PLT Test Blog

One old post from this blog has been going viral recently (3,000 views in one day, via Facebook) and it is quite relevant to a debate that has been going on in the comments about the potential merits and mechanisms of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT). Two commenters are big fans of HBOT. Hypoperfusion is reduced blood flow, which is found in some people with autism and also in people with some types of dementia   Having reread my old post I would recommend it to those who are looking into the treatment of brain damage caused by ischemia .   Brain Hypoperfusion in Autism & Cocoa While much in neuroscience is extremely complicated, there are some pretty basic things to consider that are not. Adequate blood supply is one of the basic issues and is something that can be improved. You can increase blood flow by reducing vascular resistance, which means reducing the work the heart has to do to circulate blood around the body. As you reduce this resistance, blood pressure will fa...

In this example of Brain Injury, developing oligodendrocytes are injured and killed by substances released from activated microglia , including nitric oxide and superoxide, which form peroxynitrite. Peroxynitrite has been found to kill these cells through the activation of the 12-lipoxygenase pathway for metabolizing arachidonic acid. Mitochondria may be involved in this pathway as a source of reactive oxygen species. Much has been written in this blog about oxidative stress, which has now been extremely well researched in autism and more generally. Let’s recap oxidative stress. The most knowledgeable researcher in this area is Abha Chauhan.   Based on her research and that of others we now know a great deal.   Recall that the body’s key antioxidant is called glutathione (GSH) and when it neutralizes a free radical GSH is converted to its oxidized form, glutathione disulfide (GSSG).   A good measure of oxidative stress is the ratio of  GSH/GSSG. ·    ...

This post is rather out of sequence, but it draws together several different topics that I have been investigating and introduces another chemical often mentioned in autism research, BH4.  The factor that links them all together is something called Endothelial Dysfunction. This blog has already established that oxidative stress and neuroinflammation are the key drivers behind autism.  It has not been clear whether the oxidative stress causes the inflammation, vice versa, or perhaps they are self perpetuating. In my ongoing investigation into the autism comorbidities of asthma and high cholesterol (proxy for cardiovascular disease), I have come across some tantalising fact, such as:- Asthma research shows that cigarette smoking gives you oxidative stress and this continues even after stopping smoking.  The oxidative stress reduces the effectiveness of asthma drugs. Oxidative stress is a key factor in cardiovascular disease. BH4 also known as Tetrahydrobiopterin , THB, trad...

Nela is Monty’s excellent assistant at school, but today, because he is a bit sick, she came to Monty’s house instead.   Nela also has her own theatre school, which she runs in the afternoons.   Monty loves the theatre, and the curtains in particular. Shortly after Nela arrived at our house, she said “Monty is going to see the Magic Flute”. So how did Nela know that Monty is going to the opera (albeit the children’s version)?   Well, Monty told her, of course.   Now this might not sound much to you, but for me that is worthy of a big WOW.   Autistic kids are not big conversationalists at the best of times.   Even stranger, said Nela, was that he was really talkative all morning. Now when his brother Ted is sick, it is about the only time he ever stops talking. Then I said to Nela, actually it’s not strange at all; it is a proven fact that when autistic kids have a temperature they behave more “normal”.  I said that I would write about in my b...