"Research Roundup" August 2022 Edition
- Jennifer Philips
- Aug 31, 2022
- 3 min read
Updated: Feb 28
One in 30 children aged 3-17 years has autism in the US
Hot on the heels of data out of Northern Ireland reporting that nearly 5% of school-aged children have a diagnosis of autism or autism spectrum disorder (ASD), new prevalence estimates for the United States have been published by researchers from Guangdong Pharmaceutical University in China. Analyzing data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), a CDC initiative that tracks national trends in various health-related issues, an estimated 1 in 30 children aged between 3-17 years has been reported to have autism or ASD in 2020. The figure, 3.5% of children, represents an increase on previous NHIS data for autism diagnoses, which stood at 2.8% for 2019 and 2.4% for 2018. There are cautions attached to the way that the NHIS collects data (a household survey design) that limit the accuracy and generalizability of the reported findings but the increasing prevalence estimates do to some extent mirror independent data for the US and other parts of the globe.
Use ‘loss of autism diagnosis’ not ‘optimal outcome’ when criteria for a diagnosis of autism are no longer met
Acknowledging that there are multiple developmental trajectories associated with autism, moves to replace the language used when the criteria for a diagnosis of autism/ASD are no longer met having previously done so continue to evolve. A recent editorial, including Deborah Fein who first systematically studied the loss of autism diagnosis phenomenon, suggests that the loaded term ‘optimal outcome’ needs to be replaced by something more sensitive to community wishes, yet still reflecting objective scientific findings that for some, the diagnosis of autism/ASD is not lifelong. With the requirement for more high-quality study of the longitudinal course of autism, the small percentage of people - estimated at about 10% - who no longer fulfill the diagnostic criteria for autism having previously done so represent an important cohort to answer various questions. Specifically, about how and why they experienced a loss of autism diagnosis and the behavioral and biological correlates that may be underlie such an important outcome.
‘MAR autism’ makes up a quarter of cases?
‘MAR autism’ - maternal autoantibody–related autism spectrum disorder - was present in 24% of nearly 70 mothers with children diagnosed with autism taking part in the Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics Research Network (DBPNet) initiative. Researchers from across the US analyzed maternal blood samples for a suite of autoantibodies (immune compounds that bind to specific proteins found in the fetal brain) reflecting the presence of MAR autism. Alongside, important data on the behavioral presentation of autism was collected, leading researchers to conclude that children with MAR autism tended to have more severe autistic symptoms than those negative to such autoantibodies. Studies continue in this area, as moves towards a widely available commercial test for MAR autism advance forward.
Abstract:
https://journals.lww.com/jrnldbp/Abstract/9900/Pilot_Study_of_Maternal_Autoantibod y_Related.30.aspx
“... evidence of a potential causal link between parental, particularly maternal, IBD and autism in children”
The presence of parental IBD or inflammatory bowel disease (including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis) may well have an important bearing on the presentation of autism/ASD in offspring according to new research from British and Swedish researchers. Utilizing various research methods applied to sample numbers from various cohorts numbered in the hundreds of thousands, researchers found evidence that parental, particularly maternal, diagnosis of an IBD conferred an important, potentially ‘causal’ effect on offspring risk of autism diagnosis. They also questioned whether the resultant effects of IBD including immune dysregulation, nutrient absorption issues and anaemia, could be plausible reasons for a link between the bowel conditions and (offspring) autism. Such work extends the idea of a ‘gut-brain’ axis being applied to autism, added also to other independent studies observing an over representation of IBDs occurring alongside a diagnosis of autism and the requirement for preferential screening.
Drumming for autism
A new study from researchers in the UK and Ireland bolsters the idea that learning to play drums might have some important benefits for autistic adolescents. Nineteen of 36 research participants were taught drumming twice a week for eight weeks while the remainder did not. Behavior and brain scans were undertaken throughout the study, as well as assessment of drumming ability. At study end, those who improved their drumming ability showed better emotion regulation, less hyperactivity and less inattention. Brain scan data also showed some potentially important changes related to those behavioral changes following drumming practice. Further studies are warranted including focusing on how elements of drumming such as hand-eye coordination and timing might be important facets of this pastime for training those with autism.
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