PLT Test Blog

This week I received a message: - “Your Bumetanide treatment is on trial among 25 teenagers here and parents are loving it” My reply, brief as usual (unlike my blog posts) “Great!” I did not mention that in the first phase of the trial 50% of the teenagers are going to be on the placebo.   It is Dr Ben-Ari’s treatment. A clinician told me that all the parents of children, to whom she has prescribed bumetanide, think their children are responders and is wondering how to deal with the parental placebo effect. I had another clinician telling me, “I guess from your experience with the blog, most people are not responders to Bumetanide”.   Then came an analysis of the recent tiny study in China that showed on average there was a measurable improvement on the CARS scale (Childhood Autism Rating Scale), but the question arose was “is this response large enough for parents to notice?” Memantine (Namenda) A few years ago, Memantine was also trialled at the University Hospital where we...

You might be thinking this post is going to be about how the whole family have symptoms of autism, or the cases when siblings without autism, have facial or other features that are associated with autism; it is not.   If you prefer that subject, follow the link below. Siblings of autistic children may have distinct facial features This week I learnt a new term from Monty’s 1:1 school assistant, for when the family unit of a child with autism becomes dysfunctional and everyone is negatively affected.   Those in the autism business call them “Autism Families”. Monty’s family, she went on tell me, is not an Autism Family (I guess we are a Family with Autism); “you have protected them” and Monty’s brother (his only sibling) is totally normal. We had been discussing how NT siblings can suffer and become maladapted themselves, due to the situation they live in at home.   The rules at home can change; the rules for bringing friends home can change, the rules for going out change...

Today’s post is about both drinking too much water and drinking too little water. Polydipsia (drinking too much water) is a known cause of death in autism and schizophrenia.  A big part of the reason we talk about autism being a spectrum, is the pioneering work of an English Psychiatrist called Dr Lorna Wing.  Wing outlived her daughter with severe autism, because her daughter Susie developed Polydipsia around the menopause and this caused the sodium level in her blood to fall to the point where her heart stopped beating and she died.  Even though Mum was a (retired) doctor, the condition was not resolved; but Susie’s death should have been avoidable.  Polydipsia is treatable and people should not be dying from it. Hypodipsia (drinking too little water) can occur in older people, who are neglected in care homes and for a wide range of other reasons.  People with autism treated by the diuretic Bumetanide are at risk of Hypodipsia and indeed this accounts for some...