PLT Test Blog

Steroid inhaler (left)  and  B2AR agonist Salbutamol/Ventolin  (right) Here is a perfect example of more sloppy science being applied to autism. The headline reads: Anti-Asthma Drugs Taken During Pregnancy Associated With Autism Risk When really it should read:- Poorly Controlled Asthma Associated With Autism Risk The US study used data from Denmark to suggest that increased use of asthma rescue inhalers by pregnant mothers was associated with increased autism in the child.  This was clearly suggesting that the drug might lead to autism. Drexel ASD Asthma Drug Study The study looked at mothers with asthma who had a repeating prescription for a ß-2-andrenergic receptor (B2AR) agonist drug (the blue rescue inhaler). Children with mothers who filled their B2AR agonist prescriptions from 90 days before the estimated conception date all the way until their birth date were considered to be exposed to the drug. If a prescription was not filled throughout that entire period,...

When it comes to understanding history, it usually pays to dig deep for the facts and then make your own interpretation. This is particularly true when the subject is complex and since most authors naturally have their own bias. Kanner's subject #1, 72 years later So I would not read books like Neurotribes, by Silberman, or In a Different Key (Donvan/ Zucker), just reading comments by Silberman is enough to show his level of knowledge.  The now awarding winning Silberman says that since, after all these years, science has not found a cure for schizophrenia, it should not bother for autism.  That would mean that since no cure has been found for HIV, we should not try and find a cure for the Ebola virus either. Great progress has been made with both viruses. Donvan/Zucker did achieve something useful; they tracked down Kanner’s Subject # 1. This is interesting because you can read, first hand, Kanner’s case report from 1943 and then see how things turned out 73 years later. The ...

I expect many readers of this blog have a list of things to trial in 2016; I certainly do. Monty’s older brother, codenamed Ted, did say to me recently, “I thought you said you’d be all finished with this, in a couple of years”; that was indeed the intention.   A medicine cabinet to be proud of, but not mine It has now been three years.  I never really intended to go so deeply into the science, and I never expected there to be so many “obvious” things un/under-investigated by researchers. Most people diagnosed these days with “autism” are fortunate to be relatively mildly affected.  Parents of those kids likely find this blog rather shocking; how can so many pills be needed and still you want more? Some other people also diagnosed with autism, face really big challenges, not limited to:-          ·         Unable to talk ·         Unable to walk ·     ...