May 16, 2012
By Barbara Bronson Gray
HealthDay Reporter
WEDNESDAY, May 16 (HealthDay News) — Researchers report that a new DNA test may be able to spot an increased risk of autism in children as young as 6 months old.
The genetic screen, called ARISk, is designed for babies and toddlers who have a sibling with autism, a developmental disorder characterized by impaired social interaction and repetitive behaviors. The new test found 57 key gene variations that were associated with the condition in more than 1,000 families.
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May 16, 2012
By Jenifer Goodwin
HealthDay Reporter
WEDNESDAY, May 16 (HealthDay News) — Many parents of children with an autism spectrum disorder don’t feel they can turn to their pediatricians for advice on treatments, a new study finds.
Likewise, many pediatricians don’t think they have the knowledge — or time — to devote to children with autism, with some citing reimbursement policies that don’t allow for payment for lengthier appointments or for managing complex cases.
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May 16, 2012
By Jenifer Goodwin
HealthDay Reporter
WEDNESDAY, May 16 (HealthDay News) — Children with autism given a squirt of a nasal spray containing the hormone oxytocin showed more activity in brain regions known to be involved with processing social information, a small study found.
Researchers and other experts stressed that the study was small, involving only seven children, that the kids were given just a single dose of oxytocin and that they haven’t yet studied whether the differences in the brain activity will translate into differences in the children’s behavior.
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May 16, 2012
WEDNESDAY, May 16 (HealthDay News) — One in three children with an older sibling who has an autism spectrum disorder, or problems with social interaction and communication, shows signs of developmental delay or autism-related behaviors by the age of 3 years, according to a new study.
“It is clear that the younger siblings of a child with an ASD [autism spectrum disorder] may face challenges even if they are not themselves identified with an ASD,” study author Daniel Messinger, a professor at University of Miami College of Arts and Sciences, said in a university news release.
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May 14, 2012
By Jenifer Goodwin
HealthDay Reporter
MONDAY, May 14 (HealthDay News) — Young adults with an autism spectrum disorder are less likely to continue their education or get a job after high school when compared to young adults with other disabilities, new research indicates.
According to the study, only about 35 percent of young adults with autism attended college and only 55 percent had a job during the first six years after high school. Overall, they faced a greater than 50 percent chance of being unemployed or not attending college when compared to those with other disabilities, the researchers reported.
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May 4, 2012
By Jenifer Goodwin
HealthDay Reporter
FRIDAY, May 4 (HealthDay News) — If a woman smokes during pregnancy, it may increase her child’s risk of high-functioning autism, a new study suggests.
But the raised risk was slight, experts said. And researchers found no association between maternal smoking and more severe forms of autism.
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April 26, 2012
By Jenifer Goodwin
HealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, April 26 (HealthDay News) — From the time she was a toddler, Abby Mahoney’s parents knew she was different. She could name 200 dinosaurs by age 3, and offered up detailed theories about why they became extinct.
Abby also had difficulty making friends. And teachers didn’t understand why an intelligent child would crawl under her desk while the other kids sat in a circle reading a book.
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April 25, 2012
By Jenifer Goodwin
HealthDay Reporter
WEDNESDAY, April 25 (HealthDay News) — An experimental drug reduced two signature characteristics of autism — repetitive behavior and abnormal social interactions — in laboratory mice, new research finds.
The drug, GRN-529, targets glutamate, a major neurotransmitter found throughout the brain that’s involved with activating neurons, or brain cells. Researchers believe the compound works through a specific glutamate receptor (mGluR5) and decreases glutamate activity.
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April 23, 2012
By Jenifer Goodwin
HealthDay Reporter
MONDAY, April 23 (HealthDay News) — Studies that show a type of antidepressant eases autism symptoms are more likely to get published in medical journals than studies concluding the drugs don’t improve common behaviors such as rocking and hand-flapping, new research says.
That “publication bias” may mean that physicians believe the medications — known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) — are more effective than they really are for children with these behaviors. Indeed, when researchers combined the data from published studies and those that never made it into print, the new analysis showed that SSRIs don’t help repetitive behaviors much at all.
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April 19, 2012
THURSDAY, April 19 (HealthDay News) — Scientists have identified 33 genes associated with autism and related disorders, and they say several of the genes also appear to be altered in people with schizophrenia.
Of the 33 genes, 22 were identified as associated with autism for the first time, according to the study, which currently appears online and is scheduled for publication in the April 27 print issue of the journal Cell.
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