(Medical Xpress)—Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), a category that includes autism, Asperger Syndrome, and Pervasive Developmental Disorder, are characterized by difficulty with social interaction and communication, or repetitive behaviors. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Management says that one in 88 children in the US is somewhere on the Autism spectrum—an alarming ten-fold increase in the last four decades.
Read more at: http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-schizophrenia-autism.html#jCp
Read more at: http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-schizophrenia-autism.html#jCp
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Yes if you look at the causes rather than the symptoms - research by Robert Bransfield 'The Psychoimmunology of Lyme/Tick-Borne Diseases and its Association with Neuropsychiatric Symptoms, 2012; 6: Pp. 88-93
Robert C. Bransfield
Published Date: (05 October, 2012)
http://benthamscience.com/open/toneuj/openaccess2.htm
Disease progression of neuropsychiatric symptoms in Lyme/tick-borne diseases can be better understood by greater attention to psychoimmunology. Although there are multiple contributors that provoke and weaken the immune system, infections and persistent infections are significant causes of pathological immune reactions. Immune mediated effects are a significant contributor to the pathophysiological processes and disease progression. These immune effects include persistent inflammation with cytokine effects and molecular mimicry and both of these mechanisms may be present at the same time in persistent infections. Sickness syndrome associated with interferon treatment and autoimmune limbic encephalopathies are models to understand inflammatory and molecular mimicry effects upon neuropsychiatric symptoms. Progressive inflammatory reactions have been proposed as a model to explain disease progression in depression, psychosis, dementia, epilepsy, autism and other mental illnesses and pathophysiological changes have been associated with oxidative stress, excitotoxicity, changes in homocysteine metabolism and altered tryptophan catabolism. Lyme disease has been associated with the proinflammatory cytokines IL-6, IL-8, IL-12, IL-18 and interferon-gamma, the chemokines CXCL12 and CXCL13 and increased levels proinflammatory lipoproteins. Borrelia burgdorferi surface glycolipids and flagella antibodies appear to elicit anti-neuronal antibodies and anti-neuronal antibodies and Borrelia burgdorferi lipoproteins can disseminate from the periphery to inflame the brain. Autism spectrum disorders associated with Lyme/tick-borne diseases may be mediated by a combination of inflammatory and molecular mimicry mechanisms. Greater interaction is needed between infectious disease specialists, immunologists and psychiatrists to benefit from this awareness and to further understand these mechanisms.'
More here
interviews with Californian Microbiologist Prof Garth Nicolson, founder of the Institute of Molecular Medicine and New Jersey Psychiatrist Dr Robert Bransfield, President of the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Educational Foundation
Dr Bransfield - I think one way to think of it is, if you have chronic infection that adversely affects the brain it has different affects at different points in a person's life.
If it affects fetal development we see developmental diseases and Autism.
If it is in middle life we see depression, anxiety and cognitive impairments.
If it is in early life and sometimes fetal it may show as psychosis like Bipolar or Schizophrenia.
If it is in later life it can be associated with Dementia.
But in all those cases what they have in common is there's a provocation of the immune system and there's close communication between the immune system and the nervous system.
Prof Nicolson - Stealth infections are in general bacterial but some cases viral infections, that can get inside and hide inside cells and they can't be seen by the immune system
Dr Bransfield - Chronic persistent low grade infections
Prof Nicolson - The most common stealth infections related to Chronic Illnesses are number one Mycoplasma, Chlamydia Pneumonia, Borrelia Burgdorferi which is one of the causative components of Lyme Disease a complex illness involving not only Borrelia but Mycoplasma and other infections as well.
Dr Bransfield - Babesia comes up and certain viruses Herpes 1,2,6, Toxoplasmosis but there's other infections that are not well identified and those are invariably as a group, these slow growing relapsing stealth infections that stay in the body in a low grade way and slowly impact and have affect over time.
Prof Nicolson - All these infections spread throughout the body and tend to end up in the central nervous system where they can cause tremendous damage.
http://lookingatlyme.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/invisibly-ill.html
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