Thursday, September 17, 2015

Research Review: Autism Spectrum Disorder and Epilepsy: Two Sides of the Same Coin?


My son Conor, now 19 1/2 years old, stimming, a recognized feature 
of autism spectrum disorder, in this older picture.


Conor, a couple of years ago, at the Chalmers Hospital 
intensive care unit, where he was being treated for  rhabdomyolisis, 
a serious adverse  reaction to his epilepsy seizure meds at that time. 


As the father of a son with autism spectrum disorder, intellectuall disability and epilepsy I have asked myself if these conditions are in fact related. It has been my non evidence based belief, based solely on observing, caring for and loving my son for almost 20 years that he has one condtion that affects him and causes his deficits.

I have attached a copy of the abstract of the reseach review Autism Spectrum Disorder and Epilepsy: Two Sides of the Same Coin?  I  hope to obtain a copy of the study itself and more importantly I hope that the study encourages more study and discussion by neurological researchers and professionals of this subject.


Autism Spectrum Disorder and Epilepsy: Two Sides of the Same Coin?

Abstract
Autism spectrum disorders and epilepsy commonly co-occur. In this review, we consider some unresolved questions regarding the temporal relationship, causal mechanisms, and clinical stratification of this comorbidity, highlighting throughout the interplay between autism spectrum disorder, epilepsy, and intellectual disability. We present data on the clinical characterization of children with autism spectrum disorder and epilepsy, discussing distinctive phenotypes in children with this comorbidity. Although some distinctive clinical features emerge, this comorbidity also informs convergent pathways in genetic variants that cause synaptic dysfunction. We then move beyond diagnostic categorization and consider the extent to which electrophysiology as a quantitative biomarker may help guide efforts in clinical stratification and outcome prediction. Epilepsy, and atypical electrophysiological patterns, in autism spectrum disorder may inform the definition of biologically meaningful subgroups within the spectrum that, in turn, can shed light on potential targets for intervention.
© The Author(s) 2015.

KEYWORDS:
autism spectrum disorder; biomarkers; electroencephalography; epilepsy; intellectual disability


Jeste SS1, Tuchman R2. J Child Neurol. 2015 Sep 14. pii: 0883073815601501. [Epub ahead of print]

1 comment:

farmwifetwo said...

The POND group has already said that ID, ASD, anxiety, ADD, OCD, schizophrenia are one and the same. It all depends on which genes get "tweeked". http://pond-network.ca/pond-studies-2/ I expect from there comes the IBS and the epilepsy.

It's amazing how after 16yrs, things have changed and people are finally taking the "some children with autism are like that" (a Dev Ped we had).... seriously.