{"id":2967,"date":"2019-12-04T04:39:45","date_gmt":"2019-12-04T04:39:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/biol2013h-2019\/?p=2967"},"modified":"2019-12-04T04:43:09","modified_gmt":"2019-12-04T04:43:09","slug":"autism-worth-the-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/biol2013h-2019\/autism-worth-the-test\/","title":{"rendered":"Autism: Worth the Test?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Danielle Hwang<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

With the rising uproar over speculations that vaccines cause Autism, there is a need to look into the causes of autism, especially to indicate that there is no credible evidence that indicated an actual connection between vaccines and the cause of Autism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

 What is Autism?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In modern days, Autism is actually referred to as Autism\nSpectrum Disorder. Autism Spectrum Disorder is described by NIMH as a\ndevelopmental disorder that affects communication skills and behavior.1<\/sup>\nThis change in the name is due to the fact that the symptoms of Autism span\nover a spectrum. Therefore, symptoms are specific to each individual. However,\nthere is still a set criterion used to diagnose the disorder, which are outlined\nin the DSM-5. These diagnostic criteria fall into five different categories: reoccurring\nlack of social skills (such as communication and interaction) in multiple scenarios,\nrestrictive and repetitive acts of behavior, symptoms must be present in early\nchildhood or developmental stages, symptoms must cause clinical impairment in the\nfunctioning of areas of one\u2019s daily  life,\nand lastly these impairments must not be better explained through other intellectual\ndisabilities or developmental delay.2<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the US, it was determined that there are approximately 1\nout of 59 children diagnosed with this disability during 2018.3<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Genetic Relevance?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Genetics Home Reference, there are at least\n1000 genes that are associated with the disorder, but not all of them have been\nconfirmed (none of which are listed).4<\/sup> Most of these associated\ngenes (left unnamed in the article) have little effect in causing the disorder.4\n<\/sup>The specifics of the effects of these genes are not listed; however, it is\nknown that the probability of these mutations combined together and with other\nrisk factors, the risk of autism can be calculated. Therefore, autism is not\ncause entirely by genetic factors alone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other associated genes mutations are rare and happen in a\nsingle gene. One such genes is ADNP, which also causes ADNP syndrome (another intellectual\ndisability).4 <\/sup>The syndrome has additional conditions to Autism\nSpectrum Disorder. Another set of genes associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder\nare ARID1B, ASH1L, CHD2, CHD8, DYRK1A, POGZ, SHANK3, and SYNGAP1.4<\/sup> Most\nof these mutations are used for brain development.4<\/sup> Another gene that\nhas a significant effect on the development of Autism is rs1858830.5<\/sup>\nThe allele for G;G codes for normal genes.6<\/sup> However, the allele C;G\nis known to increase the risk of Autism development by 1.6, and the allele C;C\nis reported to increase the risk of Autism development by 2 fold.6<\/sup> The\nspecifics of how these mutations affect brain development is unknown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Testing?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There has been a study that connected abnormalities of\ncertain genes to the development of autism.7<\/sup> This study recommends\ntaking genetic testing as a precaution, given that not every family would\nfollow the advice.7<\/sup> However, other studies do not recommend using\ngenetic tests as a method of diagnosis and even detection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similar to the other studies, the CDC (Centers for Disease\nControl and Prevention) does not include any medical testing (such as a blood\ntest) as a method of diagnosis.8<\/sup> Instead they use behavioral and\ndevelopmental cues through developmental screening and comprehensive diagnostic\nevaluation.8<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite genetic testing for Autism being possible, there is no actual test provided by companies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

It is important to note that since autism is a behavioral disorder, it is hard to diagnose through physical tests, such as genetic tests and blood tests.  This does not mean testing is waste a time per se. These tests can determine the probability of a person developing autism; therefore, genetic testing should be taken as a precaution but not as a diagnosis. It is advised to use developmental screenings and diagnostic evaluations to diagnose the disorder. In the end, it can be concluded that there is absolutely no connection between vaccines or the ingredients and autism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Resources:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
  1. Autism Spectrum Disorder. National Institute of Mental Health. https:\/\/www.nimh.nih.gov\/health\/topics\/autism-spectrum-disorders-asd\/index.shtml. Published March 2018. Accessed December 3, 2019.<\/li>
  2. Ciccarelli SK, White JN. Psychology: DSM 5<\/em>. Boston: Pearson; 2014.<\/li>
  3. Autism Facts and Figures. https:\/\/www.autismspeaks.org\/autism-facts-and-figures. Accessed November 14, 2019.<\/li>
  4. ASD – Genetics Home Reference – NIH. https:\/\/ghr.nlm.nih.gov\/condition\/autism-spectrum-disorder. Published November 26, 2019. Accessed November 14, 2019.<\/li>
  5. Autism. https:\/\/www.snpedia.com\/index.php\/Autism. Published October 25, 2017. Accessed November 14, 2019.<\/li>
  6. rs1858830. SNPedia. https:\/\/www.snpedia.com\/index.php\/Rs1858830. Published December 1, 2018. Accessed December 3, 2019.<\/li>
  7. \u00c7\u00f6p EM, Yurtba\u015fi PM, \u00d6ner \u00d6M, M\u00fcnir KM. Genetic testing in children with autism spectrum disorders. https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC4560248\/. Published 2015. Accessed November 14, 2019.<\/li>
  8. Screening and Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/ncbddd\/autism\/screening.html. Published August 27, 2019. Accessed December 3, 2019.<\/li><\/ol>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    by Danielle Hwang With the rising uproar over speculations that vaccines cause Autism, there is a need to look into the causes of autism, especially to indicate that there is no credible evidence that indicated an actual connection between vaccines and the cause of Autism.  What is Autism? In modern days, Autism is actually referred … Continue reading Autism: Worth the Test?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3176,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[110],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-genetic-testing"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/biol2013h-2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/biol2013h-2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/biol2013h-2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/biol2013h-2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/biol2013h-2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2967"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/biol2013h-2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2967\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/biol2013h-2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/biol2013h-2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/biol2013h-2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}