lack of oxygen to brain

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Registered: 03-28-2003
lack of oxygen to brain
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Thu, 08-24-2006 - 3:28pm

(my comments at the end)

Link between autism and abnormal blood-vessel function and oxidative stress
New findings could help explain pathology of autistic syndrome

August 15, 2006
Source: University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

"Shedding more light on the relationship of oxidative stress and blood-vessel health to the pathology of autism could lead
to improvements
in therapy."

-Domenico Pratico, MD

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine discovered that children with autism showed signs of abnormal blood-vessel function and damaging levels of oxidative stress compared to healthy children. The children with autism possessed levels of biochemicals that indicate the presence of constricted blood vessels via the endothelium (the cells that line vessels) with a higher tendency to form clots (through cells called platelets).

By exploring the relationship between oxidative stress and blood-vessel function in autistic patients, investigators hope to find new therapeutic options for this syndrome. The researchers, led by Domenico Pratico, MD, Associate Professor of Pharmacology, published their findings in the August issue of the Archives of Neurology.

According to the Autism Society of America, the reported number of autism cases is increasing 10 to 17 percent per year in the United States. Autism, an early onset neurological disorder, is characterized by impaired social interactions, limited verbal and nonverbal communication, and repetitive and restricted behavioral patterns. Patients with autism can differ in the severity and scope of their symptoms, suggesting that multiple factors contribute to explaining the disorder's symptoms. Previous studies at other institutions have shown that autistic patients have reduced cerebral blood flow, presumably due to constricted blood vessels in the brain, versus healthy controls.

Urinary samples of autistic children who were similar in age and healthy controls were provided by the Pfeiffer Treatment Center (www.hriptc.org/), where patients were diagnosed with autism disorder and evaluated. Patients were excluded from analysis if they had ever received anti-oxidant treatments or medicine with any known anti-oxidant effect; if they suffered from chronic illnesses, such as depression, psychosis, or inflammatory disorders; and/or if they were sick at the time of the sample collection. These strict criteria resulted in the small sample size in this preliminary study: 26 children with autism and 12 healthy controls.

Pratico's team measured isoprostane, a biomarker for oxidative stress; thromboxane, an index of platelet activation; and prostacyclin, a measure of blood vessel activation in the samples. "This study represents the first observation that the rates of thromboxane and prostacyclin synthesis are both not only significantly increased in autism, but are closely correlated with the rate of oxidative stress," says Pratico. Compared with controls, children with autism had significantly higher urinary levels of isoprostane, thromboxone, and prostacyclin.

Oxidative stress is the result of an excessive formation of chemically unstable byproducts, called free radicals, within the cell. Under normal conditions, the cell is able to destroy the free radicals. However, when excessive free radicals accumulate, these molecules mount an attack against the cell in search of chemical stability.

"During oxidative stress, it is as if the free radicals have only one leg," explains Pratico. "They are searching for the second leg in order to keep from falling. Unfortunately, the ability of the excessive free radicals to reestablish their chemical equilibrium comes always with a price for the organ -- irreversible cellular and organ damage." Free radicals can damage cell membranes, proteins, and genes by oxidation -- the same chemical reaction that causes iron to rust.

Pratico and colleagues measured levels of isoprostane, the chemical byproduct of free radicals attacking fat cells and found that patients with autism possess nearly double the level of oxidative stress than that measured in healthy controls.

The samples from autistic patients also revealed a biochemical imbalance in the patients' blood vessels, resulting in high levels of thromboxane an indicator of platelet activity and prostacyclin, an indicator of constricting endothelial cells. During normal function, thromboxane and prostacyclin work together to maintain the integrity of vessels. In response to different kinds of stress, platelets release thromboxane, which causes vessels to contract. The endothelium responds to elevated levels of thromboxane by releasing prostacyclin. This event counterbalances the effect on vessels, inducing dilation of the vessel and, in turn, more blood flow.

Autism is a complex neurological disorder and oxidative imbalance is one feature of the autistic syndrome. Several lines of evidence support the hypothesis that oxidative imbalance may also play a role in this disease: autism is characterized by an impaired anti-oxidant defense system, higher free-radical production, and improvement of behavioral symptoms after taking anti-oxidants.

"In general, it is known that abnormalities in blood vessels can be clinically reflected by an abnormal blood flow," says Pratico. "In this regard, it is interesting that earlier neuroimaging studies of autistic children have demonstrated a reduced amount of blood reaching the brain. Shedding more light on the relationship of oxidative stress and blood-vessel health to the pathology of autism could lead to improvements in therapy."

http://www.cnsfoundation.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=6821&security=1&news_iv_ctrl=-1

Well, they are getting there. They have impaired sulfation which means they can't appropriately derive the benefits of phenols and really mostly reap the toxic side of phenols. The phenols ARE oxidative without the benefit of them being sulfated. That messes up homocysteine and the homocysteine is impairing vascular function. The blood clotting is something I'm trying to understand. I think I have blood that doesn't clot appropriately, it seems more leaky. I realized that blood clotting might be significant for my dd when I realized her meds were blood thinners. Also fish oil is blood thinning so that may be one of it's protective functions. You all may have read this about the Sago coal miner who survived. Thought it was interesting:

"Following the Sago Mine disaster that killed 12 miners in West Virginia last January, the only survivor, Randal McCloy Jr., age 26, was in a coma suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning and multiple organ failure.

His neurosurgeon, Dr. Julian Bailes, credits his rapid recovery in part to two nontraditional therapies: hyperbaric oxygen and massive doses of omega-3 fatty acids.21

McCloy received 30 grams per day of fish oil concentrate as suggested by Dr. Barry Sears, providing 18 grams of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Because this is a very high dose, McCloy’s blood levels were constantly monitored. According to Dr. Sears, the EPA may have helped reduce the inflammation caused by the lack of oxygen within the organs, while the DHA may have helped to support healthy brain tissue.

—Mark Neveu, PhD"
--from lef.org

McCloy was given a very high dose. I don't give my daughter fish oil due to the fact her meds are already blood thinners and I don't want to monkey around with that. If she were off the meds tho, I would put her on fish oils. I do feed her fish, Pacific halibut or Pacific cod occasionally. My dh has high cholesterol. He went thru a period of eating out a lot for lunch. He decided to replace his burgers and such with deep fried and battered cod (with fries and colas). Amazingly, his cholesterol improved. We were both amazed because it wasn't even healthily prepared. I started to eat fish as well..tho I've always hated fish. I found a very good seasoning by Penzey's called Northwoods that makes it more palatable to me. Anyway, I was really impressed by the results of my dh eating badly, but the addition of fish twice a week to his menu improved his cholesterol.

Anyway, McCloy suffered from oxygen deprivation (due to carbon monoxide poisoning). A very similar action upon many ASD kids' brains. This article describes some of the challenges he faced. Impulse control, over-reacting.
http://tinyurl.com/k34e2

They also used hbot on McCloy.

TMG was really good for my dd, for the homocysteine reduction. I like the inversion table...makes her headaches go away so it must be allowing some additional blood flow (and hence oxygen) to the brain.

I would like to see her get more exercise. Jack Lalanne says exercise is king and diet is queen. I'm beginning to understand the reality of that now. (And Jack Lalanne should know!) I have gone a long time trying to convince myself diet was the key to my health, but I realize now that exercise is priority over diet. It wasn't just the Jack Lalanne article I read. I realized that from my two birds, too. They have a great diet. Grains, fruits, veggies, etc. But, they became really "lush" and beautiful and young looking when I started to "teach" them to fly. I know that sounds silly, teaching them to fly. haha. And, at first they hated it. They were like "what the he!! are you doing to me?" They've always had their wings clipped as recommended in books. The vet told me she noticed how much more youthful the flighted birds were over any other birds in the cages. It's absolutely true. I don't even make them fly vigorously. No set exercise regime. I just had them fly once a day. They just fluttered down to the floor at first. Now Juniper flies around the house in 3 or 4 loops. I think it's actually harder than outdoors because there are no wind currents for her to use inside. Anyway, I eventually noticed how much better they looked. They had much more vigor. Before, their feathers would get ratty at the ends,despite how meticulously I care for them and I assumed that was from dragging them around in the cage. Well, that is true, however, it seems exercise made their feathers much more able to withstand stress so they are just so much more gorgeous, no flaws.

Jack Lalanne article
ttp://tinyurl.com/ef428

I'm no exercise expert, because I HATE exercise, but I do observe pretty well. LOL. I notice my dh religiously rides his exercise bike, but loses no weight. When he lifts weights tho, the pounds just melt off. I think some sort of weightlifting or resistance is hugely important in getting the right kind of fuel burn out of certain types of people. The cardio stuff is good too, but it doesn't seem to burn the fat for my dd or dh the way weightlifting does. My dd is not overweight, btw. She's a very slight eater, but holds fat when she should hardly any, if that makes sense. It's the way she carries it. She gets exercise from swimming class...she doesn't weight lift (just to clarify). I am reluctantly going to start exercising. &!@#$ Hopefully, I will learn to enjoy it...if I can manage to stick with it. It really is torture for me. I get so bored.

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Registered: 06-25-2003
Thu, 08-24-2006 - 5:11pm

Just a comment on the bloodflow to the brain thing:


Surely this theory could be proven/disproven by performing MRAs on the brains of Autistic people vs. controls? An MRA is a special MRI which maps and measures blood vessels.


-Paula


-Paula

visit my blog at www.onesickmother.com
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Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 08-24-2006 - 6:08pm

I am with you. I HATE exercise because it is horribly BORING!!!! I have a feeling if we lived near each other we could do it together and some how make it fun and bearable. DH just turns on his iPod and tunes the rest of us out. It doesn't work for me. I get so bored and my mind goes to everything else I could be doing until it makes me so nuts I go and do it.

Interesting about the oxidative ness. I have been meaning to put the kiddos back on omega's but I am going slow. 1 thing at a time. We are now up to using enzymes, great probiotics, the vitamins recomended by the psychiatrist, and cait's usual meds. I am only adding back 1 thing every couple weeks to see what is working and started with diet. Seems nothing is the "key" but most of these help some so it is more the combined effort.

Where do I find out what meds are blood thinners? I don't remember that listed as a side effect of Cait's trileptal and I would want to look into that first before giving her omega's. However, she is my one kid who really digs Salmon and fish so it would be easy to get away with no supp for her.

Interesting about the oxygen too. My brain went straight to HBOT and if this is possibly some kudo's for that.

Renee

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Avatar for littleroses
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Registered: 03-28-2003
Thu, 08-24-2006 - 6:21pm
I also wondered in the past why something like this wouldn't show up on an MRI (didn't know about MRA). I don't have the answer for that, but I get the feeling it may be something in a roundabout way, having to do with white matter perhaps. I wonder if MRA's reveal the same kind of info for migraines or for alzheimers?
Avatar for littleroses
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Registered: 03-28-2003
Thu, 08-24-2006 - 7:00pm

I played soccer when I was in high school and loved that. I was horrible at it, but I loved it and it kept me in shape. I wish there was a mom's-out-of-shape-and-very- uncoordinated soccer league (or volleyball or whatever). I could do that. I don't like working out in front of people in a gym or working out together in a class is about the same thrill as me trying to work out with a video. My dh also can get in the zone like yours. He is goal oriented and works to achieve and is very successful. I'm more of a seeker and my reward is usually purely in the journey (hence my graveyard of unfinished projects).

I don't think all anticonvulsants are anticoagulents. I didn't see any blood thinning warnings with trileptal like you see all over the valproic acid.

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Registered: 10-03-2004
Thu, 08-24-2006 - 7:51pm

Hi there, exercise haters,

In my many years as a personal trainer and exercise instructor, I have found that enjoyment of exercise has to be worked at as well. Research and care need to go into creating an personal exercise program that will work for YOU. Looking for movement that gives your body AND spirit pleasure is essential to success and long-term results from exercise. First off, when you have exercise in your life as an essential part of life, as essential as the daily brushing of your teeth (hopefully you always brush your teeth...), you have the basic thinking right. It needs to be daily or almost daily for true optimal benefits. Exercise, however, does not have to be hours and hours. It can be 30 minutes here, 15 minutes there. It can be adding taking the stairs every opportunity, walking 3 miles to store to get a few groceries, playing a quick 15 minute basketball pickup game with your son. It can be putting on rock music and rocking out with your kids for 20 minutes.

My favorite way to exercise, which I almost never get to do anymore, is to power-walk or even lightly jog with good tunes on my ears or a good friend to talk with. And doing weight training can be done at home with a few pieces of equipment and some training, or in a gym -- and I always train opposing muscle groups so I can really do a complete weight workout in 20 minutes or under, cuz who wants to spend extra time in a gym, yawn. But again if I train in gym with weights, I ALWAYS wear headsets and good music, so that I enjoy the lifting in my own little pleasant world of music and also don't have to focus on other people, whether they notice me or not (BIG SECRET : people working out in gyms all to a one are more concerned about what YOU are thinking of them to ever notice you... FACT!!!)

If you liked volleyball, I would look for a league. I know there are leagues that are playing just for fun. Because my days of teaching are so exhausting, I actually never get to do my own workout, which I miss because for me this can be a mind relaxation. But I do enjoy chasing kids on playground or jumping in the waves with my wave-loving boys...

There you go, free advice. I usually send a hefty bill after these sessions, but as you are my online pals... Oh, after I make you run around and sweat and do squats and pushups and crunches and stretches and say "C'mon, just 5 more" and tell you lots of jokes so you crack up and then I say "OK, laugh, but KEEP GOING!"

Sara
ilovemalcolm

Avatar for littleroses
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Registered: 03-28-2003
Thu, 08-24-2006 - 8:29pm
LOL. Loved your advice. Thanks for the freebie. You sound like my dh. He told me it's like flossing, it has to be done and just make it a brief part of your day. (grumble, grumble).