Middle East families shed light on autism genes: study

[jtyangel]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080710/wl_mideast_afp/healthautismmideastus_080710183351

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Research on large Middle Eastern families has helped scientists pinpoint six new genes implicated in autism, a new study published Thursday said.
ADVERTISEMENT

The research "strongly supports the emerging idea that autism stems from disruptions in the brain's ability to form new connections in response to experience -- consistent with autism's onset during the first year of life when many of these connections are normally made," a team led by researchers at Children's Hospital Boston and members of the Autism Consortium said.

In traditional Arab societies, cousins commonly wed, making it more likely that rare mutations will be expressed, the team said in study published in Science.

This is an issue dear to my heart as I have a son who is autistic. I'm sure it will be moved if its in the wrong place, but I find this fascinating because he's an endless puzzle to me how he does not pick up things that you and I learn without effort.

The dedication of parents in this can not be dismissed and the stress level it puts on the family and marriages are undeniable. Anything that moves to helping these children navigate this disability and easing the stress on the whole family is a good thing in my estimation.

I know I'm a bleeding heart here, but I guess its because for 8 plus years now, autism has been a part of my life.

Thanks for reading this.

[Wretched Excess]

I moved this to GD.

it will get more traffic that way.

and it is a very important thread.

[Toastedturningtidelegs]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080710/wl_mideast_afp/healthautismmideastus_080710183351

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Research on large Middle Eastern families has helped scientists pinpoint six new genes implicated in autism, a new study published Thursday said.
ADVERTISEMENT

The research "strongly supports the emerging idea that autism stems from disruptions in the brain's ability to form new connections in response to experience -- consistent with autism's onset during the first year of life when many of these connections are normally made," a team led by researchers at Children's Hospital Boston and members of the Autism Consortium said.

In traditional Arab societies, cousins commonly wed, making it more likely that rare mutations will be expressed, the team said in study published in Science.

This is an issue dear to my heart as I have a son who is autistic. I'm sure it will be moved if its in the wrong place, but I find this fascinating because he's an endless puzzle to me how he does not pick up things that you and I learn without effort.

The dedication of parents in this can not be dismissed and the stress level it puts on the family and marriages are undeniable. Anything that moves to helping these children navigate this disability and easing the stress on the whole family is a good thing in my estimation.

I know I'm a bleeding heart here, but I guess its because for 8 plus years now, autism has been a part of my life.

Thanks for reading this.

Very interesting! I would love for scientists to do a study like this on the people who live in the Appalacians in this country. One wonders if there is a higher incidence of autism there as well for the same reasons!

[DixieBelle]

Thank you for posting this. The more scientists can learn about autism and how to treat it, the better. I think at the end of the day, they will find that it's a confluence of events that cause it. Not just genetics or envoirnment. It does seem to be a puzzle and unlocking it will help so many families.

[BEG]

Very interesting Jty, thanks for sharing.

[jtyangel]

Thank you for posting this. The more scientists can learn about autism and how to treat it, the better. I think at the end of the day, they will find that it's a confluence of events that cause it. Not just genetics or envoirnment. It does seem to be a puzzle and unlocking it will help so many families.

I happen to agree it is more then one thing. This article even speculates as much since in some case there was a gene missing, however in others is was there but wasn't 'turned on'.

This has become somewhat fascinating to me because when you live with a child like this it is so beyond comprehension how they are effected by things that we don't think of. I saw a lecture by Temple Granden, autistic herself, where she said that things we tune out, autistics can not and different autistic children have different sensitivities. She talked about how even the most minute flicker in an overhead light, we would tune out instinctively, but it would be so distracting for the autistic person. It creates a danger for them, this sensory overload since they are apt to walk into the street while fixating on something that is distracting them or to forget that steam is hot being so wooed by the sight and shape of the steam coming off of a boiling pot of water.

It still amazes me how the mind works.

Thx Dixie and BEG for checking it out.

[jtyangel]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080710/wl_mideast_afp/healthautismmideastus_080710183351

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Research on large Middle Eastern families has helped scientists pinpoint six new genes implicated in autism, a new study published Thursday said.
ADVERTISEMENT

The research "strongly supports the emerging idea that autism stems from disruptions in the brain's ability to form new connections in response to experience -- consistent with autism's onset during the first year of life when many of these connections are normally made," a team led by researchers at Children's Hospital Boston and members of the Autism Consortium said.

In traditional Arab societies, cousins commonly wed, making it more likely that rare mutations will be expressed, the team said in study published in Science.

This is an issue dear to my heart as I have a son who is autistic. I'm sure it will be moved if its in the wrong place, but I find this fascinating because he's an endless puzzle to me how he does not pick up things that you and I learn without effort.

The dedication of parents in this can not be dismissed and the stress level it puts on the family and marriages are undeniable. Anything that moves to helping these children navigate this disability and easing the stress on the whole family is a good thing in my estimation.

I know I'm a bleeding heart here, but I guess its because for 8 plus years now, autism has been a part of my life.

Thanks for reading this.

Very interesting! I would love for scientists to do a study like this on the people who live in the Appalacians in this country. One wonders if there is a higher incidence of autism there as well for the same reasons!

I think there have been studies similar to it in Silicone Valley. Although parents weren't related per se, they had such similar characteristics(mainly this propensity that eschewed social situations and a talent for things like computer sciences and engineering) and there was a high rate of autism in those couples who married like people in the valley.

When I think of my own family, the rates are very high to those inclined towards engineering and very technical expertise. I'm inclined to believe there is a genetic predisposition for an extremity in the genes, however it needs an environmental trigger for it to come to fruition in those with this deficiency. In ideal cases it creates people very talented in those technical fields and in the extreme cases it presents with an autistic individual.