PLT Test Blog

  Very often the simplest solutions are the best and very often, when fault finding a problem, people overlook the obvious.   I seem to be forever having to mend things and I find this all the time. Back in 2013, when I knew much less about autism, I wrote about the experimental use of insulin like growth factor 1 ( IGF-1 ) in autism.   It’s a Small World – IGF-1 and NNZ-2566 in Autism It turned out that in autism the many different growth factors can be disturbed (too much, or too little) and this variation does indeed define some specific types of autism.  For example in Rett Syndrome there are very low levels of Nerve Growth Factor (NGF); low levels of NGF in some older people is the cause of their dementia.  In more common types of autism NGF is actually elevated. IGF-1 is very well studied.   IGF-1 is a primary mediator of the effects of   growth hormone   (GH).  Growth hormone is made in th e   anterior pituitary   ...

Seth Bittker, a regular reader of this blog and our occasional guest blogger, is creating an excellent interview series with leading autism researchers. These interviews will be of interest to all readers of this blog.  There is something for everyone, whether you are the type that reads the literature in detail, or is more interested in the lay summary. There are three interviews, all with podcasts, and more will be added later. 1)     Dr. Richard Frye on folate receptor alpha antibodies and folinic supplementation in autism .  2)    Dr. Robert Hendrenon his recent double blind placebo controlled trial of methyl-B12 in autism .    3)    Dr. Derrick Lonsdale on thiamine deficiency and supplementation of thiamine derivatives in autism .      Good work Seth!  I am sure he will be interested in your suggestions for future interview candidates.  By the way, in the third interview, Dr Lonsdale ref...

This week at school is a talent show and Monty, aged 12 with ASD, has signed up to play the piano. Last month was a poetry evening in the senior school, where the older pupils recited poetry in a wide variety of European languages.  Monty did attend to support his big brother and did not do anything to embarrass him. I think the talent show is more for the juniors, even though it is open to the seniors. Nine years ago when Monty got his diagnosis, we were given some rather eclectic tips, including he might develop epilepsy and not to expect him to participate in school events.  I always thought the latter was an odd thing to say at the end of your autism assessment, however true it might be. Nonetheless we have endeavoured to overcome the odds and make sure he does participate in school events.  Monty is the only one with autism in the junior school, while in the senior school there is one with Asperger’s, who proudly recited his poem the other evening.  The school i...

  China, where things tend to be big, even their clinical trials A short while ago we looked at the possible mechanisms behind a reader’s successful experience in use of Mirtazapine (Remeron) in autism, then being prescribed to increase appetite. Mirtazapine is a tricyclic antidepressant, meaning it is very closely related to first generation antihistamines, but it has numerous other effects;  more of that later. Folate is vitamin B9.  Folic acid is synthetically produced, and used in   fortified foods   and   supplements   on the theory that it is converted into folate, which may not be the case. It appears that in both schizophrenia and autism there is a family of possible folate dysfunctions that range from minor to severe.  The mild dysfunction responds to a small supplement of folate, while the severe dysfunction requires a much larger supplement of folate. Roger, another reader of this blog has the more severe dysfunction called Cerebral Fol...