Podcast: Sobering statistics on suicide

Suicidal thoughts and suicidal attempts have been shown to be increased in people with ASD. Rates are similar to those with bipolar depression and schizophrenia, but are higher even without psychosis. This is shocking and an urgent health issue in the autism community. This week’s podcast summarizes recent data, publications, presentations, and concerns of thought leaders in autism about rates of suicide, what the risk factors are, and where research should be directed to prevent suicide.

If you or anyone you know is thinking about ending their life, please reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Hotline: +1 (800) 273-8255.

On this week’s podcast, diagnosis with the DSM 5. While much work needs to be done to include individual abilities and disabilities into the DSM5, after the CDC prevalence numbers were published last month, it became clear the old DSM IV was not working. In a replication of a previous finding, it showed that the DSM IV categories of Aspergers, PDDNOS and autistic disorder were just not being used consistently across states, and left the interpretation of those diagnoses somewhat meaningless. While DSM 5 is a step in the right direction, more work needs to be done to ensure everyone is receiving the most specific diagnosis possible, and getting the services they need. Listen to the podcast here.

On this week’s podcast, Dr. Tracy Yuen of University of Toronto and the Hospital for Sick Children explains two different analyses of cost-effectiveness which looked at 1) universal screening for ASD and 2) use of genomic sequencing to identify novel variants in people with ASD.

This week’s podcast is a short summary of just a few of the presentations. There was more of an emphasis on what has been called “real life” research questions like employment, quality of life, and relationships. As a result, some of the more basic science questions around autism are now being presented at other meetings. This is a shame. This podcast follows some of those basic science questions to the now translational opportunities that were presented at the meeting. It also highlights some newer findings that will provide help to people at all ages who need supports and services.

On this week’s podcast, three genetics papers featuring three ASF fellows! All three deal with using whole genome sequencing (WGS) to study non-coding regulatory regions that may be associated with autism. These regions of DNA do not code for proteins but regulate the regions that do. Mutations in the non-coding regulatory regions that regulate the genes associated with autism appear to be passed down from the father. However, the statistics around these findings need to be carefully considered because, for autism risk, the contribution of non-coding mutations seems to be more modest than that of coding mutations.

Read the work by…
Dr. William Brandler of UC San Diego, ASF Fellow ’15 here.
Dr. Joon Yong An of UCSF, ASF Fellow ’18 here.
Dr. Donna Werling of UCSF, ASF Fellow ’16 here.

The Autism Science Foundation team is proud to announce that ASF Board Member Dr. Paul Offit of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia received the Albert B. Sabin Gold Medal from the Sabin Vaccine Institute. Every year, the Sabin Vaccine Institute recognizes a distinguished member of the public health community who has made extraordinary contributions in vaccinology or a complementary field. The Sabin Gold Medal commemorates the legacy of Dr. Albert B. Sabin, the developer of the oral polio vaccine that has helped bring poliovirus to the brink of eradication. The Sabin Vaccine Institute honored Dr. Offit for his contributions as co-inventor of an oral rotavirus vaccine and his leadership as one of the United States’ most vocal and dedicated advocates for immunization.

You can read more about Dr. Offit’s award here.

This week’s podcast covers the recent article published in Molecular Autism that looks into the history of Hans Asperger, the eponym of Asperger’s Syndrome and a physician with ties to eugenics in Nazi-era Vienna.

This week’s podcast is a mini-recap of the 5th Annual Day of learning. Hear what the speakers distilled in their TED-style talks on topics covered sleep, diet, and medical marijuana as a potential treatment for autism. Plus hear about the most recent ASF grantees.

Inside Philanthropy, a group that urges transparency in philanthropy and tracks philanthropic trends, recognized the uniqueness of the Autism Science Foundation’s undergraduate grants in a recent article. ASF invests in the future by funding young scientists, helping set their careers in autism research in motion, early on. Learn more about what ASF funds here.

On this week’s podcast, studies tracking changes over time. The British Autism Study of Infant Siblings (BASIS) tracked changes in adaptive behaviors and cognitive skills in children at low-risk and high-risk of an ASD diagnosis, based on family history. The results point to the value in monitoring siblings of those with autism. Researchers at Kaiser Permanente tried to measure the prevalence of psychiatric and medical conditions in adolescents and young adults with ASD by studying its members in Northern California. Based on their results, the researchers call for all clinicians to approach ASD as a chronic health condition requiring regular follow-up and routine screening and treatment of medical and psychiatric issues.

The goal of the Autism Sisters Project is to build a large genetic database that researchers can use to explore the sex difference in autism diagnoses between boys and girls and discover how the potential protective factor, known as the female protective effect, can be harnessed to help people with autism of both sexes. NBC New York spoke with the Mullers, a family participating in the study, as well as with ASF Chief Science Officer Dr. Alycia Halladay and the Seaver Autism Center team at Mount Sinai in New York. You can watch the news clip here.

On this week’s ASF podcast: By looking directly at the brains of people with autism, researchers at UC Davis MIND Institute, led by Dr. Thomas Avino and Dr. Cyndi Schumann, show a disruption of neuron number in the amygdala in autism. The amygdala is important because it is linked to emotion, fear and anxiety in people with autism. The shift in too many vs. too few neurons that occurs in adolescence may help explain anxiety in people with ASD. Read the full open-access article here.