This week in Autism 8/3/13

From time to time, we see some really significant news in the autism world.  This week was one of those times!  For more autism news, all the time, see my Autism Page on Pinterest, where I pin important Autism artcles the moment I find them.

Courts Quietly confirm MMR causes autism - Austin. After decades of passionate debate, parents probably missed the repeated admissions by drug companies and governments alike that vaccines do in fact cause autism. For concerned parents seeking the truth, it’s worth remembering that the exact same people who own the world’s drug companies also own America’s news outlets. Finding propaganda-free information has been difficult, until now.   READ MORE

Asperger's and Autism: Brain Differences Found - Children with Asperger's syndrome show patterns of brain connectivity distinct from those of children with autism, according to a new study. The findings suggest the two conditions, which are now in one category in the new psychiatry diagnostic manual, may be biologically different. READ MORE

And the really BIG news - we may soon have an objective way to diagnose autism, and maybe even a way to detect it early on...

Chemical Changes in Brain Identify Autism - Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have brain chemical changes between the ages of 3 and 10 that distinguish them from children with other forms of developmental delay, researchers reported. 

In particular, concentrations of N-acetylaspartate, which plays important roles in several brain functions, rises over time to near-normal levels in ASD children, according to Stephen Dager, MD, of the University of Washington in Seattle, and colleagues.

In contrast, the compound remains at a low concentration in children with non-autism developmental delays, Dager and colleagues reported online in JAMA Psychiatry.   The pattern of changes of several other brain chemicals also differed between the groups, and between both groups and children with typical development, in a study that combined longitudinal and cross-sectional features, the investigators reported.   READ MORE   PUBMED REF