FEAT DAILY NEWSLETTER      Sacramento, California      http://www.feat.org

November 23, 2001        News Morgue Search  www.feat.org/search/news.asp

 

RESEARCH

·        Major Stress During Pregnancy Linked To Autism

·        Volunteers Needed for Research Into Asperger Syndrome

 

TREATMENT

·        Letter: “Recovery of Many Autistic Children Has Been Incredible”

 

AWARENESS

·        Honors Roll In For PA Autistic Athlete; Receives Skating Award

 

 

Major Stress During Pregnancy Linked To Autism

http://www.osu.edu/researchnews/archive/preterm.htm

Women who have had a major stressful event - death of a spouse, job

loss, or a long-distance move - midway through their pregnancy may have a

greater chance of having an autistic child than do their unstressed

counterparts say researchers at The Ohio State University Medical Center

http://www.osumedcenter.edu/

In a presentation at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience http://www.sfn.org in San Diego, Dr. David Beversdorf, a neurologist at OSU Medical Center and principal investigator of the study, reported on a study of 188 women who had delivered autistic children. The research showed that these women were more likely to have experienced a major stressor the 24^th through 28^th weeks of their pregnancy.

“Researchers have been examining the genetic component of the disease for years, but there is now evidence through this study that autism is also linked to external factors, such as prenatal stress,” he said.

Beversdorf and his colleagues asked mothers to document their stress levels when stressful events occurred during their pregnancies. The study included the mothers of autistic children, 212 women who had normal births and 92 women who had children with Down’s syndrome - a genetically caused neurological disorder caused by chromosomal abnormality.

The researchers then used a standard psychological measure - The Social Readjustment Rating Scale http://www.oates.org/olc/pub/a0400/oates/weo-pip-07-readjust.html - to gauge the impact at four-week intervals that those stressors had on the women.  For the study, a “major stressor” was defined as a life-altering event in the woman’s life, such a loss of a loved one or losing a job.

He noted that the numbers of women experiencing major stress during any certain four-week period in their pregnancies remained fairly constant during the study for normal and Down’s syndrome pregnancies. Stress levels for the mothers of autistic children were nearly twice those of other mothers in the study.

“We expected that a woman who has had an autistic child or a child with Down’s syndrome would tend to remember these life stressors more easily than a woman who has had a normal birth,” he said.

“What we were looking for was this rise in the numbers of who had a major stressor during this time period (before 32 weeks) and that these women also had autistic children.”

Beversdorf and his colleagues believe their research supports earlier animal studies that suggest stress during specific periods in the pregnancy may lead to structural changes in the brain that have been linked to autism.

The timing of the stressful events recorded for the study seem to mesh well, time wise, with the periods of development of the fetal cerebellum - a key portion of the brain that is structurally different in autistic children.

Autism is a neurological disorder that tends to appear early in a child’s life, typically before age 3. These children have problems interacting and communicating with others, have a language delay, and develop a narrow and repetitive pattern of behaviors.

These behaviors typically stay with the child throughout his or her life.

“With this information there will be other studies that can hopefully determine what are the causes and influences of autism in children,” said Beversdorf.

* * *

 

Volunteers Needed for Research Into Asperger Syndrome

A team of psychologists at Cambridge University  (UK) carrying out research studies into Asperger Syndrome (AS). These studies are investigating cognitive aspects, behaviour and personality. Many of these studies simply involve filling in questionnaires and returning them (in prepaid envelopes).

Others involve being assessed by one of our team members. We would

like to hear from parents of children and teens with AS and HFA as well as

adults with AS or high functioning autism who are interested to receive

further details about these different studies (with no commitment on your

part). If you are interested, please contact Dr. Simon Baron-Cohen by e-mail

at sb205@cus.cam.ac.uk

by mail: Simon Baron-Cohen

Departments of Experimental Psychology and Psychiatry

University of Cambridge, Downing St

Cambridge, CB2 3EB, UK

 

 

>> DO SOMETHING ABOUT AUTISM NOW <<

Subscribe, Read, then Forward the FEAT Daily Newsletter.

To Subscribe go to    www.feat.org/FEATnews     No Cost!

 

* * *

 

Letter to Paper: “Recovery of Many Autistic Children Has Been Incredible”

Selective Need for Science by “Experts”

[From the Baton Rouge Advocate. This letter is part of an exchange of letters to the editor over an article published November 4, 2001 “Silent Epidemic: Autism” http://www.theadvocate.com/enter/story.asp?storyid=5494.  Dr. Cave was mentioned in the article.  The Advocate does not publish its letters online so there is no URL reference. Copyright 2001 by Capital City Press)

      Re: Nov. 12 letter from Darrell S. Barnett, MD., “Doctor’s methods not

proven. “I am not sure that a lesson on the ‘scientific method’ is what physicians and parents of autistic children need in the light of the present epidemic. The fact remains that prior to 1950, autism, as described by Dr.  Kanner in 1943, was seen in 1 in 10,000 children. In 1997 the incidence increased to 1 in 200. Mark Blaxill presented information at the Institute of Medicine meeting in July showing that the rise in autism followed the increasing use of thimerosal, the mercury preservative used in many of the infant vaccines until 1999.

As early as 1982, the Food and Drug Administration found that the mercury compound (thimerosal) in over-the-counter products was not found to be “generally recognized as safe.” Dr. Neal Halsey, pediatrician with the Institute for Vaccine Safety at Johns Hopkins University, stated that the point is not “vaccinating  vs. not vaccinating. It is making vaccines as safe as possible.” Halsey called for additional studies saying that the data are inconclusive but suggestive of an effect from thimerosal in the children. He reported that the 187.5 micrograms of ethyl mercury that the children received by 6 months of age prior to 1999 exceeded the U.S.  Environmental Protection Agency safe level.

Even the American Academy of Pediatrics report to clinicians stated that infants who receive thimerosal-containing vaccines at several visits may be exposed to more mercury than recommended by federal guidelines. The July conclusion of the Institute of Medicine included the phrase “biologically plausible,” describing the possible neurological damage to children from thimerosal. I am afraid that the “rigorous testing” has not yet been done.

Dr. Amy Holmes and I are simply correcting nutritional abnormalities in these children that we find on laboratory tests to be deficient, normalizing bowel organisms to stop the chronic diarrhea, and removing toxic heavy metals when there is lab evidence of toxicity, using an FDA-approved drug for use in children. Everything that we have done is backed by extensive scientific studies. The area where there are no controlled studies involves the frequent use of drugs such as Prozac and Risperdal in these autistic children.

I am pleased to announce that we will begin a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study utilizing DMSA in the treatment of autism through Tulane Medical School. It has been IRB- approved and funded for 2002.

My last statement - I am not a pediatrician. That was an error made by the reporter, who volunteered to do a retraction. I am board- certified in family medicine and have practiced in this specialty since 1986. The recovery of many of the autistic children has been incredible. When the thimerosal has been removed from the shelf, I believe that the vaccines will be safe. My book is a testimony to this.

Stephanie F. Cave, M.D.

7777 Hennessy Blvd.

Baton Rouge

* * *

 

Honors Roll In For Area Autistic Athlete; Receives Skating Award

[By Madeleine Mathias of The Morning Call, Pennsylvania.] http://www.mcall.com:80/news/local/all-b3_3autisticnov23.story?coll=all%2Dne ws <-- address ends here.

Joni Talavera, 19, has been winning medals in Special Olympics since she was a young girl. But the honors she earned recently topped all the others.

Joni, who is autistic, was voted the “Roller Skater of the Year,” an award given by the Pennsylvania Special Olympics at the Fall Festival held at Villanova University.

When it was announced that Joni had been selected for the “Skater of the Year,” the excitement at the Villanova Skating Rink was overwhelming, Louise Tusak, Bethlehem Special Olympics manager, said.

“When her name was announced it was chaos,” said Tusak, recalling the outpouring of cheers and applause from those attending the Olympics.

According to Tusak, local Olympic coaches can nominate the person they best feel rates the honor, “Skater of the Year.” “I did not know that the Bethlehem coaches had submitted her name,” Tusak said.

She thanked the coaches for being so dedicated to the program and working so hard. She also lauded Joni’s parents who, she said, give her wonderful family support.

Joni, who lives in Easton, was presented with a plaque and two bouquets of flowers. The Olympic officials read excerpts from a July 8 Morning Call profile of Joni, which detailed how she graduated from high school in June even though she could not speak a word when she entered kindergarten.

But Joni’s “Skater of the Year” honor was not the only one she earned at the Special Olympics. She won a gold medal for her performance in artistic roller skating, Level 4.

She is the first skater in the state Special Olympics to achieve Level 4, said Tusak. “Joni earned that level herself, by her total commitment to the sport.”

To win the Level 4 gold, Joni had to do a “triple” — three jumps, one right after the other.

Her father, Joseph, said his daughter was the only skater vying for Level 4. “She went out there and did a good job,” he said.

Joni also won another medal — a silver in the solo dance category.

She also played roller hockey with the Special Olympics Bethlehem

team, which captured the gold in a three-county competition.

And in an exhibition game, Joni’s team played against Villanova University’s ice hockey players (who competed on roller skates). Joseph said the Bethlehem team played very well. “They did not win, but they came close.”

“We are lucky to have Joni,” Tusak said. “Her achievements have brought a lot of honor to Bethlehem’s Special Olympics.”

Joni practices diligently two or three times a week at Skateaway in Bethlehem Township.

At 10-months-old, she was diagnosed with autism, a neurological-based disability that thwarts most communication. When Joni entered kindergarten at Tracy Elementary School in the Easton Area School District, she couldn’t speak. She didn’t know how to laugh, but threw violent temper tantrums and ripped off her clothes in the classroom.

But Joni’s parents, Maria and Joseph, never gave up. They saw that the third of their four daughters went to school, had tutors, was immersed in as much education as possible — most of it with the help of Marge DeRenzis, a Colonial Intermediate Unit 20 special education teacher who worked with the child for 14 years.

Joni graduated June 19 with the Easton Area High School Class of 2001.  Today she is a student at Northampton Community College, taking four courses in her first semester — calculus, astronomy, basic English and critical reading.

Lenny Schafer, Editor    Catherine Johnson PhD   Ron Sleith   Kay Stammers

Editor@feat.org   Edward Decelie  CALENDAR: Michelle Guppy  events@feat.org

Unsubscribe: FEATNews-signoff-request@LIST.FEAT.ORG

ALL INFORMATION, DATA, AND MATERIAL CONTAINED, PRESENTED, OR PROVIDED HERE IS FOR GENERAL INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS REFLECTING THE KNOWLEDGE OR OPINIONS OF THE PUBLISHER, AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED OR INTENDED AS PROVIDING MEDICAL OR LEGAL ADVICE.  THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO VACCINATE IS AN IMPORTANT AND COMPLEX ISSUE AND SHOULD BE MADE BY YOU, AND YOU ALONE, IN CONSULTATION WITH YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.