[This was published June 13, 2018 at www.ageofautism.com]
By Teresa Conrick
For years now, parents of children on the autism spectrum have been on the internet and social media sharing their stories. Many, like me, have had horror stories of their child being sick too often and then abrupt and bizarre behaviors would appear. Strep throat was often a trigger for us.
—- The strep infection triggers a misdirected immune response causing inflammation within the basal ganglia, a portion of the brain responsible for speech, involuntary movement (tics) and emotion. This inflammation causes an abrupt onset of neurologic and psychiatric symptoms including OCD, tics, anxiety, emotional lability, urinary frequency and sleep disturbances.
While strep is the initial trigger, PANDAS patients can have recurrent symptom exacerbations (flares) later in the disease when exposed to other (non-strep) infections. [PANDAS — Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorder Associated with Streptococcal Infections.]
We are not crazy. What we have been living is real and our children are very ill.
Fresh research from my favorite group studying PANS and PANDAS in autism, has their study completed – and an abstract published – Anti-neuronal and anti-microbial immunity link CaMKII and autism spectrum disorder with pediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome .
The full study will be out in late Fall as I had emailed Dr. Cunningham. She is an awesome researcher and a very compassionate person. She shared that she is involved in similar research, Human anti-dopamine receptor 1 monoclonal autoantibody (mAb) identifies potential mechanisms of neuronal signaling in post-infectious autoimmune-mediated neuropsychiatric disease, and as a result, the full papers are coming out later. Let’s take a look at the highlights of the asd abstract:
♦ Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) may be associated with neuropsychiatric symptoms such as tics, obsessive-compulsive behaviors, and other symptoms characteristic of pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorder associated with streptococcal infections (PANDAS).
♦ Functional anti-neuronal autoantibodies which signal CaMKII and induce excess dopamine release were found in ASD/PANDAS serum.
♦ Interestingly, a CamKII mutation has recently been associated with autistic symptoms in animal models and also in ASD in humans. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28130356
♦ Children with ASD/PANDAS had significantly elevated anti-neuronal auto-antibodies by ELISA, and strong IgG responses against the group A streptococcal epitope GlcNAc were observed in ASD/PANDAS.
♦ Our study links three common microbial antigens to anti-neuronal antibody responses in ASD/PANDAS and suggests that molecular mimicry between host and pathogen may play a role in development of the auto-antibodies and potentially lead to neuropsychiatric symptoms in ASD/PANDAS.
♦ Thus, ASD may be complicated by anti-neuronal antibodies which can develop during infections and may contribute to the co-morbid symptoms of PANDAS in ASD.
What that means is that PANDAS happens when the immune system produces antibodies, intended to fight an infection, and instead mistakenly attacks healthy tissue in our children’s brains.
Inflammation occurs at the basal ganglia, which causes the behaviors — abrupt and sudden onset of movement disorders, neuropsychiatric symptoms and abnormal behaviors. One of the initial episodes for Meg presented with her having severe Parkinson’s-like movements, not eating, frequent urinary accidents, wanting to wear sunglasses in the house and severe anxiety, where she did not want to leave her room.
That was years ago but the symptoms continue and exacerbate with illness still. Due to her AUTISM diagnosis, many in the medical field ignored our plight and blamed her symptoms and medical issues as, “that’s just autism,” and offered little help or shrugged their shoulders, not knowing how to help. This line of research is like rays of sunshine finally creeping in after years of darkness for too many families, like mine. I am grateful for it and hope the treatments that come from it can improve Megan’s quality of life.
This is important research. It not only validates what many parents have been seeing in their children for years and years, but helps hasten the changing paradigm of increasing cases of autism being immune-mediated and autoimmune. Meg, is one of these cases. Life has been so hard as the autism field has been wrapped up in the DSM world for far, too long. Treatments for our kids and young adults need to be expanded to the immune and autoimmune world.
More and more researchers are shining a light and my thanks to Dr. Cunningham, Dr. Frye, Dr. Swedo et al. Tremendous researchers from around the world are combining their knowledge to help this generation of very sick, young people. Thank you to each and every one of them who wants to improve the lives of our loved ones.
—Teresa Conrick is the daughter of a physician and the mother of a 24 year old daughter whose autism awaits a cure. Teresa has often published on the discoveries involving the Microbiome. Search www.ageofautism.com for her work.
So here we have another apologetic claiming that the various shades of autism are a “disorder” whereby the “sufferer” has an innate disability in that he/she cannot reconcile idiotic contraries and contradictions in a “politically correct” manner.
A pox on you “normal” people for whom “normalcy” is an irrational slave mentality of “political correctness” detached from observable reality.
This article has zilch to do with political correctness. It is serious science regarding an urgent matter.
Probably your remark is what I call a “good sign” at Gumshoe.
“A pox on you “normal” people”… very telling self-reflection.
‘Normal’ is just a cycle on a washing machine.
Due to the complexity of the human organism, the range of pathogens to which everyone must adapt, and the fact that various conditions can manifest in symptoms that are virtually identical I also find labels such as “autism” to be a bit of a cop-out.
Sorry, Meghan has this disorder and how it would affect a parent. Strep does the symptoms of light sensitivity early. I was wondering how you treated it? usually antibiotics. Have you tried different ones. Also the time between swab result and medication. I know I would have tried to medicate early after a few episodes and there were strong signs of illness. If so does either affect the outcome in severity or duration. Vicious circle as antibiotics take some beneficial micros as well.
Oldavid, it is so hard to make decisions in this position that Theresa has made to make. I agree with your detached from observable reality comment( sorry family) however. good doctors who mess with political correctness or observable reality get struck off one way or another.
Putting this item here because Gumshoe likes to call attention to pleomorphism.
I am not qualified to defend the article. This abstract is at PUBMED:
“Mutations in LRRK2 cause autosomal-dominant parkinsonism with pleomorphic pathology.”
by Zimprich A. et al”
We have previously linked families with autosomal-dominant, late-onset parkinsonism to chromosome 12p11.2-q13.1 (PARK8). By high-resolution recombination mapping and candidate gene sequencing in 46 families, we have found six disease-segregating mutations
… It belongs to the ROCO protein family and includes a protein kinase domain of the MAPKKK class and several other major functional domains. Within affected carriers of families A and D, six post mortem diagnoses reveal brainstem dopaminergic degeneration accompanied by strikingly diverse pathologies.
… Hence, LRRK2 may be central to the pathogenesis of several major neurodegenerative disorders associated with parkinsonism. — end of abstract
This issue is around a 1000% more complicated than implied thus far.
So far, at least eight causative factors have been linked to autism; and despite official denials, autism has been cured. Any discussion about these issues attracts the lethal wrath of the medical/pharmaceutical establishment.
Doctors and nurses wave the banner of SCIENCE furiously but never actually produce empirical evidence to support their repressive stance.
Mary, is it OK with you if I submit an article which covers all bases.
Tony, anyone can submit an article (max length 2,000 words) and Her Bossness will decide if it should fly.
The wrath of the medical/pharmaceutical establishment is very old news here at Gumshoe — search “autism”, “cancer”, or Vaccination.”
But it surely would be news if you were to tell us the cure for autism.
Thanks, Mary. I’ll get right on to it.
Brilliant
The promised article is on its way, Mary. It’s one of the those articles which must include every relevant element in order to prevent the sickness industry from attacking us. This is because doctors do not want to criticise an article if in doing so this attracts more readers. By covering all points, they will ignore it and hope nobody much reads it.
Temple Grandin was born in Boston in 1947. She is a fabulous student of animal behavior. I rate her book “Animals in Translation” as top neuroscience, even tho she got much of it by sheer observation on farms.
In this interview she does not tell you how “far gone” she was at age 3 but yes she was far gone with autism.
In a Culture that’s structured to ensure that the Av/Norm bod never reaches his/her potential:
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2008/aug/19/schools.education
A “disability” could no doubt turn out to be quite beneficial