Search results for "Autism."

Effects of l-Carnitine in Patients with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Review of Clinical Studies

2019

Carnitine is an amino acid derivative, which plays several important roles in human physiology, in the central nervous system, and for mitochondrial metabolism, in particular. Altered carnitine metabolic routes have been associated with a subgroup of patients with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and could add to the pathophysiology associated with these disorders. We review the current evidence about the clinical effects of carnitine administration in ASD in both non-syndromic forms and ASD associated with genetic disorders. Two randomized clinical trials and one open-label prospective trial suggest that carnitine administration could be useful for treating symptoms in non-syndromic ASD. Th…

EEG Microstates Analysis in Young Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder During Resting-State

2019

Electroencephalography (EEG) is a useful tool to inspect the brain activity in resting state and allows to characterize spontaneous brain activity that is not detected when a subject is cognitively engaged. Moreover, taking advantage of the high time resolution in EEG, it is possible to perform fast topographical reference-free analysis, since different scalp potential fields correspond to changes in the underlying sources within the brain. In this study, the spontaneous EEG resting state (eyes closed) was compared between 10 young adults ages 18-30 years with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and 13 neurotypical controls. A microstate analysis was applied, focusing on four temporal parameters…

2019

Background: Cranio-facial anomalies frequently occur in neurodevelopmental disorders because both face and brain are derived from neuroectoderm. The identification of differences in the facial phenotype of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) may reflect alterations in embryologic brain development in children with ASD. Methods: we evaluated 33 caucasian children with ASD using a 2D computerized photogrammetry. Anthropometric euclidean measurements and landmarks located on the soft tissue of the face and head, were based on five cranio-facial indexes. Relationships between anthropometric z-scores and participant characteristics (i.e., age, Global IQ, severity of autistic symptoms m…

Particulate Matter Exposure and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Children: A Systematic Review of Epidemiological Studies

2019

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most common cognitive and behavioural disorder affecting children, with a worldwide-pooled prevalence of around 5%. Exposure to particulate matter (PM) air pollution is suspected to be associated with autism spectrum disorders and recent studies have investigated the relationship between PM exposure and ADHD. In the absence of any synthesis of the relevant literature on this topic, this systematic review of epidemiological studies aimed to investigate the relationship between the exposure of children to PM and ADHD and identify gaps in our current knowledge. In December 2018, we searched the PubMed and EMBASE databases. We only included…

Air pollution exposure during pregnancy and childhood autistic traits in four European population-based cohort studies: The ESCAPE Project

2015

Background: Prenatal exposure to air pollutants has been suggested as a possible etiologic factor for the occurrence of autism spectrum disorder. Objectives: We aimed to assess whether prenatal air pollution exposure is associated with childhood autistic traits in the general population. Methods: Ours was a collaborative study of four European population-based birth/child cohorts—CATSS (Sweden), Generation R (the Netherlands), GASPII (Italy), and INMA (Spain). Nitrogen oxides (NO2, NOx) and particulate matter (PM) with diameters of ≤ 2.5 μm (PM2.5), ≤ 10 μm (PM10), and between 2.5 and 10 μm (PMcoarse), and PM2.5 absorbance were estimated for birth addresses by land-use regression models bas…

Behavioural aspects of patients with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) that affect their dental management

2013

Dental treatment in patients with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) can be complicated due to the presence of behavioral alterations. In this group, there are no specific behavioral profiles that allow dentist to anticipate the attitude that a patient will show during a visit. Thus, behavioral attitudes have been described that vary from total permissiveness and collaboration during even bloody procedures, to the absolute impossibility in conducting a simple oral examination. There is no effective behavioral management technique for all ASD patients. Prior information, such as the type of ASD or the presence of certain concurrent pathologies can help predict the patient’s likely behavior. The…

Information and Communication Technologies to Support Early Screening of Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review

2021

 The aim of this systematic review is to identify recent digital technologies used to detect early signs of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in preschool children (i.e., up to six years of age). A systematic literature search was performed for English language articles and conference papers indexed in Pubmed, PsycInfo, ERIC, CINAHL, WoS, IEEE, and ACM digital libraries up until January 2020. A follow-up search was conducted to cover the literature published until December 2020 for the usefulness and interest in this area of research during the Covid-19 emergency. In total, 2427 articles were initially retrieved from databases search. Additional 481 articles were retrieved from follow-up searc…

Caregiving increases health complaints in middle-aged caregivers of autistic offspring: the role of years caring

2011

IntroductionCaregiving of offspring with a chronic illness is a highly stressful vital experience. Previous studies with parents of schizophrenic persons revealed that these situations increase health complaints (González-Bono et al., 2009), with the duration of caring being a relevant variable (Contell-Montaña et al., 2010). The higher age of the caregivers of schizophrenia can contribute to this health unbalance, but little is known in younger samples.Aim/objectiveTo test whether middle-aged caregivers (parents of autistic persons) present higher health disturbances than controls and to investigate the moderating role of duration of caringMethodsHealth complaints and resting levels of imm…

Systematic review of the association between particulate matter exposure and autism spectrum disorders

2017

Particulate matter (PM) as an environmental pollutant is suspected to be associated with autism spectrum disorders. The aim of the present study was to review the epidemiological literature currently available on the relation between PM exposure and diagnosis of ASD. The PubMed database was searched from November 2015 up to January 2016 by one of the authors. We included observational studies (cohort and case control studies) published in English carried out in children within the last 10 years, measuring PM exposure and health outcomes related to ASD. 13 studies met the inclusion criteria. Four of the studies found no association between PM exposure and ASD. The other 8 studies show positi…

Oral hygiene and habits of children with autism spectrum disorders and their families

2019

Background Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) frequently receive poorer health care then the general population. Frequently the speech-language pathologist is the only health professional that follows the child's everyday life and therefore is the only resource for guidance regarding basic health habits. Poor oral health may result in severe discomfort and other health problems that can be prevented by simple routine habits and adequate professional follow-up. The aim of the present study was to gather information about oral hygiene and dental care habits of children with ASD and their families. The hypothesis was that these children have poorer oral care habits than their famili…