PLT Test Blog

  It is easy to get things the wrong way round. This applies to science and to some people getting dressed   Today’s post was prompted by a reader updating me about Roche’s autism drug RO7017773, which targets the alpha 5 sub-unit of GABA A receptors, encoded by the gene GABRA5. Enrollment opens in phase II study of RO-7017773 for autism spectrum disorder A 12-Week Placebo-Controlled Study to Investigate the Efficacy, Safety, and Tolerability of RO7017773 in Participants Aged 15-45 Years With Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)   Some people with severe autism, or just plain old ID/MR, which has gone out of fashion as a diagnosis these days, struggle to dress themselves because they do not notice what is inside out, or back to front.   I recall reading a few years ago about one autism parent who started a clothing company to get round this problem.   ADAPTIVE CLOTHING with no front/back and reversible so cannot be inside out.   I must say that writing...

  Repurposing what already exists – cheap, safe, effective and sometimes colourful Today’s post is nice and simple. Yet another sub-type of autism is shown in a clinical trial to respond to the cheap drug bumetanide, this time it is children diagnosed with TSC ( tuberous sclerosis complex); TSC is a leading genetic cause of autism often used in research. In France researchers repurposed Folinoral, a lower dose equivalent of Dr Frye’s, and our reader Roger’s, Leucovorin to treat autism with a positive result.  Folinoral is Calcium Folinate, but the dose was just 5mg twice a day, much less than the dose used in the US research. The potential off-label uses for Verapamil, the old calcium channel blocker helpful in some autism, continue to grow. Original purpose:   Lower blood pressure by blocking L-type calcium channels Alternative uses: ·         Treating bipolar disorder ·         Treating cluster h...