Autistic Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

This study analyses the prevalence of ASD, comorbidity, educational provision and ability in autistic children in a single health district, born between 1983 and 1996. The number of recorded diagnoses doubled over a 4 year period. This appeared to be due to greater recognition of ASD in more able children, in children initially presenting with ADHD, and possibly in females. ADHD accounted for a substantial proportion of comorbidity. Age at diagnosis appeared to be related to school placement. Cognitive ability levels ranging from more than three standard deviations below the mean to more than one standard deviation above the mean were found in the moderate and severe learning difficulty school population as well as in the mainstream population. Exceptionally low levels of verbal ability were present in a high proportion of mainstream pupils. Measured levels of cognitive function show poor relationship with actual educational placement.

Neurodegenerative and Fatiguing Illnesses, Infections and Mitochondrial Dysfunction: Use of Natural Supplements to Improve Mitochondrial Function.

“…On the other hand, neurobehavioral diseases are found mainly in young patients and include autism spectrum disorders (ASD), such as autism, attention deficit disorder, Asperger's syndrome and other disorders [24]. For the most part, the causes of these neurological diseases remain largely unknown but it is thought that multiple factors are involved in each disease [1,2].…”

“…In contrast, neurobehavioral diseases are related to fetal brain and early post-partum development but are less well characterized at the cellular level. Both of these disease types involve genetic and environmental factors [24,25], and they also have multiple chronic infections [1-3, 26, 27]. Even less well characterized at the cellular and genetic level are the psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia, paranoia, bipolar disorders, depression and obsessive-compulsive disorders, but these diseases are also associated with the presence of chronic infections [3].…”

“…Genetic alternations have been found in neurodegenerative and neurobehavioral diseases, but the genetic changes as well as changes in gene expression that have been found are complex and usually not directly related to simple gene alterations, such as single mutations and deletions, that lead to single protein molecule alterations [24,25,28]. Importantly, mutations that affect mitochondrial function are known to be associated with neurodegenerative and neurobehavioral diseases [29,30].…”

“…These include mutations in mtDNA as well as nuclear DNA [29]. In addition to chronic infections and genetic changes, environmental toxins, heavy metals, nutritional deficiencies, autoimmune immunological responses, vascular diseases, head trauma (and accumulation of fluid in the brain), changes in neurotransmitter concentrations, among other elements, are thought to be collectively involved in the pathogenesis of various neurodegenerative and neurobehavioral diseases [1,2,[24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31]. These important topics will not be discussed in detail in this review.…”

Interactions between neurotropic pathogens, neuroinflammatory pathways, and autophagic neural cell death

“…It is suggested that chronic infections in the central nervous system (CNS) might be associated with progressive neurodegeneration and/or neurobehavioral abnormalities [1][2][3][4] . Prolonged CNS infections with neurotropic pathogens, along with other underlying conditions such as autoimmune responses, vascular diseases, head injury, cerebral edema, changes in neurotransmitter concentrations, nutritional deficiencies, heavy metal poisoning, and effects of environmental toxins, might play roles in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative and/or neurobehavioral diseases [5][6][7][8] .…”