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Researchers say stem cells could lead them to the right drug to treat autismUC San Diego scientists say they've made a breakthrough in autism research. Researchers found using stem cells can help them find the right drug to treat the disorder. NBC 7's Liberty Zabala explains how the research could one day lead to a cure. Autistic stem cells are starting respond to experimental drugs in what San Diego researchers are calling a breakthrough in the disorder affecting one in 68 children. UC San Diego scientists took stem cells from children with autism and reprogrammed them into brain cells. “It...

Children with autism relieved of symptoms following therapy that includes camel milkDubai: Can camel milk help children with autism? Two American mothers who sourced camel milk from the Middle East say it definitely can, citing circumstantial evidence of their children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) responding positively after therapy that included camel milk. Author Christina Adams shared her camel milk story with XPRESS following a meet-up organised by Autism UAE, Stepping Stones, Child EIMC and Emirates Industry for Camel Milk and Products (EICMP) at The Majlis Dubai, a new camel milk cafe next to Jumeirah Mosque. American-born Zeba Khan,...

A new Johns Hopkins study discovers an association between prenatal exposure to antidepressant medications, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and developmental delays (DD) in boys. Researchers from the Bloomberg School of Public Health found that early prenatal exposure to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) — commonly prescribed for depression, anxiety, and other disorders — increased the risk for ASD three-fold. Common SSRIs include citalopram (Celexa), escitalopram (Lexapro), fluoxetine (Prozac), paroxetine (Paxil, Pexeva), and sertraline (Zoloft). The study of 1,000 mother-child pairs is published in the online edition of Pediatrics. In the study, investigators analyzed data from large samples of ASD and...

The Israeli army has formed a specialized intelligence unit that includes soldiers diagnosed with autism, a neurological disorder involving impaired social interaction and communication problems. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman’s office said that the autistic soldiers have remarkable visual and analytic capabilities. “They can detect even the smallest details, undetectable to most people,” it said in a press release. The commander of the unit, identified only as “Col. J,” said that the success of the program exceeded all expectations. “Their job is to take visual materials from satellite images and airborne sensors,” he said. “With the help of their...

'1st trimester SSRI exposure was associated with more than a 300% increased risk' ... At the same time, 11 percent of all Americans 12-and-over are taking SSRI antidepressants, including an astonishing 23 percent – almost one in four – of women in their 40s and 50s, and between 7 and 13 percent of all pregnant women in the U.S. ... Specifically, the research team determined that male children with autism disorders were almost three times as likely to have experienced prenatal exposure to antidepressants, when compared with boys with normal development. The finding regarding autistic boys was even more pronounced...

Josephine “Joey” Gay was one of 20 children and six adults killed in the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. on Dec. 14, 2012. “You have two choices,” said Bob Gay, Joey’s father and a 1978 graduate of Calvert Hall College High School in Towson. “You can choose love or you can go another way. Knowing my daughter, choosing love was the only way.” The 7-year-old will be honored at the second annual Joey’s Purple Ball June 14 at Calvert Hall. The event benefits the pending non-profit Safe and Sound, comprised of Sandy Hook parents and community...

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by: Persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts; Restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities; Symptoms must be present in the early developmental period (typically recognized in the first two years of life); and, Symptoms cause clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of current functioning. The term “spectrum” refers to the wide range of symptoms, skills, and levels of impairment or disability that children with ASD can have. Some children are mildly impaired by their symptoms, while others are severely disabled. The latest edition of...

e latest look at autism in the U.S. shows a startling 30 percent jump among 8-year-olds diagnosed with the disorder in a two-year period, to one in every 68 children. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which did the survey, says the numbers almost certainly reflect more awareness and diagnosis of kids who would have been missed in years past. The new estimate for 2010 was a jump from one in 88 children in 2008, the last year for which numbers had been available. “The number of children diagnosed with autism continues to rise,” the agency’s Dr. Coleen Boyle...

One in 68 children has autism, a 30 percent rise over the last estimate released in 2012, US health authorities said Thursday. The latest US data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that the "proportion of children with autism and higher IQ (is) on the rise," said a CDC statement. Previously, as many as one in 88 US children were known to have autism spectrum disorder, or ASD, a developmental disorder that recent research suggests may originate in the womb. "This new estimate is roughly 30 percent higher than previous estimates reported in 2012 of 1 in...

In 1998, British Doctor Andrew Wakefield published research findings in Britain's famed medical journal The Lancet linking autism to a children’s vaccine (MMR) for measles, mumps and rubella. The doctor’s claims resulted in a panic as they “…triggered a slump in immunization levels, outbreaks of infectious disease and worldwide public worry.” In 2004, London Sunday Times reporter Brian Deer revealed that Dr. Wakefield had literally MADE UP the research which showed autism resulting in a matter of days after children had been vaccinated. Deer found that a group of attorneys was paying Wakefield large sums to discredit the MMR vaccine....

Of all the things to be nostalgic for, infectious diseases probably don’t make it onto many lists. However, if you happen to pine for the good old days when measles was an active public health threat, I have good news for you. The anti-vaccine crowd is bringing it back. There is currently an outbreak of measles in New York City. Considered eliminated in the United States in 2000, last year saw a record number of outbreaks around the country. It’s only three months into 2014, and not only is the nation’s largest city seeing cases in several boroughs, but other...

Then, when Fraser had just turned three, Booth, on instinct, decided to bring a pet into their lives. She could hardly have prayed for the difference it would make. From the instant Fraser met Billy – sitting down in the cat’s pen and snuggling up to the grey and white moggie – it was clear the pair had a special bond. “It was one of those things that will stay with me till the day I die. It was unbelievable to see our boy interacting, engaging with something. We could just see the tension falling away from him. And when...

Bumetanide, a diuretic approved to treat people with liver and heart disease, is currently being tested on mice and rats to prove its effectiveness in reversing and alleviating the effects of autism in people.

In an article published in Science, the researchers demonstrate that chloride levels are elevated in the neurons of mice used in an animal model of autism, and remain at abnormal levels from birth. These results corroborate the success obtained with the diuretic treatment tested on autistic children by the researchers and clinicians in 2012, and suggest that administration of diuretics to mice before birth corrects the deficits in the offspring. They also show that oxytocin, the birth hormone, brings about a decrease in chloride level during birth, which controls the expression of the autistic syndrome. . . . . A...

U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer wants to outfit autistic kids with tracking devices.

An 11-year-old autistic Middleboro boy’s claim that he was sexually assaulted by another youth inside his foster home was dismissed as “consensual” sex by child welfare officials charged with protecting him, in a stunning case the boy’s family and school officials charge was plagued by missteps by the embattled Department of Children and Families. According to DCF investigative reports, police reports and letters, the boy — then 11 but with the cognitive ability of a 5- or 6-year-old, his father told police — was allegedly sexually assaulted by another youth in the foster home while the parents slept during the...

A long-awaited study has confirmed the fears of Somali residents in Minneapolis that their children suffer from higher rates of a disabling form of autism compared with other children there. The study — by the University of Minnesota, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the research and advocacy group Autism Speaks — found high rates of autism in two populations: About one Somali child in 32 and one white child in 36 in Minneapolis were on the autism spectrum. The national average is one child in 88, according to Coleen A. Boyle, who directs the C.D.C.’s Center on...

Autism advocates are set to protest tomorrow against a quiet effort by Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administration to require annual flu vaccinations for all New York City schoolchildren.On Wednesday, with just three weeks to go until he leaves office, Mr. Bloomberg’s controversial Board of Health is set to vote on new rules that would force children as young as six months old to be immunized each year before December 31 if they attend licensed day care or pre-school programs.“Young children have a high risk of developing severe complications from influenza. One-third of children under five in New York City do not...

A Florida town has ordered an autistic Florida boy to relinquish the pet chickens his parents say have transformed him from a troubled little boy given to harming himself into a vibrant and happy preschooler

Susan Boyle revealed she has Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism. The Scottish singer who shot to worldwide fame in 2009 with her jaw-dropping performance on "Britain's Got Talent" was diagnosed last year, but has now decided to reveal her news publicly for the first time. Speaking to the Observer newspaper, Boyle said, "It was the wrong diagnosis when I was a kid. "I was told I had brain damage. I always knew it was an unfair label. Now I have a clearer understanding of what's wrong and I feel relieved and a bit more relaxed about myself." Asperger's has...