"Air Pollution, Genetics Combine to Increase Risk for Autism"

[Delta4Embassy]

Air pollution, genetics combine to increase risk for autism

"Dec. 2, 2013 — Exposure to air pollution appears to increase the risk for autism among people who carry a genetic disposition for the neurodevelopmental disorder, according to newly published research led by scientists at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC)."

rest at link (bit of a technical read)

 

[waltky]

New breakthrough in controlling autism...

Researchers reveal breakthrough in controlling autism
Tue, Jan 28, 2014 - Researchers at Academia Sinica’s Institute of Molecular Biology have found that defects in particular neuronal circuits can induce autistic characteristics, a breakthrough discovery toward a potential clinical treatment for the disorder, which has also been proposed by the study.

Autism is a disorder becoming increasingly prevalent in highly developed countries, with its incidence estimated in 2012 to be one in 88 children in the US, and boys are five times more likely than girls to be diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). ASDs are now known to be caused by early abnormal neural development, and while clinical studies have found an association with neural circuit formation, the molecular mechanism at work remained unclear, the team said. Recent genome sequencing studies of ASDs have identified hundreds of mutated genes in people with the disorder, and the knowledge could be the first step in unveiling the pathogenesis of ASDs.

However, how disruptive mutations of genes lead to abnormal neural development, and thereby autism, is an unanswered question. After nine years of research, lead author of study, Hsueh Yi-ping, and her team found that insufficiency of the Tbr1 gene — one of the six most targeted genes with recurrent mutations identified in people with autism — results in defective axonal projections of amygdala neurons in mice, which acted differently from their wild-type counterparts in social interaction. Hsueh said that mice with deficient Tbr1 were found to be missing “the posterior part of the anterior commissure” in their brains, which is the part responsible for connecting the two amygdalae in the two hemispheres of the brain. “Not only was the connection between the two amygdalae impaired, the intra-amygdalar connections were also reduced,” Hsueh said.

The amygdala, an almond-shaped set of nuclei, is the region of the brain in charge of social interaction, emotional response, fear and aggression, the research team said. The study found that mice with insufficient Tbr1 and reduced inter and intra-amygdala connectivity displayed autism-like behavior. Researchers successfully ameliorated the behaviors by giving those animals D-cycloserine, an antibiotic that was at first used to fight Mycobacterium tuberculosis, but was later found to be helpful for treating a range of psychiatric ailments.

Hsueh said that although the missing posterior part of the anterior commissure cannot be restored, as it is a developmental defect, D-cycloserine could increase the activity of amygdalar neurons and ameliorate the mice’s autism-like behavior. As D-cycloserine is a medication that is currently already in use clinically, its potential to be used for treatment of ASDs in the near future will be higher, if its related therapeutic effect is verified by further studies,” Hsueh said. The team’s study has been published in the journal Nature Neuroscience.

Researchers reveal breakthrough in controlling autism - Taipei Times

 

[waltky]

Granny ain't worried - she gots a gas mask...

Millions Die Every Year From Air Pollution
March 24, 2014 — The World Health Organization reports air pollution is now the world’s largest single environmental health risk. A new report finds seven million people died from exposure to air pollution in 2012, more than double the number previously estimated in 2008.

Air pollution is a global problem; the World Health Organization reports one in eight people around the world die from air pollution. It says new data show people exposed to indoor and outdoor air pollution die prematurely from cardiovascular diseases, such as strokes and ischaemic heart disease, as well as chronic pulmonary diseases and cancer. The World Health Organization reports most deaths from air pollution occur in low-and middle-income countries in Southeast Asia and the western Pacific, where about half the world’s population cook and heat their homes using open fires and simple stoves.

A man and his dog, both wearing masks, walk along a small alley on a hazy day in Beijing,

Health officials say the use of coal and biomass fuels, such as wood, animal dung and crop waste is responsible for 4.2 million people dying prematurely in 2012. They link an additional 3.7 million deaths in urban and rural areas to outdoor air pollution. WHO Public Health, Environmental and Social Determinants of Health coordinator, Dr. Carlos Dora, said clean air cannot be bought in a bottle. “To resolve this issue, it is quite important that countries, nations take action, which is more or less coordinated and the reason for that is the air shared-small particles travel thousands of kilometers, normally around the hemisphere traveling east. So pollution in one country will affect a number of other countries downwind," said Dora.

Dora said air pollution used to be worse in developed than in developing countries. But he says developed countries, notably the United Kingdom, and United States have taken action, which has dramatically reduced air pollution during the past decade. “We know those interventions work on energy especially. On transportation, better engines, cleaner fuels, more efficient energy technologies, reduction in the need for the use of energy, insulation of houses, etc. Clean energy, solar, wind, energy that does not use combustion is better than those that do use combustion," he said. Dora said in most cases healthier air pollution strategies will be more economical in the long run because health care costs will go down.

Millions Die Every Year From Air Pollution

 

[waltky]

Not diagnosed with autism until age 26???...

Parents of Autistic Adults Worry About Future
April 21, 2014 — Rafael Angevine can spend hours taking pictures. “I just do it for myself," he said. "I don’t try to set up a scene or anything. I just take pictures.”

Rafael was diagnosed with autism when he was 26. His mother, Noelie, says his father encouraged their son to pursue his passion for photography. “His photographs, the way he sees the found objects, the ordinary objects and picks up what’s beautiful about manmade things as well as what’s in nature, to me this is almost mystical,” she said. When Rafael’s therapist told Noelie about an art exhibit by autistic artists, she wanted her son to participate. The exhibit - called "Through Our Eyes" - is sponsored by the Madison House Autism Foundation, a non-profit that advocates for autistic adults.

Co-founder JaLynn Prince named it after her 24-year-old autistic son, Madison. He is one of an estimated 1.2 million American adults with autism, a developmental disorder that causes communication difficulties and often, social awkwardness. Many parents like Prince worry about the future of their adult child, who can face difficulties finding work and housing. “The most daunting concern is when I’m not around him any longer, who is going to make certain that my son has a happy and productive life?” Prince said. The foundation lobbies for legislation to enhance opportunities for adults with autism and reduce barriers to meeting their housing and employment needs. “Employment is huge because it’s estimated that about 85 percent of those on the spectrum may never have a totally gainful employment,” Prince said.

Sponsoring the exhibit advances another goal of the foundation: promoting understanding and inclusion in the community. “We don’t have enough physicians that know anything about adults on the spectrum to be able to treat these adults," she said. "We have safety issues in the community. Some of our population tend to wander and what happens if they encounter a police officer and a police officer asks somebody to stop? and they're not going to stop because they don't know the police officer. And it can escalate before someone even understands that someone may be on the spectrum. They may feel they’re on drugs or something else.” The art exhibit showcases the work of more than 20 artists and is presented in collaboration with the Universities at Shady Grove in Maryland.

The school's executive director, Stewart Edelstein, says it is a great learning opportunity for his students. “We are in the process of educating students who will become nurses, teachers, social workers and they are citizens in our community," Edelstein said. "For them to understand in a more deep way the needs of this segment of our community - people with autism - is really important for their professional development.” Noelie Angevine, Rafael’s mother, agrees that events like this benefit people like her son, and society at large. “The economy would profit by using the talents of people like Rafael instead of letting them end up on the street,” she said. It gives her hope that her son will continue to have a good life when she’s no longer around.

Parents of Autistic Adults Worry About Future

 

[Skull Pilot]

The definitions for mental disease have been so expanded that one can't help but think that the ultimate goal is to be able to diagnose everyone with something.

 

[waltky]

Dump fires take forever to burn out...

SMOKE COILING FROM JAMAICA DUMP CONCERNS RESIDENTS
Apr 28,`14 -- People living in communities around Jamaica's capital say they are exasperated with noxious smoke being released into the air from a blaze that has smoldered at a sprawling trash dump for nearly two weeks.

Residents of southern Portmore and sections of the capital of Kingston say they are worried about the health effect of breathing in smoke, soot and microscopic pollutants. Smoke began to billow from the Riverton City dump on April 18. Another blaze burned there for a week last month.

The civic group Jamaica Environment Trust said Monday that it is receiving complaints daily and is "alarmed by the inability of the authorities to extinguish the fire swiftly."

The group also criticizes government health officials for their silence. Jamaica's health ministry has yet to issue a public statement.

News from The Associated Press

 

[peach174]

If that were true, then there would have been much more autism in the 60's than there is now, because pollution was much worse then.

Autism Statistics, Characteristics and Causes

The following displays the increasing trend in autism statistics(1):
• Five cases per 10,000 in 1960’s and 1970’s
• Ten cases per 10,000 in 1980’s
• Variable reports for the 1990’s indicate between5-72 cases per 10,000
• Reports in the early 2000's indicated between 10-20 cases per 10,000
• It then increased to two to six cases per 1,000 or between 1 in 500 to 1 in 166.
• Recently in 2009 the U.S. Centers for Disease Control revised the autism prevalence rate to a staggering one in 110 children.
• Males are more likely to be affected than females with a ratio of 4.3:1