The Clinical Picture of Autism - Essay Example

?Running head: Causes of Autism Causes of Autism Institute’s Causes of Autism Autism, also referred to as complex developmental disability, is a psychological condition marked by the nervous system disorder. It involves abnormal preoccupation with oneself and characterized by the communication disorders, inability to pay attention and to treat others as people. To be able to successfully diagnose the condition psychiatrist say that it is necessary for the symptoms to be evident before the age of three. Autism prevents the brain from functioning in a normal way and to its actual capacity due to this neurologic disorder, which eventually hinders the growth of a person’s mutual and reciprocal interacting and communicating skills. Early diagnosis of autism is very important to adjust the methods of child rearing and to facilitate their social adaptation. It is believed that autism is not a mental illness, but a developmental disorder. It is thought that it cannot be cured completely, but therapy at an early stage will help the child overcome some limitations. Dustin Hoffman's character in Rain Man has little to do with the lives of people with autism. They usually attract attention to their unusual behavior. Our brain reacts to the stimuli and processes information through the biological process of connecting, pairing and organizing the neurons. These neurons have thread extensions through which electrical discharge travels. Neurons thus conduct these electrical impulses. Autism changes how these nerve cells function, though it is not quite known how this occurs. Since their brain cannot function properly, people affected with autism have problems in their daily life tasks including problems in interacting socially, communicating non-verbally and other activities that involve give-and-take, humor and adroitness. The clinical picture of autism: a number of psychomotor, speech and behavioral disorders, with different combinations of symptoms and signs of developmental delay. Early childhood autism can be detected at as early an age as three years. Such children are weak and have poor facial expressions. They are not capable of non-verbal interactions with their mother or other people – they do not look in your eyes, do not respond to their own name, do not take toys when someone gives them. You may have to line up their pencils before they can pay attention, or say the same phrase over and over to calm down. They may flap their arms to indicate they are happy, or hurting to show that they are not. Some people with autism never learn to speak. Most of the autistic children carry out repetitive movements for instance they rock and twirl, or they abuse their own selves by biting and head banging. Such children start talking after the normal ones and rather than calling themselves by I or me they take their name. Autistic children are not able to play with others like normal ones and some even talk in sing-song voice. They do not care for what the other person thinks or is interested in and they themselves have few favorite topics. Autistic children appear to be having an increased risk of having particular comorbid conditions, which includes fragile X syndrome (that leads to mental retardation), tuberous sclerosis (wherein tumors develop in the brain), epileptic seizures, Tourette syndrome, learning disorders and deficit disorder attention. Almost 20-30% of autistic children also develop epilepsy by the time they become adults. Although there are certain schizophrenic people who might also exhibit behavior of autism, their symptoms normally are not visible till almost adulthood is reached. A lot of schizophrenic people may also be having hallucinations and delusions that is not a sign of autism. As the child grows, the symptoms of autism increase. He falls into the strong disorder due to the change in the familiar environment, loud noises, bright lights or strong odors. Worst of all, the child feels alone and avoids any physical contact with parents and peers. Emotional reciprocity and empathy are missing. This child is not expressive; he talks abruptly and his vocabulary is not large. The patient can perform long repetitive motions or repeated actions on the part similar to the rituals. Lack of interest in the world can lead to the closure of developmental delay. The more pronounced signs of autism are detected in a child, the more difficult it is to communicate with him and teach him the simplest speaking skills. However, despite the difficulties in the acquisition of social skills and communication, children with autism often have a high level of intelligence, learn well and have a unique talent for drawing, music, and mathematics. Autism affects boys more frequently than girls (3 or 4 to one, according to the Ministry of Health). That is why we suspect a genetic or hormonal. One hypothesis is also advanced: a "masculinization" of the brain, linked to an action of testosterone and the Y chromosome. Under this assumption, these actions would inhibit the potential of communication (speech and visual exchanges) which would result in a lock in his world of autism. According to researchers, the harmful action of hormones may be activated at the fetal stage (when they are secreted by the mother) or later during the development of the child. If this hypothesis is confirmed, it would be possible to detect an excess of male hormones during pregnancy or to treat the child. Another hypothesis about the origins of autism accounts for a metal: mercury. Indeed, it is known to cause neurological problems at high doses. But could exposure to lower doses in children cause problems such as autism? The main culprit is a preservative used in many vaccines, thimerosal. It contains mercury and gold, which was used in the manufacture of vaccines against diphtheria, tetanus and hepatitis B. This compound was removed from the composition of most vaccines. But although it seems to have been cleared, according to a Danish study, the number of new cases of autism has not decreased since the withdrawal of the preservative. Autism can be transferred genetically i.e. inherited from one person to another as in family members. Twins who have a high degree of identicalness and blood relations especially siblings are exposed to the risk. More and more research is being done and a lot of genes are being tested since the genetic details have the characteristics of being homogeneous and hereditary. Autism also causes disturbance in normal functioning of bodily organs and is linked with many health conditions. There are some changes that occur within the brain of a child only during the first trimester of pregnancy, such changes have been reported in brains of children affected with autism. Furthermore, children treated with autism diagnosis at later stages in their lives had changes in their blood caused by inflammation at the time of their birth. These can be taken as early indications or possibilities of the existence of condition. Other medical conditions include the high risk of epilepsy (which is also a brain disease that causes loss of consciousness and convulsions), and some researchers have identified an increased head size, although this hasn’t been confirmed by all the studies. Other studies have indicated myelin (which is a white fatty substance that forms a protective covering around some nerve fibers) irregularity and irregularities in the early development of an embryo (Taylor, 2006). The causes of autism are not well known and haven’t been well established. Vaccines given to a child immediately after the birth have often been accused as the actual causes of autism. These immunogens are supposed to cause dysfunction of the system while attempting to stimulate the production of antibodies. However this is contrary to the strong evidence of antenatal irregularities. During the last few years many studies have describes the etiologies of autism. Some of these potential causes include: autism inherited in a parental manner, disease transferred through yeast, nutrition and food, physical injury to the brain and PST deficiency (Maino, Viola, & Donati, 2009). Besides these causes, many other causes are also suggested which include: aphasia (i.e. the inability to speak & understand the language), constitutional exposure, shortfalls in the nervous system and changes in the neural arteries and cerebellar structure. Apart from these causes, environmental agents like vaccines, infectious agent like viruses, genetics, and seizures have been described as the potential causes of autism. This document discusses a few of these most common causes in detail. Parentally Induced Autism: One of the most former suggestions about the causes of autism was genetic inheritance of autism from parent to child. Firstly it was believed that parents, mothers in particular, induce the signs of disorder in their children. However, further research into this potential cause of disease depicted that it’s not necessary for a parent to be pathogenic and able to cause disease, because autistic children are seen to have been born of parents who have characteristics of autistic parent as well as those who doesn’t. Siblings of autistic children are also observed to be perfectly normal. In addition to this, prenatal abnormalities have also been observed in children affected with autism, and hence this rejects the theory of parentally induced autism. Infections through yeast, nutrition and food: Various studies and writers have shown that yeast infections and nutrition and digestion related problems could cause autism. However no solid evidence of the said fact and therefore it is considered unlikely that these could be the possible causes for autism. Most research suggests no concrete food/yeast/diet associative causative factors (Cornish, 2002). Epilepsy & Seizures: Various studies have linked epilepsy and seizures with the prevailing psychiatric disorder. The most notable study among these indicated greater than the normal rates of epilepsy due to autism (Millward, Ferriter, Calver, & Connell-Jones, 2008). The magnitude may however vary depending on the population tested from 5% to 45%. This study also found that the rate in case of idiopathic epilepsy was statistically above the risk. And hence autism can be associated with the increased risk of epilepsy. There is an argument among the scientists in this area and no one knows for sure what may be the possible trigger. However, the most significant difference between those affected with ASD plus epilepsy and those affected only with ASD is widely recognized and several distinctions have been made in this area. PST Deficiency: PST is short for Phenolsulphertransferase which is very important in removing toxins and other poisonous substances that are produced during the metabolism and from the body. An assertion is made that the deficiency occurs from the provision of sulfate ions in insufficient quantities. It was also mentioned that “the inability to effectively metabolize certain compounds particularly phenolic amines, toxic for the CNS, could exacerbate the wide spectrum of autistic behavior” (Maino, Viola, & Donati, 2009). Brain Lesion and Injury: It has been stated that the autism disorder may be caused by the injury to cerebral cortex which is the grey matter or the layer of unmyelinated neurons forming the cortex of the cerebrum (front portion of the brain that consists of two hemispheres). This is because the brain at initial stages of life is more prone to injury than a full formulated adult brain. Also, the inconsistent behavior relating to sight linked with the autism disease may be explained by the disorders associated with amygdala. The improper functioning and connectivity of neurons may also contribute their part here. Besides this there may be abnormal sizes of hippocampus, amygdala, and corpus callosum. This can also be linked with the possible causes. Reticular Activating System (RAS): RAS may not function properly in autism. The instincts of motivation and stimulation in human beings is handled by the Reticular Activating System, and as autism can easily affect the stimulation and arousal activities, a relation between these two can be formed. However the accurate relationship is not well known. Along with the possible etiologies of autism discussed above, there are two more potential causes that have attracted scientists as well as media’s and general public’s attention. These include vaccines & genetics and are discussed as follows: Vaccines: Various cases have been noted where the indications of autism have been found for the first time in children soon after receiving the vaccine doses. One of the most notable postulates is that of Wakefield who concluded that measlesmumpsrubella (MMR) vaccine may inflammate intestines which eventually transfers impermeable peptides to the flow of blood and hence to the brain (Maino, Viola, & Donati, 2009). This leads to affected mental capacity and hinders growth of children. Genetics: What part does the genetics play in inducing autism in a child is the most asked question in the media these days. Scientific studies have shown that in case of two identical twins where one child is affected with autism, the possibility of other being affected is about 82% (Maino, Viola, & Donati, 2009). In case of biovular twins there is only a 10% chance of the other twin being affected with autism. Researchers have found that a lot of behavioral constitution of autism is related to the inherited genes. Another study of the data obtained from ordering of the genes showed interaction of ten different genes in the etiology of autism (Muhle, Trentacoste, & Rapin, 2004). Other than these studies, there are some other analyses that show that the chance that a sibling of an autistic child will also be affected with autism is about two to eight percent. Effective methods of medical treatment of children of autism do not exist yet. The main method of influence on the course and depth of autism is considered special education under the individual program. The earlier the diagnosis, and will begin rehabilitation, the more likely not to let the disease consume the mind of the child. Parents of autistic children are faced with an incredibly difficult task - as to adapt them to life and to interact with the environment. Correction requires a lot of effort and patience, because the child is not interested in leaving the enclosed space. Doctors may prescribe medications to treat specific symptoms associated with ASD, such as anxiety, depression, or obsessive-compulsive disorder. Antipsychotic drugs used to treat severe behavioral problems. Seizures can be treated with one or more anticonvulsants. Medications used to treat people with disorder attention deficit can be used effectively to help decrease impulsivity and hyperactivity. To facilitate the development of motor skills and eliminate alienation and fear in children with autism has been successfully applied animaloterapiya (specially trained dogs, horses and dolphins). Recent studies show that the method has several dolphin exceptional advantages in the treatment of children with autism. Parents should encourage their autistic children to develop those skills that make use of their strengths, so they feel good about themselves. The psychiatrist, in addition to treating the child, the family can help deal with stress, for example, can help siblings who feel ignored by the care required by the autistic child, or who feel embarrassed if they bring their friends to the house. The child and adolescent psychiatrist can help parents resolve the emotional issues that arise as a result of living with an autistic child and guide them so they can create a favorable environment for development and education of the child. References Cornish, E. (2002, August). Gluten and casein free diets in autism: a study of the effects on food choice and nutrition. J Hum Nutr Diet, 15(4), 261-9. Maino, D. M., Viola, S. G., & Donati, R. (2009). The Etiology of Autism. Optometry & Vision Development, 40(3), 150-156. Millward, C., Ferriter, M., Calver, S., & Connell-Jones, G. (2008, April). Gluten- and casein-free diets for autistic spectrum disorder. Cochrane Database Syst Rev, 16(2), CD003498. Muhle, R., Trentacoste, S., & Rapin, I. (2004, May). The genetics of autism. Pediatrics, 113(5), 472-86. Taylor, B. (2006). Vaccines and the changing epidemiology of autism. Child: Care, Health & Development, 32(5), 511-519. Read More