The Link Between Alzheimers And Autism
Day in and day out, researchers are looking for treatments for the often life-changing condition that affects over 1% of children between 3 and 17. Though a cure for Autism may or may not be around the corner, there are often new advancements, and specialists are trying to find the missing link that will answer the difficult questions. One route that many researchers take, is associating Autism with other similar conditions in which there are successful treatments for. Another way, is to take a look at similarly structured conditions that might not have a cure yet, but have had their own advancements. The possibility of joint-discoveries gives researchers another avenue to explore when searching for cures and treatments for Autism.
One of the conditions that appears to have many of the same characteristics as Autism is one that affects over 26 millions people worldwide. Alzheimer’s traditionally affects the elderly population, but with many of the same symptoms as The one substantial difference is simply the age range of the people that the conditions effect. Autism traditionally affects adolescents while Alzheimer’s tends to attack the elderly population. Setting aside this key difference, Autism and Alzheimer’s have a striking amount of similarities as well.
Autism shares a number of symptoms with Alzheimer’s including those on both physical and psychological level. Both conditions often leave their sufferers with the tendency to become catatonic at times, have attention transition issues, become easily distracted and/or disoriented and have difficulty with language comprehension. The similarities between the two conditions are in the hundreds - particularly in the similar brain patterns and symptoms.
These likenesses leave you thinking - could Alzheimer’s hold a piece of the puzzle that is finding a cure for Autism? There is currently research being done on a common drug, Namenda which slows the rate of decline in Alzheimer’s patients. Clinicians are studying the possibility that the drug will assist in the treatment of Autism by targeting the same areas in which Alzheimer’s Patients are affected.
Tags: autism, Autism and Alzheimers Link, Autism Symptoms, Autism treatment
March 2nd, 2010 at 1:29 am
Has been allready tried Nameda in some cases of autism? It will be if it works the salvation for our child. We are so worry for her.
March 2nd, 2010 at 8:12 pm
Hello,
I would be keen to gain your feedback on stem call therapy and it’s benefits to Autism sufferers.
Our 4 year old daughter has mild Autism, but nevertheless our concerns are for her future….will she have friends, will she have a relationship or can she live an independant life ???
We came across a pop up on our PC relating to stem cell therapy from a Doctor Radar who is claiming that his $30,000 treatment may hold the key to defeating our daughters condition. This is an awful lot of money to dish out for something that is still considered illegal in the USA. We live in Western Australia and really need some expert advise before we pursue this avenue further, awaiting your soonest reply, kind regards Brian Gibson
March 3rd, 2010 at 1:40 am
Hello Brian, Please do a search on this blog website itself on stem cell therapy. I had blog about this topic twice. Read them and see if you still got any Qs. Cheers! The other day I heard you could use your own stem cell to do the therapy in Germany for Euro 7500.
March 3rd, 2010 at 12:49 pm
Brian,
my duaghter was diagnosed with autism at 3 1/2 it was mild now she is six and would say she is doing great. i was so worried like you. things have gotten better and now i don’t worry so much. i found nutriton is a key role and we tried a program brain balance with simple exersices she can now eat by herself, no running off, very social, she can ride a trycycle on her own. is learning to read and write and do math. these are all things i thought she would never do. she is in a special day class for kinergarden but now we are main streaming her into the regular class. i always say to myself that iam lucky she can talk she can walk and interact with the family she may not be like every one else but she is a blessing to us. it does get better and you as a parent make the biggest difference follow through rely on your on intuiton.
March 5th, 2010 at 3:58 am
i ijust want to have a guide on how to identify achild with authim, symthoms other behavours that a perant can easly know when their child develop autim.
March 6th, 2010 at 11:50 pm
Hi i read the article with interest.
Autism is complex and depending on the person, i suppose, can lead to mis-diagnosis. I’d be grateful if you can provide us with the source of your information (i.e. research paper for Namenda). As a father with a ASD kid, i’m inetrested in learning all avenues of research.
Cheers
March 8th, 2010 at 2:15 pm
Hi Fatima, You could easily peruse or search on my website for your answers on signs/causes/symptoms to look for in an autistic child.
March 8th, 2010 at 2:21 pm
Hi Steve, Research is still be done on using Namenda for autism specifically to enhance their motor skills and expressive skill but it is use off-label for now. Just with anything, individuality is the key and proceed with caution.
March 8th, 2010 at 10:36 pm
Wendy, what is this program brain balance you spoke of? I am curious and have tried many, many programs with little to no success. Please tell me what it is…
March 11th, 2010 at 8:27 pm
Hi Ruth, Google Brain Balance Achievement Centers for your question.
March 17th, 2010 at 2:21 pm
have a 6 years old son, diagnosed with autism, non verbal. i live in Cameroon-africa? where autism and treatments are almost unknown . kindly advise some biomedical treatments that can help, and where and how i can get reach of it. thanks
June 15th, 2010 at 6:55 am
Hi there, my son 6 goes through periods of increased echolalia, this involves repeating things to himself over and over again. This could be something that someone said once or a line from a TV or book. It seems to be totally pointless to me and does not fit into the category of developing his own language as he is not learning anything new by doing it. As it can be the same phrase. This is my most despairing time, the rest I can cope with, this drives me nuts. Any suggestions as to why this fluctuates, what might trigger it and any supplements that might help it would be brilliant. Thanks very much.