Autism & Mutation in the STRAD-Alpha Gene
From: Chun Wong
Though Autism is often considered to be the incurable condition, there are researchers all over the world studying and making connections between Autism and other psychological disorders. Most recently, a team at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine discovered a connection between a rare disease affecting Amish children and the commonly diagnosed Autism and Epilepsy disorders.
The researchers found that a mutation in the STRAD-alpha gene can cause a rare but severe brain disorder known as Polyhydramnios, megalencephaly, and symptomatic epilepsy (PMSE). Characterized by abnormally increased brain size, PMSE also affects sufferers with its cause of difficulties with cognitive function and epilepsy that is not responsive to medication or treatment.
In animal case studies, animals that lacked the STRAD-Alpha (also called: STRADA) protein, the pathway for another protein called mTOR is opened. In humans, this opening may promote abnormal cell growth that leads to cognitive impairments, especially in children. It’s been found that STRADA and mTOR are proteins that make up the complicated molecular structures that are often found in Autism and other behavioral conditions.
Mutations of the mTOR proteins are found in several disorders including tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) and other conditions that feature brain tumors. Unlike PMSE, it’s not STRADA but a different protein is affected by the pathway opening. TSC is a much more common disorder with approximately 1 million sufferers worldwide. Researchers find it to be very interesting that a rare disorder like PMSE and a not-so-rare TSC are comparable by their molecular pathways.
Adding PMSE to the list of disorders that are affected by the mTOR pathway is a great advancement in the treatment of Autism. Because PMSE shares some of the same symptoms and characteristics of Autism, it sheds a bit more light on Autism and other similar disorders. The more information that researchers find about possible causes and sources of Autism, the more that they can work towards successful treatments.
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And yet he’s featured here weekly…makes you wonder..
There do seem to be rather a lot of people exploiting autism for gain or publicity.
Wong’s a chiropractor and purveyor of woo looking for desperate parents to nibble on what he’s offering.
Us Doctors??? Doctors of what? Woo? Of Quackery? Biomeds are the “gold standard”? Spoken like a true charlatan. Use the research available-?? Yeah it would be nice if you did..oh but then you might be out of business…
@Springingtiger – quite right. But neither “Dr” Chung Wong (I have not been able to trace his registration with the AMA in any state) or Dr. Compton in the comment above you would care about that as they are just promoting their businesses.
Autism is not a psychological disorder and neither is Epilepsy.
Hello readers, every interesting article. This is the type of research that will help us doctors to created better treatment programs. In the mean time we must use the research avaible to provide the best care for our patients. As of now biomedical treatments are the gold standard to autism rehabilitation. I invite you to read more about biomedical treatments on my blog.
autismtreatmentdoctor.com/
Dr. Compton