PLT Test Blog

  Light at the end of the tunnel, for some I did recently write about autism drugs that target the GABA B receptor. Western doctors have Baclofen and a few did have experimental use of the more potent version called Arbaclofen, or R-Baclofen.  We saw that Russian doctors have a wider choice. The rights to use Arbaclofen have been acquired by the Simons Foundation , and they intend to restart autism trials in humans. Mouse studies support second chance for fragile X drug     Arbaclofen was found to be effective in some people with Fragile-X and autism, but it failed its clinical trial and the developer, Seaside Therapeutics, went out of business. The Simons Foundation , for those who do not know, is probably the best thing to ever happen to people with autism.  The founder of the foundation is an American multi-billionaire, former fund manager and mathematician.  He has a daughter with autism and decided to do something about it. Having already funded...

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...

Summary of the therapeutic actions of PPARγ in diabetic nephropathy From:  Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors and renal diseases I did write an earlier post about NSAIDs ( Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) like Ibuprofen, which I expected to have no effect on autism.     Cytokines from the Eruption of Permanent Teeth causing Flare-ups in Autism However, to my surprise, I found that certain types of autism “flare-up” do respond very well to Ibuprofen.  Based on the comments I received, it seems that many other people have the same experience. NSAIDs work by inhibiting something called COX-2, but they also inhibit COX-1.  The side effects of NSAIDs come from their unwanted effect on COX-1. NSAIDs are both pain relievers and, in high doses, anti-inflammatory.  Long term use of NSAIDs is not recommended, due to their (COX-1 related) side effects. Observational Study All I can say is that in Monty, aged 11 with ASD, and with his last four...

“Pharmacokinetics” of a typical drug Today’s post is about what should be the optimal anti-oxidant therapy for autism, schizophrenia, COPD and any other disease in which oxidative stress is present.  You will have to be able to swallow pills, to fully benefit. NAC seems to be the most potent, safe, anti-oxidant, the only drawbacks are:- ·         Short half-life ·         Can taste/smell bad In autism, NAC is normally given three times a day, but often it is not practical to give a drug at precise intervals throughout the day. This is a common problem with many drugs and has been solved long ago – with the sustained release pill. If you find that four hours after giving NAC there is an increase in irritability, anxiety or stimming, it may be that oxidative stress has already returned.  It may be that other factors have triggered a higher load of oxidative stress.  The way to be sure is just to give a sm...

Monty, now aged 11 with ASD, has an assistant who comes in the afternoon to run our ABA-inspired home program, let’s call her Stella. Stella is a student training to be a teacher for deaf people, so her knowledge of ABA comes from her time with Monty.  Nobody here uses ABA to teach the deaf. Her latest task was to try and teach 3 eight year old children to count to ten.  The problem being that two of the children are deaf and can only say “yes” and “no” and the third child is deaf, autistic and non-verbal. Using ABA she managed to teach the two deaf children to count out loud to ten and to match objects marked with each number.  Very good and the regular teachers were very impressed. My comment was that it was a pity nobody taught them to say something more useful.  How about “hello”, “my name is Tom” etc. What about the deaf boy with autism?  It turns out, where we live, if you are deaf and have other “complex needs” you do not get a cochlear implant. Cochlear ...