Comments on: CNTNAP2

By: Louisa

Louisa — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 21:58:44 +0000

Our son had the worst skin, severe cracked cheeks & skin rashes, while I was breast feeding. His rashes dissapeared within a couple of days when he was weaned. Now I have found out that I am intolerant to gluten. I asked the GP if what I was eating was upsetting his tummy. Hmm.
I think GP s should take parents concerns more seriously & start putting two & two together.

By: CNTNAP2, an Autism Susceptibility Gene

CNTNAP2, an Autism Susceptibility Gene — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 06:28:18 +0000

[...] speech delay makes me particular interested in one of the articles about CNTNAP2 published in the January 10th American Journal of Human Genetics. The article is by Maricela [...]

By: Cliff

Cliff — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 23:20:28 +0000

I got your irony, Emily, right away, but perhaps because I’ve seen a few of your posts here.

Anyway, I’ve wondered about the genetic issues with the stomach things as well, and been thinking about the disposition thereof. It does seem that some autistics do have those issues (and I am not one of them), but the source isn’t clear at all to me.

Cliff

By: Norah

Norah — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 22:46:43 +0000

Our family has lots of allergies too, but they come from the mostly non-autistic father’s side. The autism comes from mother’s side mostly, and all they have running in the family there is asthma (which none of us in our direct family have).

By: Kristina Chew, PhD

Kristina Chew, PhD — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 21:45:37 +0000

Looking some things up—–one of Charlie’s aunts has celiac disease and lots allergies (hayfever, peanuts) on that side of the family too.

By: Emily

Emily — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 21:28:44 +0000

I was being ironic about the intestinal thing.

My oldest son suffered from constipation, but we attributed it–correctly, I think–to anxiety, and we “cured” it with regular doses of flaxseed oil.

None of our children appear to have food intolerances, allergies, or immune issues. We don’t have food intolerances or allergies, either.

Which makes me wonder: has anyone looked at this in the family context, i.e., where GI issues are suspected, what’s happening with the parents’ intolerances, allergies, or immune problems, if any? Anyone know of any studies?

By: Leila

Leila — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 20:44:15 +0000

Beth, my son doesn’t have GI issues either. However I believe there’s a subset of autistic people who may have serious food intolerances, allergies and immune issues and this may be connected to brain function. Apparently there are different autism phenotypes, and they need to be mapped so their specific weaknesses can be addressed.

By: Beth

Beth — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 20:35:09 +0000

The intestinal connection is still a matter of debate. Many children do not have any GI issues (my son included) and many do not benefit from diet changes. There is much more evidence so far to support a genetic relationship than an intestinal one.

By: Leila

Leila — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 19:08:38 +0000

This one part of the article should be emphasized to the “anti-genetic studies” camp:

“It is reasonable to assume that individual environmental exposures act differently on each genetic subclass of the disorder”, and that’s precisely why you cannot pursue the environmental studies only without having the genetic component figured out first.

By: Emily

Emily — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 18:06:43 +0000

O’, but why o’ why do we continue to pursue these genetics studies when they are completely worthless and we ought to be testing on children’s intestines instead?

The genetics picture groweth. Things are getting interesting.