Autism Spectrum Disorder

Study Reveals Increased ADHD Risk in Children Born to Mothers with Autoimmune Disease

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Australian researchers have found a potential link between ADHD in children and maternal autoimmune disease. Image courtesy of Kids’ Health.

An Australian study has found a potential link between autoimmune disease and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

The study took place over a decade, from 2000 to 2010, following more than 63,000 children born at full-term in New South Wales, Australia. Study author Timothy Nielsen, a PhD candidate at the University of Sydney, said that they were able to identify 12,610 mothers who had one or more of 35 common autoimmune diseases, such as type 1 diabetes, celiac disease, Crohn’s, psoriasis, multiple sclerosis, lupus, Sjogren’s or rheumatoid arthritis, to name a few. The children were identified as having a diagnosis of ADHD, or a prescription for stimulants.

The study also included a meta-analysis of existing research on this topic. The combined results of the longitudinal study and the meta-analysis found that when the mother had a diagnosis of any autoimmune disease, [this was] associated with a higher risk of ADHD in their child at later ages.

While researchers don’t know the exact reason why women with autoimmune disorders are more likely to have children with ADHD, researchers do have a hypothesis. It’s believed that maternal autoantibodies, which attack the mother’s own tissues, cross the placenta into the unborn fetus during pregnancy. Inflammatory molecules, therefore, could potentially do the same. These molecules could, in turn, alter fetal brain development, either by altering epigenetic markers, which turn certain genes on or off, or by impacting the function and formation of synapses, which allow nerve cells to communicate.

Nielsen explained, “These changes may lead directly to ADHD symptoms, or they may make the child more vulnerable to environmental risk factors.” He continued, “Our team is currently working on research into the causal mechanisms that underlie the association between autoimmune disease and ADHD, which may shed light on whether the severity of disease, symptoms, use of medications or other inflammatory factors modifies the risk of ADHD.”

This is the first study that explores the correlation between maternal autoimmune disease and the risk of ADHD in children. Other research has shown a link between autoimmune disease in mothers and other neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), tics and Tourette’s syndrome.

Read the original study published in JAMA Pediatrics here: Association of Maternal Autoimmune Disease with ADHD in Children.

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Evidence of Autoimmune Response in Patients with Autism; Family of Woman with Scleroderma Seeks Financial Support

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Evidence of autoimmune response in patients with autism

Autism impacts 1 in 59 American children by age eight and can seriously impair social skills and communication, and lead to repetitive behaviors and restricted interests. For the first time, a team of Boston, Massachusetts-based physicians and scientists have published a report detailing evidence of an autoimmune response against brain cells in patients with autism.

Matthew Anderson, MD, PhD, was the lead researcher in the study. His team analyzed brain tissues donated through Autism BrainNet, a non-profit tissue bank, and noticed that over two-thirds of the brains examined contained three uncommon characteristics.

Firstly, they noted the accumulation of immune cells surrounding blood vessels in the brain (called perivascular lymphocyte cuffs). Secondly, they found that there were bubbles or blisters (that scientists call blebs) accumulating around these blood vessels. Finally, upon further examination, they found that these blebs contained debris called astrocytes.

These findings are evidence of an autoimmune response and chronic inflammation in the brains of patients with autism. The scientists also compared the autistic brains to those of non-autistic donated tissues, and the presence of these findings in the autistic patients ‘significantly surpassed’ that of the control cases.

Although this study does not definitively prove that autism is an autoimmune disease, it is a first step in finding evidence of an immune response for this neurological condition. Anderson compared his team’s findings to research that multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease caused by the immune system’s destruction of the nerves’ myelin sheath.

To read more about this astonishing study, click here.

Family of woman with scleroderma seeks financial support

Yesenia Garica, 25, of Newhall, Santa Clarita, California, first began experiencing debilitating symptoms five years ago. However, it took years for her to get a diagnosis of scleroderma – an autoimmune condition that primarily affects the skin.

Symptoms of scleroderma include hardened and thickened skin, ulcers and sores on the skin, joint pain, muscle weakness, intolerance to cold, high blood pressure, blood vessel damage, and scarring of the lungs.

Yesenia has been hospitalized six times and had surgery three times this year alone. As a result, she now weighs a mere 74 lbs. Unfortunately, her health insurance does not cover the medication that she is taking to treat her symptoms. As such, her family has set up a GoFundMe campaign so that Yesenia can continue to take the medication and to cover specialized treatment at UCLA. So far, the campaign has raised $4,700 out of the $10,000 goal.

To learn more about Yesenia’s condition and to contribute to her GoFundMe campaign, click here.