New research: Autism may be caused by immune response during pregnancy, page 2
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reply posted on 19-4-2009 @ 06:37 PM by lpowell0627
OK...I think I am missing something. Can someone clarify this for me please? They studied the blood of women with autistic child(ren) and found there to be antibodies against fetal brain tissue.

Then, they took this SAME blood and injected it into mice and found they bore autistic-like mice babies.

Wouldn't it be more likely that the antibodies developed because the woman's baby was autistic? In other words, the mother's body senses something is "wrong" with the fetus' brain tissue and THEN develops the antibodies to try and "fight" it.

This would explain the issue with one twin born w/ autism and the other not. If the antibodies were there to begin with, they would attack BOTH fetuses. If they were there AFTER there was a "problem", they would only "attack" the fetus with autism. Further, once antibodies are present they don't just disappear. And woman who have one autistic child can have many more without autism...so where did the antibodies go?

Definition:
n. pl. an·ti·bod·ies
A Y-shaped protein on the surface of B cells that is secreted into the blood or lymph in responseto an antigenic stimulus, such as a bacterium, virus, parasite, or transplanted organ, and that neutralizes the antigen by binding specifically to it; an immunoglobulin.

If this article is correct, then wouldn't they have to change the entire definition of antibody???



reply posted on 19-4-2009 @ 07:11 PM by Cyberbian
I believe that some autism is caused by cavitation induced by ultrasounds.

Cavitation is the creation of vacuum bubbles which implode.

Cavitation dissolves the propellers on oil tankers.
Cavitation is the way that ultrasonic cleaners work.

Cavitation is documented to occur within the human body during the use of ultrasounds.

Some autistics have bubble shaped areas of the brain missing, like swiss cheese. It is only this class of autism which I am referring to.

The brain is built on a scaffolding of microscopic hair like bone structures. If this scaffolding collapesed due to cavitation, then the brain cells could not fill those voids.

Has anyone done a correlation study between the use of ultrasound and autism?

Probably not, there would be a lot of money pusing in the wrong direction for against that study. The industry would not like that line of reasoning, in the same way that chest xrays cause cancer and the probability of cancer goes up dramatically with each xray, but they are still done routinely.

The difference is that the Xray Cancer relationship is well understood, just ignored because the diagnostic tool is so profitable and useful.

I think the point about cause and effect, where the antibodies may be a respone to the initial problem is interesting. Surely the antibodies are targeted, that is how they work. So what are they targeting on?

Not the mothers brain cells, not the other twin's brain cells. However I find it hard to believe the body would attack only the brain of the baby if this were a natural response to cause miscarriage.

It seems reasonable that there is something unique about the one foetus which causes a negative response. What is the something different? What caused that?


[edit on 19-4-2009 by Cyberbian]


reply posted on 19-4-2009 @ 07:30 PM by DarrylGalasso
Originally posted by lpowell0627
OK...I think I am missing something. Can someone clarify this for me please? They studied the blood of women with autistic child(ren) and found there to be antibodies against fetal brain tissue.

Then, they took this SAME blood and injected it into mice and found they bore autistic-like mice babies.

Wouldn't it be more likely that the antibodies developed because the woman's baby was autistic? In other words, the mother's body senses something is "wrong" with the fetus' brain tissue and THEN develops the antibodies to try and "fight" it.

This would explain the issue with one twin born w/ autism and the other not. If the antibodies were there to begin with, they would attack BOTH fetuses. If they were there AFTER there was a "problem", they would only "attack" the fetus with autism. Further, once antibodies are present they don't just disappear. And woman who have one autistic child can have many more without autism...so where did the antibodies go?

Definition:
n. pl. an·ti·bod·ies
A Y-shaped protein on the surface of B cells that is secreted into the blood or lymph in responseto an antigenic stimulus, such as a bacterium, virus, parasite, or transplanted organ, and that neutralizes the antigen by binding specifically to it; an immunoglobulin.

If this article is correct, then wouldn't they have to change the entire definition of antibody???


There could be a few explanations to what your saying. I will try to offer one. We are dealing with more than just the body's immune system here. One must always consider the power of the brain and its mission. The human brain is nothing more than a problem solver, it works for the conscious and sub-conscious mind. I will try to explain this; The subconscious mind says "hey my fingers are cold" the brain then tells the heart to increase rate and blood flow; problem/solution. You are thinking about your father, a visual image from memory is provided; problem/solution. This also works within the body only these are controlled by the involuntary functions of the brain. An example of this is, the body is weak and detects a foreign substance (transplant, virus, bacteria) and it produces the antibodies that it thinks will defend against the intruder, this is done through a record kept within the cell structures of previous events. Kind of like the police looking for known accomplices. Unfortunately the body's system is not effective against every intruder and this may be one of those cases. If this woman's body is producing these antibodies and it is not affecting her own brain, that would indicate that the antibody is doing exactly what it is suppose to do and that is attack the intruder. What needs to be determined is if the body is making these antibodies because it knows there is something wrong with the fetus, or if it is making them because it sees the fetus as an intruder like with a transplant rejection.

This to me seems like the body following a normal protocol. What I am taking out of this that the article doesn't really talk about is this. They seem to think they have found a discrepancy, which they appear to believe that they can find a way to reverse. I think that perhaps the brain was given information that the fetus was faulty and was producing the appropriate antibodies to try to attack it


reply posted on 20-4-2009 @ 12:45 AM by Byrd
Originally posted by WyrdeOne
That is a great find!

Treatment should be easy enough, but I'm really curious as to the cause. What would cause the immune system of a pregnant woman to identify fetal brain tissue as an attacking pathogen?


A number of things could cause it. We assume that the mother's body treats the fetus as a welcome addition, but there are some of us (that would be me) who get morning sickness within a week or two of getting pregnant (which is how I knew) and stayed that way for most of the pregnancy.

So... some of us have bodies that are not well adapted to pregnancy.

On top of that, repeated exposure to something can create allergies. I have very few allergies (for example) but after a lifetime of laundry I've developed an allergy to laundry soaps.

Why would more women nowadays respond in this way?

I suspect it's because more babies survive nowadays. In the past, autistic children were often institutionalized and certainly almost never found spouses. Someone with Aspergers would have a very difficult time finding a partner.

But with modern treatment and educational mainstreaming and better medicine, a lot of these marginal cases which may have the genetic tendency survive to go on and live wonderful lives... and have children.

I mean, it's got to be something environmental, right? Some change in diet or the presence of a toxin that wasn't ubiquitous in years past?

Food for thought...


I wouldn't rule out environmental causes, myself, but neither would I finger them as a primary cause. This happens in vitro and during the time when the brain "wiring" is set up.


reply posted on 20-4-2009 @ 02:59 AM by carole9999
reply to post by Byrd


Speaking as the parent of a 30 year old autistic person (who still lives with me), I've never stopped looking for the cause. I was a single parent for many years with two children, and I know firsthand what the parents go through. I am interested in any logical answer to stop the massive increase of autism. When it 'happens' (noticed close to the age of two or a little after) it is the same as watching your child die in front of you, as they go to a place that you can never reach. The buried pain we carry though suppressed by necessity is there within us for as long as we live. I have written much about this using my true name on a popular website. You reach the point at which you realize it can't be 'fixed', and so your desire then turns to hoping they'll achieve a point of happiness in their lives and facilitating it however possible. It is a very difficult road. Anything that could prevent this road being traveled by other's is of great importance to me, as they all have great empathy from me....
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