FEAT DAILY NEWSLETTER Sacramento, California

"Healing Autism: No Finer a Cause on the Planet" ________________________________________________________________

** PUBLISHING NOTE **

The FEAT mail and web servers will be down for a good

part of Friday due to moving and for maintenance.

The newsletter editor can still be reached at

schafer@sprynet.com.

Mail sent in Friday will stay suspended in cyberspace

until we're back up and then delivered. We hope.

** All of the FEAT based email discussion lists **

will also be down.

** Calendar of Events Deadline for April Update

has been moved to Saturday, March 30.

CARE

* Missing Utah Boy Found Safe in Trunk

* Possible Mood Disorder Gene Behind Uptight Mice

* Men, Women Found To Have Different Genes Behind Depression

* The Use of Vaccinations in Patients With Multiple Sclerosis

* Predicting Outcome In Autism.

* Legitimacy of Comparing Fragile X With Autism Questioned.

* Rett Syndrome: Clinical Manifestations In Males

With Mecp2 Mutations.

PUBLIC HEALTH

* Experts Pass Buck On Single Vaccines

AWARENESS

* Unlocking Autism Regrets Report that Raises Room Ruckus

* Sacramento California Autism Rally Set!

* Ohio Governor Proclaims April Autism Awareness Month!

ADVOCACY

* Seeking to Contact Independent Autism Advocacy/Support Parent Groups

Missing Utah Boy Found Safe in Trunk

[By Jacob Santini in the Salt Lake Tribune.]

An hour after his rescue Wednesday from the trunk of his family's car -- where he was trapped for more than 20 hours -- 5-year-old Zachary Furner was ready to run and hide again.

As family, friends and some of the hundreds of volunteers who helped search for the autistic boy celebrated in the front yard of his home, Zachary smiled in his mother's arms, holding a videotape of "Jurassic Park," his favorite movie. But when Dawn Furner set the barefoot boy down, he ran toward a neighbor's back yard.

"He just doesn't like big crowds," father Loren Furner said as his wife and Zachary's grandfather chased the fleeing boy. "He'll run away."

Zachary, who doesn't speak and likes to hide in confined places, had disappeared several times before, but always was quickly found -- usually in an orchard about a half block from the home he shares with three brothers, ages 7, 2 and 5 months.

On Tuesday night, however, his family called police when they could not find him after he disappeared from their back yard around 5 p.m.

During an initial search of the home, "we specifically asked if [the Furners] searched the trunk," said Pleasant Grove Lt. Clark Nielsen. In an apparent miscommunication, police believed the trunk had been searched.

Loren Furner said he had heard the inside front and back of the maroon Pontiac Grand Am were examined, but the trunk apparently was never opened.

Police searched the house at least three more times. Investigators also called in off-duty officers, search and rescue teams, K-9 units, city employees and volunteers to search the neighborhood and nearby fields. Police estimated more than 800 volunteers scoured a 3-square-mile area of fields, orchards and canals.

While the search continued, the family's car was driven at least four times -- twice by each parent. It was parked in a heated garage Tuesday night, then on the street Wednesday after Dawn Furner drove it to the police station. Over the two days, hundreds of people walked by the car.

But at 1:40 p.m., Laura Deichman, a Payson woman helping with the search, heard a child quietly crying as she walked by the family house.

Dawn Furner came out to open the trunk and was stunned to find Zachary, who retreated deeper inside when the crowd gave a loud cheer.

"It's just amazing I could make a difference," Deichman said.

Volunteer Jerry Duclos, who had searched a nearby junkyard filled with cars earlier in the day, helped pull Zachary out.

"He was soaked with sweat," Duclos said. "His face was red."

Dawn Furner ran Zachary into the house and gave him a glass of water. Paramedics determined Furner didn't need to be taken to the hospital but recommended his parents take him to the family doctor.

"I can't believe he's been in the trunk for 20 hours," Dawn Furner said. "I never heard a sound. I even turned the radio off so I could say a prayer."

The parents believe Zachary must have gone into their garage from the back yard, pulled a lever inside the car to open the trunk, then walked around the rear of the car to climb inside.

Shortly before Deichman's discovery, the Furners had begun playing Zachary's favorite Disney songs out a window, hoping it would lure him home. It was that music, Loren Furner believes, that prompted the boy to begin crying so Deichman could hear him.

A relieved Dawn Furner joked, "I decided to lock him into his bedroom for the rest of his life."

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* * *

Possible Mood Disorder Gene Behind Uptight Mice

Timing of chemical signal critical for normal emotional development

A signaling protein suspected of malfunctioning in anxiety and mood disorders plays a key role in the development of emotional behavior, report researchers funded by the National Institute of Mental Health. Mice lacking it in frontal brain circuits during an early critical period fail to develop normal reactions in anxiety-producing situations.

Rene Hen, Ph.D., Columbia University, and colleagues created mice that lacked the protein, which brain cells use to receive signals from the chemical messenger serotonin, by knocking-out the gene that codes for it. As adults, these "knockout" mice were slow to venture into -- or eat in -- unfamiliar environments. By selectively restoring, or "rescuing" certain populations of the receptor proteins, the researchers have now pinpointed when and where they enable the brain to cope with anxiety. Hen, Cornelius Gross, Ph.D., Xiaoxi Zhuang, Ph.D, and colleagues report on their discovery in the March 28, 2002 Nature.

Brain neurons communicate with each other by secreting messenger chemicals, such as serotonin, which cross the synaptic gulf between cells and bind to receptors on neighboring cell membranes. Medications that enhance such binding of serotonin to its receptor (serotonin selective reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs) are widely prescribed to treat anxiety and depression, suggesting that the receptor plays an important role in regulating these emotions.

Behavior of the animals in the study mimicked human anxiety. The mice bred not to express the gene that codes for the serotonin receptor (5-HT1A) moved around less than normal animals in open spaces, balked at entering elevated mazes, and were slower to begin eating in such novel environments. Yet, the researchers didn't know which of two populations of serotonin receptors -- one in the forebrain and another deep in the brainstem -- was responsible. To find out, they crossed the receptor knockout mice with mice engineered to turn receptor expression on and off in specific brain regions. This gave birth to a line of transgenic animals in which only the forebrain receptors were rescued from the gene knockout. This "rescue" line of mice behaved normally when tested for the anxiety-like behaviors, suggesting a key role for the receptor in forebrain circuits mediating anxiety.

Next, the researchers treated adult mice - knockout, rescue, and normal - with a drug (doxycycline) that shuts off receptor expression. Even without the receptors, the adult rescue mice continued to show normal anxiety-like behavior. The researchers inferred that the receptor "functions earlier in development to establish normal adult anxiety-like behavior." To find out when this occurs, they gave the receptor-abolishing drug to breeding pairs of rescue mice to turn off receptor expression in their pups during the embryonic and early postnatal period. As adults, these offspring behaved just as anxiously as knockout mice when tested. This, together with the timing of receptor expression in the rescue mice, suggested that the critical period for establishing normal anxiety-like behavior is between 5 and 21 days after birth.

Serotonin stimulation of the forebrain receptor during this period likely triggers "long lasting changes in brain chemistry or structure that are essential for normal emotional behavior throughout life," suggest the researchers. They note a number of studies pointing to such a role for serotonin during this critical time.

Intrigued by evidence that the serotonin receptor may be abnormal in patients with panic disorder and post-traumatic stress syndrome, other NIMH-supported researchers are embarking on brain imaging studies of its function in these anxiety disorders.

The current study was supported under a NIMH grant on the biology of serotonin to Irwin Lucki, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania. Also participating were: Kimberly Stark, Ph.D., Sylvie Ramboz, Ph.D., Ronald Oosting, Ph.D., Luca Santarelli, M.D., Columbia University; Lynn Kirby, Ph.D., Sheryl Beck, Ph.D., Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Federal Government's primary agency for biomedical and behavioral research. NIH is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

* * *

Men, Women Found To Have Different Genes Behind Depression

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have found evidence that men and women have different genes that anchor the roots of depression, a revelation that could have a major impact on the way doctors treat patients in the future.

The researchers are the first to report the results of a systematic search for chromosomal regions that harbor genes that affect susceptibility to severe depression, the second leading cause of disability worldwide. Their results will be published in the April American Journal of Medical Genetics, but were posted today on the journal's Web site.

"We suspected there were at least a few different genes involved in making women and men susceptible to major depression," said lead author George S. Zubenko, M.D., Ph.D., professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and adjunct professor of biological sciences at Carnegie Mellon University. "The results of this study suggest that sex-specific genes for recurrent major depression may actually be the rule rather than the exception."

+ Article continues at:

* * *

The Use of Vaccinations in Patients With Multiple Sclerosis Abstract

The administration of vaccines to patients suffering from multiple sclerosis (MS) has long been controversial because of the immune-mediated nature of myelin destruction in MS. Numerous case reports have suggested that both onset and worsening of MS may occur following vaccination against a variety of illnesses.

Postulated mechanisms include molecular mimicry and a nonspecific adjuvant-like effect of vaccines on cellular immunity. Double-blind prospective studies, however, have shown that influenza vaccination is safe in MS patients.

Hepatitis B vaccine has also become controversial but there are no well-controlled prospective studies demonstrating its safety or lack thereof.

* * *

Predicting Outcome In Autism.

ds=11916336&dopt=Abstract

Volkmar F.

PMID: 11916336 [PubMed - in process]

* * *

Legitimacy of Comparing Fragile X With Autism Questioned.

ds=11916334&dopt=Abstract

Rapin I.

Publication Types: * Letter

PMID: 11916334 [PubMed - in process]

* * *

Rett Syndrome: Clinical Manifestations In Males With Mecp2 Mutations.

ds=11913564&dopt=Abstract <-- address ends here.

Zeev BB, Yaron Y, Schanen NC, Wolf H, Brandt N, Ginot N, Shomrat R, Orr-Urtreger A. Department of Pediatric Neurology, Sheba Medical Center, Tel-Hashomer, Israel.

Rett syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by cognitive and adaptive regression with autistic features, loss of acquired skills, and stereotypic hand movements that almost exclusively affects females. It is an X-linked dominant disorder, with presumed lethality in males. Nonetheless, there are a few descriptions of males suspected of having Rett syndrome.

With the recent discovery that the MECP2 gene is responsible for most cases of Rett syndrome, it is possible to molecularly assess cases of affected males by direct sequencing analysis. We describe an Israeli family consisting of a female having classic Rett syndrome and a male sibling with severe neonatal encephalopathy.

Molecular analysis revealed that both sister and brother have the same MECP2 gene mutation; however, their mother does not. This case, as well as other published studies of males with MECP2 mutations, reveals that the clinical manifestations in viable males vary from neonates with severe encephalopathy to adults with mental retardation and demonstrate genotype-phenotype correlations.

PMID: 11913564 [PubMed - in process]

* * *

Unlocking Autism Regrets Report that Raises Room Ruckus

If you haven't booked one yet please be advised that rooms in DC are available in a limited amount during the weekend of The Power of ONE! Rally due to many other events in the city at that time. You may cancel up until the day of arrival but cannot rest assured that you will have a room without a reservation in advance.

Unlocking Autism is holding a block of guest rooms at a special rate of $129 per night at the Capitol Hilton, 4 BLOCKS from the Mall.

If you would like to hold a room please forward the following information to Shelley Reynolds at KEYS2UA@aol.com as soon as possible. The final rooming list will be turned in shortly.

NAME:

Check IN date:

Check OUT date:

Email Address:

Phone Number:

Room type: Smoking/Non-smoking, Double/Double or King

NOTE:

if you have already sent in a request, please do not send another. You should receive your confirmation and hotel contact information shortly.

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>> DO SOMETHING ABOUT AUTISM NOW <<

Subscribe, Read, then Forward the FEAT Daily Newsletter.

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* * *

Experts Pass Buck On Single Vaccines

An Official inquiry into the safety of MMR has failed to conclude whether single measles, mumps and rubella vaccines should be made available on the NHS.

Despite a nine-month investigation, the expert group on immunisation, set up by the Scottish executive last year in response to growing concerns over reports of a link between the triple jab and autism, is to put the decision into the hands of the health minister because its members are split over the issue, The Scotsman has learned.

The lack of a ruling has angered members of the parliament’s health committee who had called for "clear guidance" on whether single vaccines should be introduced as an alternative to the triple jab.

The panel’s report has already been delayed for months because of a row between members, who are split over whether MMR has potentially devastating side-effects on some children.

Public health officials, who make up the majority of the 19-strong group, are understood to be adamant there is no link, but some medical experts believe there is enough evidence to suggest there is a problem with MMR.

A source said: "Despite many months of discussion and reviewing all the available evidence, the group has not been able to come to a consensus on single jabs. The sticking point has always been single vaccines. That decision has now been handed to Malcolm Chisholm.

"The ball is now in the Scottish executive’s court. The health minister has to take a decision."

Mary Scanlon, the Tory health spokeswoman, recommended the establishment of the expert group almost a year ago in a report to the health committee. The expert group was announced in June and given six months to report back.

Ms Scanlon asked for a clear decision on whether single vaccines should be introduced in Scotland but the executive, in spelling out the panel’s remit, said it was not charged with recommending any changes to current immunisation policy.

However, several autism experts on the panel are understood to have argued that a ruling on single jabs is necessary in the light of fears over MMR safety and falling uptake rates.

Ms Scanlon said: "It has always been my understanding that coming to a strong, unequivocal conclusion on single vaccines was part of the expert group’s remit.

"It would be deeply distressing to me and to many parents if they do not tackle that issue. I will be going through their report to make sure they have answered my full remit.

"Parents need unequivocal guidance on this issue. If not, then we are no further forward. We now have low uptake rates and sporadic outbreaks of measles."

This week The Scotsman revealed that Professor Phil Hanlon, a public health policy adviser to the executive, became the first key health official to suggest single jabs should be offered to parents who refused to have their children inoculated with MMR.

Bill Welsh, chairman of Action Against Autism, said: "The health minister should take his advice from Prof Phil Hanlon, who believes single vaccines should be considered for those families who are refusing MMR."

A spokesman for the executive refused to speculate on the report but said the health minister’s view, based on medical experts’ advice, was that MMR is the safest option available.

The expert group was at the centre of a row last month when it emerged four of its members have financial links to a pharmaceutical firm which makes the vaccine. The news prompted claims from campaigners against the triple jab that the groups’ independence was compromised.

* * *

Sacramento California Autism Rally Set!

April is Autism Awareness Month.

Please join us. We need your support.

Sacramento Rally on the North steps of our State Capitol (Between 10th. & 11th. Streets facing L Street).

Sunday, April 21st., 2002 at 12:30 p.m.

Speakers: Dr. Linda Copeland , M.D., F.A.A.P. and Nancy Fellmeth, FEAT President

Bring your family, friends, and a picnic lunch.

Washington D.C.

In support of Unlocking Autsim's "Power Of One" Rally

on Sunday, April 21st., 2002

QUESTIONS? Call David & Dana Wisdom (916) 683-2461

* * *

Ohio Governor Proclaims April Autism Awareness Month!

This is the Ohio Gubernatorial proclamation proclaiming April Autism Awareness Month across the State: It reads as follows:

State of Ohio

Executive Department

Office of the Governor

Columbus

Resolution

WHEREAS, autism is the third most common developmental disability in the United States striking approximately 1 in 250 children each year; and

WHEREAS, autism knows no racial, ethnic, or socioeconomic boundaries and affects approximately 45,400 Ohioans; and

WHEREAS, autism is a complex neurobiological disorder that affects the brain in the areas of social interaction and communication skills. Children and adults with autism typically have difficulties in verbal and non-verbal communication, social interactions and leisure activities; and

WHEREAS, while some children are born with autism, many children do not acquire it until the second or third years of life, but with proper treatment and intensive therapy, children with autism are able to reach their full potential; and

WHEREAS, Autism has a wide range of implications for the entire family of the diagnosed individual, and early diagnosis, research, training, education and therapies are vital to reducing the effects of autism; and

WHEREAS, Unlocking Autism is a non-profit organization that brings awareness to Autism Spectrum Disorders and raises funding for autism awareness across the nation.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BOB TAFT, Governor of the State of Ohio, do hereby recognize

AUTISM AWARENESS MONTH

April 2002

throughout the State of Ohio and encourage all Ohioans to take this opportunity to learn more about autism, its diagnosis and treatment.

On this 1st day of April, 2002;

Bob Taft

Governor

The proclamation will be read at the Power of One Autism Awareness Rally at the Columbus Statehouse in the Atrium, April

10th from 1PM to 4PM.

For more information contact: sdcarv@bright.net

Or call: 419-946-3324 Cell: 419-560-1637

* * *

Seeking to Contact Independent Autism Advocacy/Support Parent Groups

We need to take a census of the independent autism advocacy community. If you are part of a parent group trying to get services for your child, sharing resources, offering support, etc. or know of such a group, please send to this newsletter the group's name, if you have one, an overland mail address and a phone number. This would include any group who has "FEAT" in their name (FEAT doesn't have chapters, there just are other groups who use the name.). We already have some of you listed on the FEAT website, but it is sorely in need of an update. Some autism groups are building a nationwide advocacy network and everyone doing advocacy needs to be plugged in. Contact Lenny Schafer at editor@feat.org before April 15.)

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APRIL 21, 2002 - 12 Noon to 5pm

THIRD NATIONAL AUTISM AWARENESS RALLY:

"The Power of ONE! I.D.E.A."

FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

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FEAT'S "Night of Caring" April 27

Sacramento FEAT is holding its' 9th Annual "Night of Caring" Dinner and Auction fundraiser on April 27, 2002. If you have been helped by the FEAT and the Daily Newsletter and would like to show your appreciation you can by supporting our fundraiser. Make an auction contribution or sponsorship donation. Please call 916-843-1536 for more information. Thank you.

FEAT is a tax-exempt non-profit corporation

_________________________________________________________________

Lenny Schafer, Editor@feat.org • CALENDAR EVENTS@feat.org Michelle Guppy

Server: Michael McIntire • Ron Sleith • Kay Stammers • Edward Decelie

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