Doreen Granpeesheh and colleagues reported that a randomized trial of hyperbaric-oxygen therapy did not produce beneficial effects on children with Autism. The results of the study—double-blind, placebo controlled procedures, making it scientifically sound—showed no significant differences in direct observations of toy play, hyperactivity, appropriate vocalizations, vocal stereotypy, physical stereotypy, aggression, self-injury, property destruction or on standardized assessment employing a host of psychological measures.
Continue reading ‘More reason to doubt benefits of HBOT’
Archive for the 'Research' Category
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Children and youths who were treated with “atypical antipsychotic medications” (aripiprazole, olanzapine, quetiapine, or risperidone) gained substantial weight and had changes in their metabolism in a study reported by Christoph Correll and colleagues in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The drugs, which are used to treat childhood schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and (sometimes) Autism, also caused changes in blood lipids.
| Drug | Brand Name |
|---|---|
| clozapine | Clozaril |
| risperidone | Risperdal |
| quetiapine | Seroquel |
| olanzapine | Zyprexa |
The medications, which are also known as second generation antipsychotics, are marketed under the names shown in the table at the right.
On average, the children’s weight gains differed across the different medications, ranging from 8.5 kg with olanzapine to 4.4 kg with aripiprazole. For better than half of the children, the gains amounted to more than 7% of their body weight. Changes in the children’s metabolism varied by drug, too; olanzapine caused the largest problems and aripiprazole caused no changes in metabolism (e.g., cholesterol).
Continue reading ‘Meds cause weight gains’
Sphere: Related ContentThe National Autism Center released the report of its National Standards Project. The project was designed to identify interventions that are or are not beneficial for individuals with Autism or Autism Spectrum Disorder and it presents known therapies in three categories: established, emerging, unestablished (including a subsection on “ineffective/harmful treatments”).
In summary, the National Standards Project, a primary initiative of the National Autism Center, seeks to:
- describe the age, diagnosis, and skills/behaviors targeted for improvement associated with treatment options
- identify the limitations of the current body of research on autism treatment
- offer recommendations for engaging in evidence-based practice for ASD
Continue reading ‘National Standards Project’
Sphere: Related ContentIn a letter to Nature, Lauren Weiss, Dan Arking, the Gene Discovery Project of Johns Hopkins, and the Autism Consortium report that they have analyzed multiple data sets and identified potential loci on human genes for susceptibility for Autism. They found possible linkages on four chromosomes (5p15, 6q27, and 20p13) and, coupled with other data, the single nucleotide polymorphism on 5p15 pointed to SEMA5A as an important location for additional study. These results may lead to a means of screening; if rare variations can be identified reliably, they would permit families to seek intervention very early in the lives of affected individuals, thus greatly increasing the chances of improved outcomes.
Although autism is a highly heritable neurodevelopmental disorder, attempts to identify specific susceptibility genes have thus far met with limited success1. Genome-wide association studies using half a million or more markers, particularly those with very large sample sizes achieved through meta-analysis, have shown great success in mapping genes for other complex genetic traits. Consequently, we initiated a linkage and association mapping study using half a million genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in a common set of 1,031 multiplex autism families (1,553 affected offspring). We identified regions of suggestive and significant linkage on chromosomes 6q27 and 20p13, respectively. Initial analysis did not yield genome-wide significant associations; however, genotyping of top hits in additional families revealed an SNP on chromosome 5p15 (between SEMA5A and TAS2R1) that was significantly associated with autism (P = 2 10-7). We also demonstrated that expression of SEMA5A is reduced in brains from autistic patients, further implicating SEMA5A as an autism susceptibility gene. The linkage regions reported here provide targets for rare variation screening whereas the discovery of a single novel association demonstrates the action of common variants.
Link to the abstract.
Sphere: Related ContentDrawing on the data collected as a part of the US National Survey of Children’s Health, Michael Kogan and colleagues estimated that slightly greater than 1% of children have Autism. The survey asked parents whether a doctor or other health-care provider had said that a child had Autism and the child currently had the condition; the point-prevalence was 110 per 10,000 for Autism Spectrum Disorder. The survey, which is a part of the regular US Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative (CAHMI), asked questions of 78,037 parents.
Continue reading ‘Autism prevalence > 1%?’
Although I have followed the promotion of secretin as a treatment for Autism pretty much since the first reports about it, I hadn’t checked on it lately. My initial foray into the topic in 1998 resulted in some skepticism with hedges. As the research evolved, it became clear that the skepticism was warranted.
However, I was surprised that Stephen Edelson, writing in a 2008 article entitled The secretin story: Still a promising treatment for autism,” considered “the studies investigating the efficacy of secretin have been very positive.” Coupled with some vaguely remembered notion that fewer than 50% of physicians discouraged use of secretin, the article gave me pause. I thought, “Hmmm. Maybe you’re earlier analysis was hasty, John.”
Continue reading ‘Secretin reminder’
Even though many schools in the US have closed for the summer or are about to do so, I want to remind folks that this is not a good time to take a break from considering the mental health needs of children and youth. Although they are likely to wax and wane over time, mental health problems don’t take many vacations.
Learn more about US resources for individual children and youths who have emotional and behavioral disorders by surfing the rich resources assembled by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA) of the US Department of Health and Human Services. Although some of the materials may be a tad out of date (e.g., prevalence figures have been updated for some disorders such as Autism), there are still plenty of valuable materials available from SAMHSA.
Go there! Compare what you see learn there with what’s available at other trustworthy sites. Learn what to do and from whom help is available.
Sphere: Related ContentEdward G. Carr, a widely respected respected authority on Autism, was killed in an automobile accident Saturday 20 June. I’ve posted an obituary on SpedPro.
Adolescents who are at risk for later episodes of major depressive disorders differ from their peers who are not at risk on multiple measures of rapid eye movement (REM) and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) activity during sleep, according to a study by Uma Rao and colleagues that appeared this fall in Neuropsychopharmacology . Early depressive episodes that occur during adolescence are strongly associated with other later problems in other areas such as interpersonal relationships, pregnancy, educational attainment, employment, and suicidal behavior; finding predictors of later problems is important for primary and secondary prevention.
Rao and colleagues compared youths at risk for major depressive disorder with peers using electroencephalographic (EEG) and HPA measures. They then followed the youths for 5 years and correlated their EEG and HPA measures with the chances of later episodes of depression. Here’s the abstract:
Continue reading ‘Sleep predictors of later depression’
Sheldon Braaten announced that the call for papers for the regular conference sponsored by the Council for Children with Behavior Disorders has been extended. Here’s the text of his message.
Sphere: Related Content8th Biennial International Conference on Children and Youth with Behavioral Disorders
“Strategies for Promoting Academic and Behavioral Competence of Students with Emotional/Behavioral Disorders”
At the
Four Points by Sheraton Denver Southeast
Denver, Colorado
September 23-26, 2009Call for Proposals – Deadline has been Extended
Continue reading ‘CCBD call for papers extended’
In Scientific American, Daniel Lametti wrote an article providing background research on mirror neurons and implications for future research. The article, “Mirroring Behavior: How mirror neurons let us interact with others,” only has a few words about Autism and mirror neurons. However, readers of EBD Blog who are new to the topic and who want to understand the concepts in general will likely benefit from reading it.
Link to Mr. Lametti’s article.
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