PLT Test Blog

Michele Zappella was Head of the Department of Child Neuropsychiatry  at Siena   Hospital from 1973 to 2006 Today’s post is the one I mentioned some time ago about odd behavioral reactions to Group A Streptococcus.  It does veer off to Italy and Tourette’s Syndrome and the interesting sounding Dysmaturational Syndrome, which probably accounts for many of those autism “recovery” stories that are used to support some pretty odd therapies. Several readers of this blog have noticed that exposure to Group A Streptococcus causes their child’s autism to worsen.  Quotes range from facial grimacing, to raving like a lunatic. Much has been written about the conditions PANDAS and PANS.  The proposed mechanism behind PANDAS/PANS is highly disputed, with some strong evidence showing it not to be valid. What is clear is that in some people, following a strep infection, they change overnight from completely normal to something quite different.  This is the PANDAS/PANS...

Today’s post was triggered by an intriguing comment left on this blog. As we have seen in previous posts, the single gene causes of “autism” like fragile X and Rett syndrome are themselves on a spectrum, with some people worse affected than others.  Boys almost always being more severely affected than girls. It also appears possible that a partial dysfunction of this same gene/protein may lead to a much milder version of these same syndromes. Rett syndrome is well studied and as we saw in the earlier post about growth factors in autism, one key feature is an almost complete lack of Nerve Growth Factor (NGF).  Reduced levels of NGF are associated with several diseases and also the aging process.  In many cases of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), as seen in dementia in older people, reduced NGF can be the root problem. Rett Syndrome Rett syndrome usually gets grouped as part of autism. Almost all people with Rett syndrome are female; here is why.   Rett syndrome ...