Middle East families shed light on autism genes: study

Autism is a brain development disorder that impairs social interaction and communication, and causes restricted and repetitive behavior, all starting before a child is three years old. Autism has a strong genetic basis. Autism affects many parts of the brain; how this occurs is poorly understood. Parents usually notice signs in the first two years of their child's life. Early behavioral or cognitive intervention can help children gain self-care, social, and communication skills. There is no cure. Few children with autism live independently after reaching adulthood, but some become successful, and an autisic culture has developed, with some seeking a cure and others believing that autism is a condition rather than a disorder.

Many causes has been given for why autism occurs. The latest fad in this is that the mercury used in vaccines causes autism.

As kids got more and more vaccines over the years, more mercury came with them - in amounts way over safety limits. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has long claimed it's not the cause of autism or related disorders, and mercury is still in flu shots recommended for babies this fall.

A half dozen childhood vaccines still have mercury,but the shots most kids get have little to none, so flu shots this fall are the biggest outstanding issue.

Scientists around the world set about to test this theory. And their findings were that there was no association between autism and vaccines.

The Institute of Medicine, a highly influential adviser of the government on scientific matters, said yesterday there is no credible evidence that either the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine or vaccines containing the preservative thimerosal cause autism.

The conclusion came in an 81-page report requested by two federal agencies to address the doubts raised by a small but vocal group of parents who question the safety of childhood vaccines.

But the public isn't buying this. Because a group of Hollywood celebrities, men and women with no scientific training or knowledge, say that vaccines cause autism. And of course the public believes the celebrities.

There is a downside to this. Measles, a disease that for 30 years had been virtually unknown in this nation, is on the rise. And so are deaths from the disease.

Measles has reached its highest level in the U.S. since 2001, with 64 cases confirmed since the beginning of 2008, the CDC reported in an early-release MMWR article. Cases have occurred in nine states, and outbreaks are ongoing in Arizona, Michigan, New York, and Wisconsin.

All but one case developed in unvaccinated individuals or those with unknown immunization status, highlighting "the importance of maintaining high levels of vaccination," the CDC says.

Parents so concerned with their child not getting autism, are neglecting to vaccinate their children from Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR). And of course these parents will then find someone to sue.

Now you might wonder why I bring this up. Other than to remind you to vaccinate your children. It's because a study has pinpoint six new genes implicated in autism. Yes real science, not Hollywood baloney.

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.

And Middle Eastern families typically have significantly more children than those in the west, which makes them relatively more useful in genetic studies.

A genetic disorder not from an outside source.

In their mapping, Walsh of Children's Hospital Boston, along with geneticist Eric Morrow of Massachusetts General, and Seung-Yun Yoo looked to compare the DNA of relatives with and without autism.

They also looked for recessive mutations, where the disease is seen only when a child has two copies of a particular gene.

"We check each set of chromosomes from beginning to end looking for one place where the child has two identical pieces of DNA on both chromosomes," said Walsh.

"Eventually we find a spot where all affected children have two identical chunks of DNA, and where unaffected children have something different."

Slightly more than six percent of the 88 families had rare inherited deletions in DNA regions linked to autism, the research found.

The 88 families were from eight countries: Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.

"Interestingly, not all the affected genes were actually deleted, but only prevented from turning on, offering hope that therapies could be developed to reactivate the genes," the researchers added in their statement.

Now there is real hope for a cure. But of course the Hollywood types will scream that this isn't true and keep not vaccinating their children. And those children will keep getting sick.

There is no cure for autism but there is hope now. There is no cure for measles, but there is a vaccine. Taking vaccines will not give your child autism, but it will prevent your child from getting very sick. Sicknesses that kill. The choice is up to you. Do you listen to some actor from Hollywood, or a genetics researcher working on solving the autism mystery?