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MrLoony
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09 Jan 2011, 6:11 pm

I was doing some research and ended up thinking about autistic traits. The research I was doing linked low levels of adrenaline in animals to a number of traits that I thought were somewhat similar to some common traits (not diagnostic criteria, since that's generally impossible to test) of autism.

I had a thought that autism could be related to low levels of adrenaline. Does anyone here know their adrenaline levels?


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against_the_clock
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09 Jan 2011, 6:24 pm

Is this something that would show up in the standard blood tests they do at doctor's offices? I'm talking about the tests for cholesterol and thyroid levels and such. I've never had anything abnormal in those tests, although I have had high blood pressure (which I don't know whether that could be related to adrenaline or not).



MrLoony
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09 Jan 2011, 6:34 pm

Adrenaline test information


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vetwithAS
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09 Jan 2011, 7:27 pm

Speaking from my time in Iraq, my adrenal glands seemed to work normally in comparison to those around me. I suspect they were all NTs. And it seems to work fine now; I notice the adrenaline gets flowing on the road if I take a curve fast or have a close call with another vehicle. That being said, I have no clue if my results are typical of others with AS/autism.

Not sure if it's more Aspie or NT of me but I do enjoy a good adrenaline rush.



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09 Jan 2011, 7:37 pm

That would be interesting... although I think my adrenaline levels spike when I'm even slightly stressed :?


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Kon
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09 Jan 2011, 10:13 pm

MrLoony wrote:
I had a thought that autism could be related to low levels of adrenaline. Does anyone here know their adrenaline levels?


I would have thought the opposite. At least for my symptoms. Given my anxiety, hypersensitivities, etc. I kinda feel like my adrenaline system tends to over-respond to everything. Like I was made for picking up danger/threat. I think eons ago I could have been a good tracker/hunter. But in today's information overloaded society my system gets overwhelmed.



MrLoony
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09 Jan 2011, 11:09 pm

Kon wrote:
MrLoony wrote:
I had a thought that autism could be related to low levels of adrenaline. Does anyone here know their adrenaline levels?


I would have thought the opposite. At least for my symptoms. Given my anxiety, hypersensitivities, etc. I kinda feel like my adrenaline system tends to over-respond to everything. Like I was made for picking up danger/threat. I think eons ago I could have been a good tracker/hunter. But in today's information overloaded society my system gets overwhelmed.


Well, that may be because of unusual levels of adrenaline during those times. For example, someone might get used to, say, 10 whatever units adrenaline and then 1 more is just a 10% increase. But if you've got 3 of the same units, then 1 more is a 33.3% increase, and so affects you even more.

In animals, who react to the level, rather than the percent change, this would be different. However, humans conform their behavior to societal norms. As such, higher amounts of a particular hormone will cause milder differences in behavior than in the wild. The differences are still THERE, just not as much.


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