posted
Is anyone here well versed in Asperger's Disease? Over the last year my daughter has become close with a little girl that has Asperger's. This little girl has relayed to me that her sister has it as well and said they "got" it from their dad. She also mentioned that her dad comes from a large family(like ours) and that all of his siblings and her cousins have it as also. This does not sit well with me. How in the world can a disease be passed from father to child?
So I did a little search and I came up with this from Wrong Planet(I know nothing of the validity of this), an autism website
"Researchers at Stanford University have announced in the latest Stanford University Health Journal that a recent study conducted by the immunology department of the Center for clinical immunology has found evidence Asperger's Syndrome is actually contagious. "We have found DNA segments which seem to indicate that the syndrome has mutated into an easily contractible virus that resembles a strain of Marburg hemorrhagic fever. When Hans Asperger first discovered Asperger's Syndrome, he probably never imagined that the possibility of a mutation existed." According to Dr. Josh Strober, head of the Stanford's Center for clinical immunology, this is highly probable. "We've seen cases where adults with the syndrome have married and actually passed it on to their spouses." WrongPlanet.net will provide further information on what could possibly become an epidemic."
Does anyone know how to search the stanford health journals? I cannot find a website. Maybe I am just being paranoid, but I feel I need to investigate this further to hopefully set my mind at ease.
Thank you guys in advance for info you may have...
Posts: 89 | From Ohio | Registered: Mar 2006
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TerryK
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 8552
posted
Sorry, I don't know about a viral connection but Aspergers is a form of autism and autism is thought by some to be caused by lyme disease.
Terry
Posts: 6286 | From Oregon | Registered: Jan 2006
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savebabe
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 9847
posted
Maybe they think there is a genetic componant to aspergers.
I do know that it is a form of autism and possible can be cause by lyme, viruses, and envirnonmental toxins.
Posts: 1603 | From ny | Registered: Aug 2006
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posted
Asperger Syndrome shows up in families because there is a genetic link. AS is NOT a disease: it is a differently-wired brain, and thanks to brain scans, etc., a lot has now been scientifically documented on what was once simply very puzzling behaviors.
I have not heard about autism being catching and I am multiple autism e-lists.
But, yes, a child can say he/she got it from someone in the family. Now that AS is recognized more, many are looking back and realizing that uncle so-and-so had AS, or grandma sure shows signs of it now that they know what to look for, etc..
As for Lyme Disease, I believe it can bring out autism-like behavior, but I think autism belongs in its own separate research category.
Asperger's is on the autism spectrum and we now talk about ASD: autism spectrum disorders. Those sometimes include ADD/HD and bi-polar disease, as well as PDD-NOS (pervasive developmental disorder-not othersiwe specified = we don't know but we have a label for it!). Autism spectrum = a continuum of degrees brains functioning differently.
Thanks to the Internet & more jobs opening for nerds, said nerds are meeting and breeding. Consider 'nerd' a derogatory name for someone on the autism spectrum, think of the genetics when they find others like them and have children together. There has been a huge rise in autism in children in Silicon Valley, CA, right in the midst of computer nerd/geek land: the reason seems obvious and articles have been written about it.
ESG
Posts: 424 | From Connecticut, USA | Registered: Nov 2003
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TerryK
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Member # 8552
posted
ESG - I am a computer person and I've never met anyone that is a computer person who has autism or aspergers syndrome that I know of. I do have a nephew who has aspergers but we have no other signs of it in our family that I'm aware of and we have a large extended family. I know everyone pretty well. His mother does have lyme though.
There are many links on autism and lyme if you look around. Of course autism could be caused by other things too but I've heard from an LLMD that there is a connection between autism and lyme and I tend to believe it. That said, I don't think there is any concrete proof at this point.
Terry
Posts: 6286 | From Oregon | Registered: Jan 2006
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oxygenbabe
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Member # 5831
posted
You've been had. There is no Josh Strober and no head of immunology at Stanford would ever talk like that or compare anything associated with Asperger's to Marburg virus. It's a hoax! Posts: 2276 | From united states | Registered: Jun 2004
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bejoy
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 11129
posted
Aspergers is similar to and sometimes considered a form of autism.
Autism is being linked to lyme disease, in many cases. It is also sometimes linked to mercury toxicity, food and chemical sensitivities, birth trauma, and genetics.
It is quite concievable that Aspergers could be related to a tick borne or vector born bacteria, virus or micoplasma, although that has not been studied, to my knowledge.
If that is actually the case, the possibility of such an organism being transferable by saliva or being airborne is unlikely.
The little girl probably meant that she was told that she got it "genetically" from her father.
If there has actually been a study concluding a specific viral cause for Aspergers, I would like to see it! That would be very significant for my line of work.
I looked at the article you cited. It is written by "anonymous" with no links or references. I agree that it is most likely a hoax.
I find no other sources citing such research from Stanford, but do see a reputable article in a medical journal about a reseach study from Stanford linking Aspergers and genetics.
-------------------- bejoy!
"Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." -Ralph Waldo Emerson Posts: 1918 | From Alive and Well! | Registered: Feb 2007
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posted
Hey..sorry for my untimely reply..thank you everyone for taking the time to reply to my post. Yes, that link did not seem very concrete. I am just paranoid these days I suppose. It's unbelievable the amount of autism/add/learning disabled kids I notice at my kids' school, and we are in a desirable disrict. Something is amiss here,and I seem to be the only one noticing it. Ok well anyway,thanks again you guys,your great as always. Take care!
Posts: 89 | From Ohio | Registered: Mar 2006
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tailz
Unregistered
posted
I just posted a thread about how FIP - a fatal feline corona virus - could be another causative factor in chronic Lyme.
Fact is, there are so many bugs out there that can be caught, that are mutating and so forth, that I think scientists are going about things wrong, merely trying to identify the causative bug and figuring out how to kill it.
I personally think they should leave these bugs alone and try to figure out WHY they cross the blood-brain barrier and persist in the body like they do.
Please read 'Cross Currents' by Dr. Robert Becker. You will look at Lyme and all disease from a different perspective.
Just today I was outside trying to dig a hole. My head started to hurt for no reason - until I could HEAR my neighbor talking on her cell phone.
The cause of all disease is not some bacteria or bug or whatnot - CELL PHONES and WIRELESS - these are the culprits to why these bugs cross the blood-brain barrier, but very few docs are taking my claims seriously - to the detriment of many patients.
As long as cell phones and wireless exist, it will only get worse with each generation of technology.
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