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Autism: Scientists take 'first steps' towards biological test
Scientists have taken the first steps towards what they say could become a new blood and urine test for autism. Their study tested children with and without the condition and found higher levels of protein damage in those with the disorder.
The researchers said the tests could lead ultimately to the earlier detection of the condition, which can be difficult to diagnose. But experts expressed caution, saying such a test was still a long way off.
[...] For this new study, published in the Molecular Autism journal, researchers looked for chemical differences in the blood and urine of 38 autistic children and 31 children without the condition, all aged between five and 12. In those with autism they found higher levels of protein damage - particularly in the blood plasma - which they said were associated with ill health.
Dr Naila Rabbani, from the University of Warwick, who led the study, told the BBC the tests could ultimately be used by doctors to diagnose autism earlier in childhood by detecting these markers.
Advanced glycation endproducts, dityrosine and arginine transporter dysfunction in autism - a source of biomarkers for clinical diagnosis (open, DOI: 10.1186/s13229-017-0183-3) (DX)
(Score: 4, Informative) by takyon on Tuesday February 20 2018, @03:59AM (6 children)
Easier said than done, right? Billions have been spent and all we got are these lousy anti-vaxers.
If any sort of effective intervention is possible, even if it isn't a cure, it needs to be done as early as possible. Which is why a test like this could come in handy. Although maybe we are just going to eventually march into mandatory full genome screening of every baby born in the U.S. once it becomes cheap enough. Done right, and it could save billions of dollars by informing preventative care. Or it could just become the worst privacy risk ever.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/sep/03/weve-spent-1bn-on-autism-research-but-the-tangible-benefits-are-elusive [theguardian.com]
https://www.vox.com/2016/4/21/11464144/autism-funding-services-biology [vox.com]
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(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 20 2018, @06:31AM (1 child)
Preventative care? What's that, precious? Some sort of contraceptive?
Nope, won't fly. The publicly-funded health care will be defunded too.. in the name of liberty, you see?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 20 2018, @08:43AM
It's like preventative maintenance.
You know, reassigning the backup device to /dev/null and then powercycling the RAID about 25 times in quick succession.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday February 20 2018, @01:58PM (2 children)
Which is why I'm making fun of it... 5-12 is not early Dx.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday February 20 2018, @02:44PM (1 child)
they should confirm it works before they start drawing blood from 1 year olds xd
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday February 20 2018, @02:53PM
F- yeah they should, just like they should have been more careful rolling out HepC vaccines to newborns within an hour of birth, etc. etc. etc.
OTOH, 69 test subjects is basically nothing, and blood draws from a 1 year old are not unusual for other reasons.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 20 2018, @06:34PM
yeah, except all you have to do is not shoot your baby up with a bunch of fucking shots(or the mother: pitocin, etc.) like a dutiful slave and your kid probably won't have autism. i feel sorry for the people who never heard about concerns over vaccine safety, etc. but not suck-asses who do it to their own kids anyways because they're so modern and learned. Be sure and get your baby their slave number while you're at the state's baby damaging operation.