off during a shopping trip and into oncoming traffic.

The drama was set against the backdrop of research by Dr Andrew Wakefield, the gastroenterologist who first raised the question of a link between the jab and autism and bowel disease in 1997. It began with a claim that cases of autism among children have risen from one in 2,200 in 1988 to one in 80 today.

Anti-MMR campaigners reacted with delight following the screening. Bill Welsh, of the pressure group Action Against Autism, said: “This drama was hugely powerful. Thousands of parents will now think twice about allowing their children to have this injection.”

During the highly-charged debate, hosted by news presenter Kirsty Young, Dr Wakefield, of London's Royal Free Hospital, backed the programme. He insisted: “There is a question over the safety of MMR.”

But a string of child health experts, including the President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and the President of the Royal College of GPs, condemned the show before its screening, claiming it “distorts the truth”.

The Department of Health claimed there was “no credible evidence” to prove a link between MMR, autism and bowel disease.

©2003 Associated New Media

* * *

CARE

Like the Golden State, the Sunshine State Crunches Disabled Over Budget Can State's Spare Gold Pull Needy From Cold?

Don Sullivan is a Republican. He is also a state representative from Seminole and part of the great machine that rules this state.

He ought to be happy. His party is utterly, absolutely in charge.

But Sullivan is not happy. Disgusted and angry might be more like it.

For he has seen the damage of Republican money cuts - in this case, an across-the-board cut to programs for adults who are developmentally disabled.

“The people in my district did not elect me to throw retarded kids out on the street,” he said Monday.

Not the talk of a good party man, is it? You have to understand. The issue is personal to Sullivan. His 31-year-old daughter, Mary, suffers from autism and mental retardation, and lives at a home run by UPARC, the Upper Pinellas Association for Retarded Citizens. UPARC, based in Clearwater, is one of the many agencies hurt by the state's cuts.

Three of its 31 group homes may be forced to close and their residents forced to move elsewhere. With the cuts, UPARC bleeds $100,000 a month, according to executive director Thomas Buckley.

They took the hits differently at the Pinellas Association for Retarded Children in St. Petersburg. Rather than shut down programs, PARC cut 11 jobs. That may not sound like much, but the developmentally disabled require lots of care, from lots of people. PARC's president, Curt Thomas, worries that the agency may lose its accreditation.

The story of how those cuts occurred makes one wonder whether the people in charge of the Department of Children and Families can even tie their own shoes.

The problem began when DCF spent $1.5-million to determine whether agencies across the state got the same pay for taking care of the developmentally disabled.

The answer came back no.

So the state raised rates, with a proviso from the Legislature that if it looked like spending was running too high, DCF would cut back. DCF apparently did a lousy job of predicting costs. In November, only four months after the higher payments began, DCF feared a deficit. It cut funding to agencies by more than 14 percent.

Now a second study is under way. It was ordered by DCF Secretary Jerry Regier to see if his agency got it right - in other words, whether the cuts were fair and accurate.

There is a certain oh-here-we-go-again quality to this story of Florida and funding for the most vulnerable among us. Last spring, Gov. Jeb Bush and the Legislature nearly gutted the state's Medically Needy program for people who couldn't afford doctor bills and drugs. The public outcry suddenly enlightened them.

Why do the Republicans do things this way? Why are they so bent on wrecking social programs for the truly needy? State Rep. Sullivan says there is a way out. He pointed to a pot of unspent money. The pot contains $400-million. DCF's deficit is $27-million.

The Legislature can't appropriate the money until its next session, in March, unless it decides that the care of the developmentally disabled merits convening a special session.

The governor and the Legislature did just that for the Scripps Research Institute last October. It handed the biotech company $369-million to open up a branch in Palm Beach County.

You can see why state leaders would knock themselves out to get a high-profile firm like Scripps. But even a small share of that $369-million would buy a lot of care for the developmentally disabled. Why is this so hard for the Bush administration to grasp? “If they really want to do this, they can do it,” Don Sullivan said. “It's not a big deal.”

He's right. It shouldn't be a big deal. But somehow, in Florida, it always is.

_______________________________________________________

PROMOTE YOUR MEETINGS, CHAPTER OR CONFERENCE

No Cost to List

In the Largest, Widest Read "The Autism Calendar"tm

NOTE CALENDAR DEADLINE DEC 24 FOR JANUARY UPDATE

_______________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

Edward Decelie Debbie Hosseini Richard Miles Ron Sleith Kay Stammers

_______________________________________________

SAReport mailing list

SAReport@envirolink.org

You can unsubscribe at: