2014 One Hour Long Cycle with Kettlebells 4 Autism When? Join us on Saturday October 18, 2014. Start time- 11:00 a.m. (PDT) This year marks the 5 year anniversary of the One Hour Long Cycle! Why take part in the 2014 One Hour Long Cycle... By: Jason Dolby … Continue reading →

People with autism have too many synapses in their brains, say researchers Synapses are places where where neurons connect and communicate Surplus synapses due to a lack of pruning that normally occurs early in life Discovery is huge leap in understanding of the complex condition - and could pave the way for possible treatments By Ben Spencer for the Daily Mail Published: 13:20 EST, 21 August 2014 | Updated: 03:59 EST, 22 August 2014 5,434 shares 251 View comments People with autism have too many synapses in their brains - places where where neurons connect and communicate Scientists say they have discovered the reason why some people suffer from autism. Those with the condition have too many synapses in their brains - places where where neurons connect and communicate, a new study has found. Scientists at Columbia University in New York believe that the surplus synapses are created because of a lack of pruning that normally occurs early in life. More: What causes autism? Scientists discover people with the condition have too many brain 'connections' … Continue reading →

Insurance companies may not limit the number of doctor visits to treat autism, the Connecticut Insurance Department said in a bulletin this week. The Affordable Care Act passed by Congress in 2010 prohibits a dollar limit on benefits in a health, including money used for "Applied Behavioral Analysis," according to the department. However, guidelines from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to state insurance regulators left open the option of an actuarial approach that could be used to limit the number of visits to a clinician's office for autism treatment, the department said. "This bulletin, in a single sense, basically lifts any limitations on autism treatment for families in Connecticut who are covered commercially," said Connecticut's deputy insurance commissioner, Anne Melissa Dowling. "There was so just so much anxiety from families and very few pierce those limits anyway. So, in conversations that I had personally with each one of the companies, we asked them if there was any reason to keep limits," Dowling said. Each insurer that had an actuarial limit on autism treatments agreed to lift it this year, rather than wait for new requirements that would take effect in 2015, Dowling said. Read more from the … Continue reading →

The surplus synapses - places where neurons connect and communicate - is due to a lack of "pruning" that normally occurs early in life. In mice with autistic traits, scientists were able to restore synaptic pruning and reduce symptoms with a drug used to suppress the immune systems of transplant patients. Loading article content The drug, rapamycin, has side-effects that make it unsuitable as an autism treatment. But the discovery opens up possibilities for other therapies based on synaptic pruning. Excessive synapses could be a fundamental causal factor behind autism, the scientists believe. "This is an important finding that could lead to a novel and much-needed therapeutic strategy for autism," said Professor Jeffrey Lieberman, chairman of psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Centre in New York, where the research took place. Autism, which affects about 500,000 people in the UK, covers a range of behavioural disorders that reduce the ability of sufferers to communicate with and relate to other people. It is though to be triggered by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. During normal brain development, a burst of synapse formation occurs in infancy, especially in the cortex - a region closely linked to autistic behaviour. Pruning removes more … Continue reading →

By Amy Norton HealthDay Reporter WEDNESDAY, Aug. 20, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Monthly blood transfusions may lower the chances of "silent" strokes in some children with sickle cell anemia, a new clinical trial indicates. The study, reported in the Aug. 21 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, found that in children with a previous silent stroke, monthly blood transfusions cut the rate of future strokes by more than half. The researchers said their findings support screening children with sickle cell for evidence of silent stroke -- something that is not routinely done now. "Prior to this, there was no treatment, so the argument was, 'Why screen?'" explained Dr. James Casella, vice chair of the clinical trial and director of pediatric hematology at Johns Hopkins Children's Center in Baltimore. "Now we have a treatment to offer." However, Casella also stressed that "this study is a first step, not the last one." Many questions remain, he said. A big one is, do the blood transfusions have to be continued for life? "It's possible the treatment could be indefinite," Casella said. Sickle cell anemia is an inherited disease that mainly affects people of African, South or Central American or Mediterranean descent. … Continue reading →