NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Infections may be the main driver of autism after comparing the brains of 8 children with social disorder to healthy people, a new study suggests.
The researchers found that parts of the brains of children with autism, which are central to working memory and attention, areas that are damaged in autism, contain unusually high levels of a molecule known to cause inflammation.
The team, led by Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts, says the findings suggest that drugs that target anti-inflammatory proteins can one day be an effective treatment for autism.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is defined as a developmental disorder in which patients have difficulty communicating and behavior and include many conditions, including autism, Asperger's syndrome and thinking childhood disorder, all of which can range from mild to severe.
Children as young as two are often diagnosed with this “social disease”, after showing signs of not responding to their names and performing frequent movements. Males are about 4 times more likely than females to have autism.