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News: May 28, 2012
Autism Often Not Diagnosed Until Age 5 or Older: U.S. Report
THURSDAY, May 24 (HealthDay News) -- Even though autism symptoms typically emerge before age 3, most children with autism are diagnosed when they're 5 or older, a new snapshot of autism in America shows. More than half of U.S. children with an aut...
Many Parents of Kids With Autism Don't Put Faith in Pediatricians
WEDNESDAY, May 16 (HealthDay News) -- Many parents of children with an autism spectrum disorder don't feel they can turn to their pediatricians for advice on treatments, a new study finds. Likewise, many pediatricians don't think they have the kno...
Could Nasal Spray of 'Love Hormone' Treat Autism?
WEDNESDAY, May 16 (HealthDay News) -- Children with autism given a squirt of a nasal spray containing the hormone oxytocin showed more activity in brain regions known to be involved with processing social information, a small study found. Research...
Genetic Test May Spot Raised Autism Risk
WEDNESDAY, May 16 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers report that a new DNA test may be able to spot an increased risk of autism in children as young as 6 months old. The genetic screen, called ARISk, is designed for babies and toddlers who have a sib...
Developmental Woes Common in Siblings of Children With Autism
WEDNESDAY, May 16 (HealthDay News) -- One in three children with an older sibling who has an autism spectrum disorder, or problems with social interaction and communication, shows signs of developmental delay or autism-related behaviors by the age...
Employment Prospects Dim for Young Adults With Autism
MONDAY, May 14 (HealthDay News) -- Young adults with an autism spectrum disorder are less likely to continue their education or get a job after high school when compared to young adults with other disabilities, new research indicates. According to...
Prenatal Smoking Linked to High-Functioning Autism in Kids
FRIDAY, May 4 (HealthDay News) -- If a woman smokes during pregnancy, it may increase her child's risk of high-functioning autism, a new study suggests. But the raised risk was slight, experts said. And researchers found no association between mat...
Battling the Bullying of an Autistic Child
THURSDAY, April 26 (HealthDay News) -- From the time she was a toddler, Abby Mahoney's parents knew she was different. She could name 200 dinosaurs by age 3, and offered up detailed theories about why they became extinct. Abby also had difficulty ...
Experimental Drug Eases Autistic Behaviors in Mice
WEDNESDAY, April 25 (HealthDay News) -- An experimental drug reduced two signature characteristics of autism -- repetitive behavior and abnormal social interactions -- in laboratory mice, new research finds. The drug, GRN-529, targets glutamate, a...
'Publication Bias' Casts Doubt on Value of Antidepressants for Autism
MONDAY, April 23 (HealthDay News) -- Studies that show a type of antidepressant eases autism symptoms are more likely to get published in medical journals than studies concluding the drugs don't improve common behaviors such as rocking and hand-fl...
Half-Siblings of Those With Autism at Raised Risk for Disorder: Study
FRIDAY, April 20 (HealthDay News) -- Half-siblings of children with autism are at increased risk for the disorder, according to a recent study that provides new genetic clues about autism. Previous research has shown that full siblings of children...
Genes Associated With Autism Also Related to Schizophrenia
THURSDAY, April 19 (HealthDay News) -- Scientists have identified 33 genes associated with autism and related disorders, and they say several of the genes also appear to be altered in people with schizophrenia. Of the 33 genes, 22 were identified ...
In Mice, Drug Reverses Symptoms of Condition Linked to Autism
WEDNESDAY, April 11 (HealthDay News) -- An experimental drug reversed many of the major symptoms of Fragile X syndrome in mice, researchers report. Fragile X syndrome is a leading cause of autism, and its symptoms include developmental delays, hyp...
Children Born to Obese Moms May Face Higher Autism Risk: Study
MONDAY, April 9 (HealthDay News) -- Children born to obese or very overweight mothers are at higher risk of having autism or developmental delays, new research suggests. The study of more than 1,000 children found that the offspring of obese mothe...
Pregnancy Length May Influence Severity of Autism
FRIDAY, April 6 (HealthDay News) -- Children with autism who were born either prematurely or several weeks late may experience more severe symptoms than kids with autism who were born on time, according to a new study. These children also may be m...
Researchers Find Gene Mutations That May Be a Key to Autism
WEDNESDAY, April 4 (HealthDay News) -- Genetic mutations that arise spontaneously, as opposed to being passed through generations, could play an important role in the development of autism, new research suggests. Three research teams sequenced the...
Certain Children With Autism Show More Improvement Than Others
MONDAY, April 2 (HealthDay News) -- About 10 percent of children with autism experience rapid gains in skills -- progressing from severely affected to high functioning -- but minority children with less-educated mothers are much less likely than r...
Two-Thirds of Kids With Autism Have Been Bullied: Study
FRIDAY, March 30 (HealthDay News) -- Nearly two-thirds of American children with autism have been bullied at some point in their lives, and these kids are bullied three times more often than their siblings without autism, a new survey finds. Bully...
U.S. Autism Rate Rises to 1 in 88 Children, CDC Reports
THURSDAY, March 29 (HealthDay News) -- The rate of autism spectrum disorders continues to rise among American children, with one in 88 now receiving such a diagnosis, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday. That's an...
People With Autism May Be Better at Processing Information
MONDAY, March 26 (HealthDay News) -- People with autism have an enhanced ability to process information, which may explain the apparently higher-than-average percentage of people with autism who work in the information technology industry, British...
When a Child With Autism Wanders, It's Crucial to Stay a Step Ahead
FRIDAY, March 23 (HealthDay News) -- The Oertel family lives in a red-brick, two-story house tucked in a tree-lined, suburban Maryland cul-de-sac. There's no fence, just a small alarm company sign on the lawn that gives no clue to the system's rea...
Study Might Explain Brain Overgrowth Seen in Autism
FRIDAY, March 23 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers report that they have identified abnormalities in the DNA and RNA of cells in the prefrontal cortex of the brains of autistic children. The findings may help to explain the underlying mechanism for ...
Mothers of Kids With Autism Earn Less, Study Shows
MONDAY, March 19 (HealthDay News) -- Mothers of children with autism and autism spectrum disorders earn significantly less than what mothers of children who have no health limitations earn, a new study has found. These moms even earn less than mot...
'Parent Training' May Help Kids With Autism Behave Better
THURSDAY, March 1 (HealthDay News) -- Children with autism often display challenging behaviors, but new research suggests that parents can learn to better handle tantrums and aggression, which may improve their child's overall functioning. "Parent...
Autism Diagnosis Often Occurs Later for Black Children
MONDAY, Feb. 20 (HealthDay News) -- Black children with autism tend to be diagnosed later than white children with the disorder, and this delay can lead to longer and more intensive treatment, researchers say. Lack of access to quality, affordable...
Brain Scans Might Spot Autism as Early as 6 Months of Age
FRIDAY, Feb. 17 (HealthDay News) -- In children as young as 6 months old, changes in the brain that can lead to autism spectrum disorder may have already begun, preliminary research suggests. Although early signs of autism, such as problems commun...
Motor Impairments Appear to Be a Characteristic of Autism
FRIDAY, Feb. 17 (HealthDay News) -- Autism itself seems to be responsible for the problems children with the disorder have in developing motor skills such as running, throwing a ball and learning to write, according to a new study. Previously, it ...
Teens With Autism Preoccupied With TV, Video Games: Study
TUESDAY, Feb. 14 (HealthDay News) -- When given the opportunity to have screen time, children with autism spectrum disorders typically choose television and video games over social interactive media, such as email, a new study finds. The preoccupa...
Brain Activity May Help Predict Autism Before Age 1: Study
THURSDAY, Jan. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Infants younger than a year old who are at risk of developing autism may already have telltale brain responses when another person looks at or away from them, the results of a new study indicate. The researche...
Mutations in 2 Genes Linked to Rare Autism-Related Disorder
THURSDAY, Jan. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Newly discovered mutations in two adjacent genes cause a rare genetic brain condition called Joubert syndrome, according to a new study. People with Joubert syndrome have malformation or underdevelopment of th...
'Inner Dialogue' Might Aid People With Autism
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 25 (HealthDay News) -- Learning to "talk things through in their head" could help people with autism make plans and complete complex daily tasks, researchers say. These skills might increase the likelihood that people with autism c...
'Co-Occurring' Disorders May Explain Change in Autism Diagnosis
MONDAY, Jan. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Many children with autism also have other developmental or psychiatric conditions, including learning disabilities, speech delays, attention or seizure disorders and anxiety. According to new research, some of t...
Experts Weigh Changes to Definition of Autism
FRIDAY, Jan. 20 (HealthDay News) -- The number of people diagnosed with autism will likely decrease if a new definition of the disorder is adopted by mental health experts later this year. Doctors aren't sure what the implications of the changes w...
Smoking During Pregnancy Not Linked to Autism
FRIDAY, Jan. 20 (HealthDay News) -- Children born to women who smoke during pregnancy are not at increased risk for autism, according to a new study. Smoking during pregnancy has been considered a possible cause of autism in children due to known ...
Little Known About How Autism Affects Teen Drivers: Researchers
THURSDAY, Jan. 12 (HealthDay News) -- Two-thirds of driving-age American teens with a high-functioning autism spectrum disorder are currently driving or plan to drive, and these teens have a number of common characteristics, a new study says. Peop...
Autistic Teens With Epilepsy Often Light-Sensitive
MONDAY, Dec. 5 (HealthDay News) -- Teenagers with autism who also have epilepsy often suffer from photosensitivity, or light sensitivity, researchers say. The combination means that certain behaviors common among autistic kids -- such as flapping ...
Fetal Exposure to Epilepsy Drug Might Raise Autism Risk: Study
MONDAY, Dec. 5 (HealthDay News) -- Children exposed to the epilepsy drug valproate have a nearly three times higher risk of having an autism spectrum disorder, new research finds. Researchers in Denmark used national birth data that included nearl...
Kids With Epilepsy Should Get Screened for Autism, Developmental Delays
MONDAY, Dec. 5 (HealthDay News) -- Children seen in epilepsy clinics should be screened for development delay and autism because the conditions often occur together, new research suggests. Researchers at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago ask...
Prozac Might Ease Repetitive Behaviors in Some Adults With Autism
FRIDAY, Dec. 2 (HealthDay News) -- The antidepressant Prozac may help ease repetitive behaviors in some adults with autism, a new study indicates. Researchers randomly assigned 37 adults with autism to take either Prozac (fluoxetine) or a placebo ...
Possible Genetic Link to Autism Identified
FRIDAY, Nov. 4 (HealthDay News) -- A gene variation associated with an increased risk of autism in boys has been identified by scientists. Boys are three to four times more likely than girls to be affected by autism.
Job Market Tough for Young Adults With Autism
THURSDAY, Oct. 27 (HealthDay News) -- More children are being diagnosed with autism than ever before and now many of these children are graduating from high school and entering, or at least trying to enter, the workforce. Unfortunately, this criti...
Could Airway Abnormality Point to Autism?
MONDAY, Oct. 24 (HealthDay News) -- A researcher has found an abnormality in the airways of children with autism that she says may be the first anatomical marker for the neurodevelopmental disorder. While examining children with autism who came in...
Low-Birthweight Babies at Much Higher Autism Risk
MONDAY, Oct. 17 (HealthDay News) -- Low-birthweight babies are five times more likely to develop autism than normal-weight babies, a new study says. It included 862 premature, low-birthweight infants born in New Jersey between October 1984 and Jul...
Boys With Autism May Grow Faster as Babies
FRIDAY, Oct. 7 (HealthDay News) -- Boys with autism tend to grow faster as babies, with differences from typically developing infants seen in their head size, height and weight, a new study says. Researchers said the findings may offer new clues a...
Scientists Engineer Mice That Have Autism
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 5 (HealthDay News) -- Scientists have genetically engineered mice whose symptoms closely mimic autism in humans. Though this isn't the first "mouse model" for autism, the mice in this study come closer to mirroring all of the core ...
Early, Intensive Therapy Better for Kids With Autism, Study Finds
MONDAY, Oct. 3 (HealthDay News) -- Children with an autism spectrum disorder appear to benefit from early, intensive therapy to improve their social and communication skills, according to a new study from the University of Missouri. "It's importan...
Many Autistic Teens Use School Mental-Health Services
SUNDAY, Sept. 4 (HealthDay News) -- Many teens with autism rely on school-based mental health services, a new study finds. Researchers analyzed data from a 10-year study of more than 920 adolescents with an autism spectrum disorder who were enroll...
Brain Scans Show Distinct Traits in Kids With Autism: Study
FRIDAY, Sept. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers using scanning technology say they discovered physical differences in the brains of older children with autism compared to those of kids without autism. "We could discriminate between typically devel...
Risk of Autism in Siblings Higher Than Thought
MONDAY, Aug. 15 (HealthDay News) -- Younger siblings of a child with an autism spectrum disorder have a nearly one in five chance of being diagnosed with autism, much higher than previous estimates, a new study finds. The researchers found that 18...
Low 'Empathy' Response in Brain Might Point to Autism Gene
WEDNESDAY, July 13 (HealthDay News) -- People with autism and their siblings share a similar pattern of reduced activity in an area of the brain associated with empathy, researchers say. The identification of this so-called 'biomarker' for a famil...
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