Full genome sequencing for autism?

First full genome sequencing for autism: Promise for future diagnosis, prevention and treatment: "A collaborative formed by Autism Speaks, the world's leading autism science and advocacy organization, has found full genome sequencing examining the entire DNA code of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their family members to provide the definitive look at the wide ranging genetic variations associated with ASD. The study published online today in American Journal of Human Genetics, reports on full genome sequencing on 32 unrelated Canadian individuals with autism and their families, participants in the Autism Speaks Autism Genetic Resource Exchange (AGRE). The results include both inherited as well as spontaneous or de novo, genetic alterations found in one half of the affected families sequenced."

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Up To 75% Of Americans Functioning In Chronic State Of Dehydration ...

Chronic Dehydration More Common Than You Think « CBS Miami

Most people know that they are supposed to drink water, but up to 75 percent of Americans may be functioning in a chronic state of dehydration, according to new research.

...Water is necessary for the body to digest and absorb vitamins and nutrients. It’s also key to proper digestion, it detoxifies the liver and kidneys, and carries waste away, Webb said.

Bacteroides and Autism

Bacteria boost fixes symptoms of autism in mice - health - 14 February 2013 - New Scientist

REPLACING missing gut bacteria in a mouse model of autism reverses adverse social behaviours and gut disorders associated with the condition. 

Last year, Sarkis Mazmanian and Paul Patterson at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena found that infecting pregnant mice with molecules from a flu virus caused autism-like symptoms in their offspring. The pups were less social, squeaked less and displayed repetitive behaviours. They also had a "leaky" gastrointestinal tract that allowed bacteria to move in and out of the lining. In addition, the bacteria present in their gut were significantly different from that found in mice without autism-like behaviour. 

Studies in humans have also identified links between gut bacteria and autism. For example, a 2011 study identified a significant lack of Bacteroides in children with autism. 

To investigate further, Mazmanian and Patterson fed mice with autism-like symptoms a common species of Bacteroides. The mice's gut cells subsequently appeared to have stronger connections to one another, and stopped expressing genes for signalling molecules that raise the immune response. The animals' behaviour changed as well: they stopped the repetitive behaviour and squeaked more when with the opposite sex. The work waspresented at a recent TEDx conference in Pasadena.

Timothy Syndrome and Autism

How Timothy Syndrome Mutation Causes Wiring Defects Associated With Cognitive Impairment

The present study reveals that a mutation of the disease-causing gene throws a key process of neurodevelopment into reverse. That is, the mutation underlying Timothy syndrome causes shrinkage, rather than growth, of the wiring needed for the development of neural circuits that underlie cognition. 

"In addition to the implications for autism, what's really exciting is that we now have a way to get at the core mechanisms tying genes and environmental influences to development and disease processes in the brain," said Dolmetsch, Senior Director of Molecular Networks at the Allen Institute for Brain Science. 

Reshaping the brain

Reshaping the brain: scientists reprogram neurons after birth | Ars Technica

they still don’t know how plastic they are—if they can change fates after they started differentiating down one particular path. In the context of brain injury, it would be useful to know if certain neural circuits could be reprogrammed and repaired by having the neurons that are already present change fates to adapt to the damage. But this has been challenging to determine, because changing the fate of specific neurons in the latter stages of differentiation has been technically difficult.

Which came first? The autism or the seizures?

Which came first, the autism or the seizures?  Many people with autism have seizures, but could seizures early in life lead to autism?  My daughter had her first seizure at 4 months and several very lengthy seizures at around 8 months.

PLoS ONE: The Interaction between Early Life Epilepsy and Autistic-Like Behavioral Consequences: A Role for the Mammalian Target of Rapamycin (mTOR) Pathway
Early life seizures can result in chronic epilepsy, cognitive deficits and behavioral changes such as autism, and conversely epilepsy is common in autistic children. We hypothesized that during early brain development, seizures could alter regulators of synaptic development and underlie the interaction between epilepsy and autism. 

Timing of Seizures: Frontal lobe (Noon to Midnight); Temporal lobe (Midnight and Noon)

Very interesting.  My daughter has seizures and they happen after noon and usually later in 99% of the time.  We are able to coordinate riskier activities like swimming in the morning.  We also tend to book air plan flights in the morn to avoid seizure on the plane, etc.  Does anyone else have experience with seizures that happen only at certain parts of the day?

Timing of Seizures | epilepsy.com
The investigators analyzed records from patients who had an ambulatory EEG from 24-72 hours. They maintained a log of symptoms and signaled the time when symptoms occurred by pushing the event detection button during their EEG. Eight Hundred Thirty-one (831) reports were analyzed and 44 patients had definite seizure events. A total of 129 seizures were recorded with various locations in the cortex. Frontal lobe seizures occurred more frequently between noon and midnight as compared to temporal lobe seizures which occurred much more frequently between midnight and noon. A separate analysis of the frontal lobe seizures revealed a cluster of seizures that tended to center around 6:33 a.m. Temporal lobe seizures had 24 seizures that seemed to cluster around 8:50 p.m.
More @ http://www.epilepsy.com/newsletter/may12/timing