Yep, you read that correctly.
In a recent blog post on the Age of Autism blog, Dr Lorene E.A. Amet wrote about “Testosterone and Autism”. While much of the piece seems to be fighting a straw man (the theme is that Simon Baron-Cohen wants to use testosterone to screen for autism prenatally–without a link to the story or a quote from SBC, I found this difficult to wade through). But, as part of her piece, Dr. Amet wrote:
It is of great concern that studies on testosterone and autism are being misinterpreted, leading to the use of therapies aimed at disturbing steroid hormone production in individuals with autism. Currently, many autistic children may be being treated, without proof of safety and scientific and medical evidence of benefit, with a view to reducing their hormonal secretion of testosterone (Lupron Therapy, Spironolactone). The rationale behind advocating these therapies appears to be based on a misunderstanding of autistic behaviours and without systematic laboratory evidence of abnormal testosterone levels.
I had to double check that I was reading the right blog! I mean, Age of Autism allowed someone to state that the the rationale behind using Lupron to treat autism is “based on a misunderstanding”.
For those who are lucky enough to not know, Lupron as a treatment for autism is the pet project of Mark and David Geier. These are near heroes to the world of Age of Autism, due in large part to their promotion of REALLY bad epidemiology (for example, here, here and here on Epiwonk’s blog) to support the thimerosal/autism link.
The Geiers took the testosterone theory of Dr. Baron-Cohen and ran with it. Ran without knowing what they were doing or where they were going. Somehow they came to the conclusion that Testosterone binds with mercury in the brain, making it difficult to remove the mercury with chelation. Reduce the testosterone in the system, they guessed, and one could get the mercury out. Since in their world autism is caused by mercury, this will “recover” or “cure” people of autism.
Doesn’t make any sense to you? That’s because it doesn’t make any sense. At all.
Even though the idea of using lupron is misguided and potentially dangerous, that doesn’t mean that the groups that sponsor the Age of Autism blog would be willing to out the Geiers, even without specifically naming them, for the unscientific team that they are.
To be honest, I think the Age of Autism editors just missed that paragraph by Dr. Amet before approving it to be published (if they approve at all).
But, it’s there now for all to read. Bravo Age of Autism. Bravo for joining the world of people who find the Lupron Protocol to be based on a “misunderstanding” of the science.
Left Brain Right Brain 
Maybe too many legal losses have made the Geier’s bad news these days?
Not with two talks at Autism One.
Have the groups that sponsor the Age of Autism blog ever shunned anyone (well, besides that one ex-rescue angel)?
We need to study history to help avoid repeating the mistakes of the past. To that end… back in 2006:
http://photoninthedarkness.com/?p=68
and the classic:
http://www.neurodiversity.com/weblog/article/109
Mr. Wickiser,
thanks for those links. The one by Promethius is an excellent discussion on how removed from reality the Gier’s “understanding” of teststosterone and autism is.
I’m on Spironolactone for Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). It’s disturbing to think autistic kids could be treated with it.
Baron-Cohen’s extreme male brain theory has been tested… by Baron-Cohen himself. He has studied the outcomes of 235 babies born to mothers who underwent amniocentesis while pregnant.
His theory was that high levels of prenatal testesterone would lead to autism outcomes greater than the prevelance of autism in the general population. None of the the 235 babies at followup (6-8 years later) had ever received an autism diagnosis of any kind, not one. Baron-Cohen must have been extremely disappointed with the results of his study. Baron-Cohen has called for more studies using much higher samples to test his conjecture.
raj, that was not what SBC was looking at and/or trying to find. What he expected to find and what he did find was that sub-clinical levels of traits associated with ASDs would correlate with in utero testosterone levels.
The level of testosterone that is “important”, is the level right next to the cell being affected by that testosterone. The levels in blood, in serum, or in amniotic fluid are considerably less than the levels right next to the cells producing the testosterone. Those testosterone levels are different in different tissue compartments because there are many different tissues that make testosterone, that consume testosterone, and that make and consume metabolites upstream and downstream of the rate limiting enzymes in testosterone synthesis.
You forgot this one