PLT Test Blog

Today’s post is another one filling in some gaps in this blog. I think it is common sense to say that preventing a problem from developing is much wiser than trying to solve it later on.  This is a recurring issue in both life and medicine. In the research we now see preventative measures developed to reduce the risk of cancer, we also see how some interventions are only effective when started very early. In the case of autism we have seen than often it is caused by a myriad of factors that by themselves might have been harmless but when taken together are the multiples hits that caused the brain to develop differently. Much research looks individually at these factors that increase the risk of autism.  In the wider media much disdain is directed to these findings as if each factor is THE cause of autism and how can so many things cause autism.  But by understanding these factors you can then set about countering them. I did create my simplified schematic to explain class...

When I first connected histamine to autism, I did not realize that this might be a common problem.   The most frequently viewed post on this blog is one on histamine and autism; so at least 10,000 people out there have googled “autism and histamine”. Two years later, the therapy is still evolving and it should be said that, what works best for one person may not help in another person.  The main point is that in some people with autism, they face a summertime regression due to the effect of allergy.  So bad behaviours and aggression increase and good behaviours and indeed cognitive function decrease.  This appears to be the result of histamine and a pro-inflammatory cytokine called IL-6. For the 2015 pollen season, which started early where we live, this is what we are using:- Azelastine nasal spray, this is an H1 antihistamine that is also inhibits mast cells from “degranulating” and emptying their load of pro-inflammatory substances.  Once a day. Quercetin i...

I wrote earlier posts about the role of histamine in summertime autism flare-ups.   I ended up using a combination of a regular antihistamine like Claritin with Ketotifen, which though also an antihistamine, is a partial mast cell stabilizer .   I recently found a very useful table which shows different regimens that can be used for just this problem:-   The table is from a paper, again by Dr Theoharides, called:   Autism: an emerging ‘neuroimmune disorder’ in search   of therapy Rupatadine is a safe and cheap antihistamine mainly sold in Europe.   The science appears to show that it is more effective at stabilizing the mast cells involved in allergies than Ketotifen . The problem I found with Ketotifen is that it has very little immediate effect, unlike Claritin, so I ended up using both.   By the looks of things, Rupatadine may indeed do the job of both. The table also mentions Periactin , which is an old first generati...

As I discussed in an earlier post, autism flare-ups occur regularly in the lives of many autistic children.   The cause might be a pollen allergy, food allergy or indeed an illness that does not cause a fever. That last part might sound odd, but fever actually reduces autistic behaviours.   This has been noted and documented by many, but never conclusively explained.   Lots of parents have noticed and one even created a blog about it , but they have not explained it. To investigate the fever effect, you first need to understand thermoregulation, the process by which the body sets and maintains its temperature and the role played by of the HPA axis ( hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis ).   The simplified explanation is that the body initiates a fever as part of its defence mechanism to the threat that has been detected, like an infection of some kind.   Certain hormones are released so as to raise and then maintain a steady higher temperature; they include TR...