Tuesday, September 18, 2007
"A team of New Jersey scientists believes it has found ways to detect biological risk factors for autism through simple urine and blood tests, a discovery that could lead to groundbreaking medical treatment for the neurological disorder.
The team of 16 scientists, mostly drawn from the campuses of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, say their findings, the result of more than two years of study on how the body breaks down fatty acids, could be a breakthrough for what is the fastest-growing developmental disorder in the nation, with no known cause or cure.
The UMDNJ researchers say they have found that children with autism are unable to metabolise key fatty acids which help the body fight inflammation that causes damage to the brain and other organs."
The story, including possible treatments, is at http://www.autismconnect.org/news.asp?section=00010001&itemtype=news&id=6075.
The discovery is of course most interesting to people who have or know people who have autistic children, or autism in their families. Daughter, living in NJ and working with nursery school aged children, is very aware of the rise of rates of autism, especially in NJ. She thinks NJ is toxic (duh?), and is worried about having a child there. I'm slightly worried for future grandchildren.
But my immediate thoughts reading this were about Jay, the part about "children with autism are unable to metabolize key fatty acids which help the body fight inflammation that causes damage to the brain and other organs".
A lab report noted that the tumor seemed to originate in an area of the brain that had suffered an old trauma. Jay had difficulty handling the inflammation resulting from the treatments. The intracanial inflammation and swelling, and the steroids necessary to control it, caused more damage than the radiation or surgeries or even the pressure of the tumor itself.
Late in the battle he was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, which some consider related to autism.
Is it possible that, as in autism, Jay was "unable to metabolize key fatty acids which help the body fight inflammation that causes damage to the brain and other organs"?
Did the tumor happen because of the old injury, and an inability to properly handle it? Could one of those "cocktails" of fatty acids have helped him to avoid the collateral damage of inflammation?
Asperger has been called "the nerd disease". Do brain tumors occur at a higher rate among nerds? Has anyone ever asked? The Albany doctors told me that there is a "brain cancer hot spot" near here, across the river and a bit north of Poughkeepsie, and they could find no unusual environmental factors there. Uh, it's a rural area with a proportionately high population of ex-Evil-Empire employees...
... otherwise known as nerds.
I wonder if any doctor would be interested in this observation?
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Showing posts with label Asperger. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Asperger. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Monday, June 11, 2007
1297 Masses of Moca
Monday, June 11, 2007
So, Roman and I went to Mass MOCA yesterday. He came here and then we took my minivan, because the a/c in his car is on the fritz. Turned out we didn't need a/c anyway - the day was cloudy and cool. Mapquest said it should take us a little over two hours to get there. It was actually more like three.
The "CA" stands for "Contemporary Art". Turns out that's pretty much the same as modern art, which we have already determined I don't fully appreciate.
One room absolutely cracked me up. It contained several large framed sheets of plain white paper. Plain, as in pristine. Little labels described the "art". One sheet had been exposed to full sunlight for several hours. One sheet had had a few snowflakes land on and melt on it. One sheet was titled a self-portrait - the artist had positioned his face 14" from the paper and stared at it motionlessly for a while. And so on.
OMG! I cracked up. Literally. The cognoscenti were frowning at me because I was laughing so hard. You've got to admire the salesmanship, anyway.
I ended up admiring the buildings instead (an old textile factory complex). Beautiful craftsmanship and artistry in the exterior brickwork, unexpectedly powerful yet delicate interior trusses.
I could have passed on the factory theme in the restrooms, though.
This is the place that has the trees growing upside down in the courtyard. They don't look at all like the photo any more. Two of the six trees are dead, one is dying, and the rest are almost leafless, struggling, trying to cope. Their "tops" and branches are curving up, twisting, trying to grow up. They look terribly unbalanced, desperately unhappy.
MOCA should do something about them.
We closed the place down, drove back to the Hudson valley, and had a very good dinner at a restaurant near Bard College.
A few weeks ago, we had attended a seminar on Asperger's Syndrome, at which the speaker had recommended the movie "Napoleon Dynamite", for examples of an Aspie's reactions. Roman mentioned that he had borrowed the movie from the library and had meant to bring it to me.
So we went to his house and watched it.
.
So, Roman and I went to Mass MOCA yesterday. He came here and then we took my minivan, because the a/c in his car is on the fritz. Turned out we didn't need a/c anyway - the day was cloudy and cool. Mapquest said it should take us a little over two hours to get there. It was actually more like three.
The "CA" stands for "Contemporary Art". Turns out that's pretty much the same as modern art, which we have already determined I don't fully appreciate.
One room absolutely cracked me up. It contained several large framed sheets of plain white paper. Plain, as in pristine. Little labels described the "art". One sheet had been exposed to full sunlight for several hours. One sheet had had a few snowflakes land on and melt on it. One sheet was titled a self-portrait - the artist had positioned his face 14" from the paper and stared at it motionlessly for a while. And so on.
OMG! I cracked up. Literally. The cognoscenti were frowning at me because I was laughing so hard. You've got to admire the salesmanship, anyway.
I ended up admiring the buildings instead (an old textile factory complex). Beautiful craftsmanship and artistry in the exterior brickwork, unexpectedly powerful yet delicate interior trusses.
I could have passed on the factory theme in the restrooms, though.
This is the place that has the trees growing upside down in the courtyard. They don't look at all like the photo any more. Two of the six trees are dead, one is dying, and the rest are almost leafless, struggling, trying to cope. Their "tops" and branches are curving up, twisting, trying to grow up. They look terribly unbalanced, desperately unhappy.
MOCA should do something about them.
We closed the place down, drove back to the Hudson valley, and had a very good dinner at a restaurant near Bard College.
A few weeks ago, we had attended a seminar on Asperger's Syndrome, at which the speaker had recommended the movie "Napoleon Dynamite", for examples of an Aspie's reactions. Roman mentioned that he had borrowed the movie from the library and had meant to bring it to me.
So we went to his house and watched it.
.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
1274 Aspie Workshop
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Phone calls last night: sister-in-law, needs information on NYS Estate tax rates and law, for planning purposes; FirstWoman, she's having some good experiences; Roman, just chatting, for an hour and a half. He gave me some good leads on the tax info I needed, and walked me through getting rid of that stupid photo-handling software that came with the system.
Toward the end of the call with Roman, I asked, "So, when will I see you again?" He answered, "At the Asperger workshop tomorrow. Remember?" Agh! I'd completely forgotten about it!
So bright and early this morning I met him at Dutchess Community College, and we went to the workshop. Actually, it was not a workshop. It was a seminar, speaker Timothy P. Kowalski, 9 am to 5 pm, with a 1 hour lunch.
I didn't learn anything I didn't already know, but it was interesting anyway. The audience was all (except for me) educators, and the talk was about the different aspects of Asperger Syndrome, how Aspies think and react, what kinds of things they are likely to have difficulty with, and how to help them in the classroom and in career counselling.
Roman and I sat together in the seminar and had lunch and dinner together. He's teaching a class tonight. I told him I had gone to the gathering with The Man, and that I'd enjoyed the weekend. Other than that, we didn't talk about The Man or Roman's girlfriend, but I assume those two are not getting along very well. He said he was "home alone" all last weekend, but he didn't say why and I didn't ask. It wasn't so much what he said as the way he said it. There was portent. I paused for two seconds and changed the subject.
I think without actually speaking the words, we have reached a kind of agreement about what's off limits. If we can stick to it, we might be able to preserve a friendship.
(I want so badly to say the forbidden "told you so". I told Daughter that within six months of his mother's death, he'd break up with the girlfriend, or, if he was still with her after six months, he'd be with her forever. Well, it's just short of four months. I don't know which I'm hoping for. I think she's just using him, but I don't want to see him all alone, either.)
.
Phone calls last night: sister-in-law, needs information on NYS Estate tax rates and law, for planning purposes; FirstWoman, she's having some good experiences; Roman, just chatting, for an hour and a half. He gave me some good leads on the tax info I needed, and walked me through getting rid of that stupid photo-handling software that came with the system.
Toward the end of the call with Roman, I asked, "So, when will I see you again?" He answered, "At the Asperger workshop tomorrow. Remember?" Agh! I'd completely forgotten about it!
So bright and early this morning I met him at Dutchess Community College, and we went to the workshop. Actually, it was not a workshop. It was a seminar, speaker Timothy P. Kowalski, 9 am to 5 pm, with a 1 hour lunch.
I didn't learn anything I didn't already know, but it was interesting anyway. The audience was all (except for me) educators, and the talk was about the different aspects of Asperger Syndrome, how Aspies think and react, what kinds of things they are likely to have difficulty with, and how to help them in the classroom and in career counselling.
Roman and I sat together in the seminar and had lunch and dinner together. He's teaching a class tonight. I told him I had gone to the gathering with The Man, and that I'd enjoyed the weekend. Other than that, we didn't talk about The Man or Roman's girlfriend, but I assume those two are not getting along very well. He said he was "home alone" all last weekend, but he didn't say why and I didn't ask. It wasn't so much what he said as the way he said it. There was portent. I paused for two seconds and changed the subject.
I think without actually speaking the words, we have reached a kind of agreement about what's off limits. If we can stick to it, we might be able to preserve a friendship.
(I want so badly to say the forbidden "told you so". I told Daughter that within six months of his mother's death, he'd break up with the girlfriend, or, if he was still with her after six months, he'd be with her forever. Well, it's just short of four months. I don't know which I'm hoping for. I think she's just using him, but I don't want to see him all alone, either.)
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