As is accepted by most rational people, autism is a largely genetic difference, albeit with a likely environmental component. Over the last 10 years or so a seemingly increasingly irrational desire to blame vaccines for causing autism has been coupled with a similarly irrational ‘cure at all cost’ mentality. The subsequent parent driven engine has resulted in autistic kids being exposed to shysters, snake oil salesman and out and out quacks selling their own version on dangerous exploitation.
However, in a revealing picture of what the ‘cure at all cost’ mentality might be doing not only to autistic people but to the human race in general we could do no worse than to look at recent discoveries in another genetic based difference – Down Syndrome:
A gene that’s present in the extra chromosome people with Down syndrome protects this population from getting many types of cancers, according to a study published in the journal Nature Wednesday.
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The answer lies in a gene called Dscr1, which is one of the genes present in Down syndrome causing chromosome 21. Since people with Down syndrome have an extra copy of this chromosome, they also have an extra copy of Dscr1. Researchers studied the gene in mice with human cells and found that it limits the growth of blood vessels that tumors feed on.
All the years that people with Down Syndrome have taken abuse, been put down and – most ironically of all – had pre-natal testing performed that has resulted in a drop of Down’s babies. And now it seems they might hold the key to destroying at least some forms of cancer. Imagine if we only found that out after the last Down’s adult had died?
Imagine what we might find out if we start looking at research that works _with_ autistic people. Imagine what we might lose if we decide to plow ahead with a ‘cure at all cost’ mentality.
Left Brain Right Brain 
There’s some mixing of cards going on here.
Firstly, it is not true that we wouldn’t have come about the knowledge of the DSCR1 gene without the existence of Down syndrome. The gene is already in the genome, it is not added to the genome by getting Down syndrome. Non-Down individuals also have it on their chromosome 21, it is merely the amplification of the gene’s expression as a result of having an extra copy of chromosome 21 that ostensibly causes people with Down syndrome to have an increased resistance to certain types of cancer. As such, people with Down syndrome don’t “hold the key” to destroying certain forms of cancer, even though they certainly sped up the discovery of the gene’s importance.
Secondly, autism and Down syndrome are not even remotely comparable as genetic disorders. Down syndrome is an aneuploidy, a gross chromosomal defect, and as such a much more serious defect than the postulated multigenetic component of autism. Down syndrome is a pervasive physical and neurological developmental disorder, an oftentimes horribly debilitating one at that. It’s net impact on the human population, in spite of the DSCR1 discovery, is hugely in the negative. The serendipitous discovery of one gene’s function is, in my opinion, not a good reason for allowing the disorder to persist.
Biodiversity is one of the things that has made this planet an enjoyable place to live.
I feel that the discovery of an anti-angiogenesis mode is very important. This was catalyzed by observations that, without the existence of good numbers of Downs patients, would not have happened, or perhaps been realized only years later.
In some situations when mankind has tried to claim knowledge of what is good or best, and what will work, has tried to meddle in the Biosphere we have had undesired results.
My congratulations to the researchers on this paper, and thanks to all of the participants in the study. Without you this world would not be as nice a place as it was yesterday, today, and tomorrow too!
No, that’s not the reason. The reason is that different types of people have the same right to exist regardless of their genotype.
There is every likelihood that once an autism gene(s) or a maternal blood screening test is discovered the government will be keen to abort affected fetuses because of the cost of care for patients with autism.
The whole raison d`etre for government payment of the ante-natal ultrasound fetal anomaly screening programme is to detect and abort fetuses with Down`s syndrome because of the cost of the care of patients with Down`s syndrome.
The other ultrasound findings of cardiac, renal,gastro-intestinal abnormalities related to other diseases are incidental.
Given the chance government would eradicate autism which costs the UK government £27,000,000,000 per year.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/150633.php
I’m all for positive progress, but maybe we can step outside our Westernized ideology for a moment and see the positive aspects individuals with Autism can and have given us! Maybe if we stop trying to fix “at all cost” we could gain priceless insight on how and why Autism occurs.
“As is accepted by most rational people, autism is a largely genetic difference, albeit with a likely environmental component. Over the last 10 years or so a seemingly increasingly irrational desire to blame vaccines for causing autism has been coupled with a similarly irrational ‘cure at all cost’ mentality.”
I havent been acquainted with autism for more than the past 2 years but it seems that it is more than the above i.e.
1. Abnormal genes
2. Immunogens (alcohol, valproate etc)or auto-immunogens (related to abnormal gene products)
3. Abnormal immunogenic response to the above
4. Abnormal density of dendritic spines in the frontal lobes and hippocampus amongst other areas with reduced connectivity/IQ and OCD
– as the best structural model
Parents seem to realise that this is in part some sort of “allergy” in laymen`s terms and as usual in medicine if one listens to the patient they will tell you the diagnosis. Dietary manipulation does help some children and the word spreads. The parents were rational before their child fell ill so why are they now irrational?
Parents are very highly protective of their children in Western society. Until this fact is embraced these seemingly often perfect children who develop autism will be exposed to many non-scientific treatments by desperate parents. The parents will also blame themselves for artificially introducing infections into their children. What would you do if your child developed a seemingly incurable condition?
It could be argued that the mixed messages sent out by the scientists re autism i.e. the Hannah Poling case is the problem.
Why not pressurise scientists to start double-blind controlled clinical trials with these patients when diagnosed. If 1 in 150 children are affected then such trials would be easier to organise than other less prevalent childhood conditions e.g. acute lymphoblastic leukemia where such trials led to identification of the best treatments.
Child Psychiatrists just do not seem to have “got it together” – many published studies have an inadequate number of children for statistical analysis and are as meanigless as most homeopathy trials.
The paucity of quality trials is quite remarkable. Until the money flows into such clinical trials parents will continue treatments that have worked possibly due to placebo effect – but it seems best not to under-estimate the placebo effect in autism perhaps working via the parents.