krex wrote:
My boyfriend has MS and there is also a theory that an individual can have MS but it doesnt cause difficulties UNTIL it is "activated" by some external virus type action.MS can also has cogntive issues,some overlapping As traits.I have read a little about the theory that there is a "autoimmune" connection to autism.Perhaps there is a connection?
Now I remember ... I read about the autoimmune connection a while ago, but I'd forgotten all about it. For some reason, I didn't think of it when reading the article about the viral connection, so the viral connection seemed like a new idea.
I did a google search for "autism germ" and there's not much to see, but it looks like there's plenty out there on the autoimmune connection.
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Antibodies found in the blood of autistic children suggest that at least SOME cases of autism are caused by a misguided immune response, triggered by exposure to a virus, researchers in the University of Michigan's College of Pharmacy report. The researchers found that autistic children who had been exposed to certain viruses in the past showed unusually high levels of antibodies to brain proteins, suggesting an autoimmune response.
No single cause of autism has been found and researchers believe that genes and environmental factors (such as viruses or chemicals) both may contribute. The kinds of brain abnormalities found in people with autism suggest that the disorder arises when something disrupts normal brain development. One possibility is that early exposure to a virus prods the body into mounting an immune response that somehow goes awry. In addition to producing antibodies against the virus, the body makes antibodies against itself, resulting in damage to tissues and organs.
This autoimmune response is what happens in autoimmune diseases such as lupus and some researchers think a similar response may account for the brain abnormalities found in people with autism.
http://www.mercola.com/1998/archive/autism.htm
20 Nov 2006, 12:56 am
