Comorbid Medical Conditions in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Widespread reports of severe medical conditions being attributed, without investigation and sometimes without physical examination, to ‘autism behaviours’ have compelled the creation of this document – Comorbid Medical Conditions in Autism Spectrum Disorder – in order to present relevant information to healthcare providers, policy makers and the wider audience. A summary of current research, including the positions of leading governmental and professional bodies, is hoped and expected to help bridge the knowledge and training gap, and as a consequence, decrease the premature mortality in autism, increased morbidity of serious medical conditions, and finally attribution of physical symptoms to ‘autism behaviours’.

A new ABBREVIATED VERSION of this publication, aimed at busy health professionals, is also available below. Organisations and institutions are invited to distribute this new document to their members: the PDF version is available to download (click on the ‘share’ link below the document), or by to request free professionally printed copies.

Cleveland Clinic Centre for Continuing Education has recently launched a clinical Webcasts Series called Autism Spectrum Disorders: Research and Medical Treatment Implications.

The series is designed for a primary audience of paediatricians, general practitioners, psychiatrists, gastroenterologists, endocrinologists, neurologists, medical geneticists and allied health practitioners. The secondary audience includes internists, nutritionists and associated allied health practitioners interested in underlying medical and neurological comorbidities associated with autism spectrum disorders.

There are several webcasts available at the moment covering gastrointestinal, metabolic, and neurological issues: www.clevelandclinicmeded.com/online/autism-spectrum-disorders/, with more webcasts planned in the near future. The webcasts are accredited as Category 1 CMEs from the American Medical Association.

NEW report: Health and service provision for people with Autism
Parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) face severe challenges in accessing adequate services, according to a survey of hundreds of parents in the United Kingdom. The survey, carried out by the charity Treating Autism during 2014, forms the basis of a report, authored by Professor Jane Wills, based at the School of Geography, Queen Mary University of London. There are more than 600,000 people living with ASD in the UK today, and it is estimated to cost the UK in the region of £32 billion every year in lost earnings, care and support for all those involved.

The full report can be accessed here Health and service provision for people with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A survey of parents in the United Kingdom, 2014

Further reading and viewing recommended
by Treating Autism

JOURNAL ARTICLES:
Health records reveal autism’s full picture
by Professor Isaac Kohane, Harward Medical School, lead author of one of the largest study on medical comorbidities in autism: The co-morbidity burden of children and young adults with autism spectrum disorders. PLoS One. 2012;7(4):e33224. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0033224.

Autism and Associated Medical Conditions
by epidemiologist Laura Schieve, Ph.D., Centers  for Disease Control and Prevention, lead author of the study Concurrent medical conditions and health care use and needs among children with learning and behavioral developmental disabilities, National Health Interview Survey, 2006-2010.  Res Dev Disabil. 2011;33:467-76.

The review of most frequently occurring medical disorders related to aetiology of autism and the methods of treatment by Dr Cubala-Kucharska. The aim of the paper is to present medical problems of children with autism which may be identified and treated by general practitioners as a review of current medical papers related to Autism Spectrum Disorder, in the context of author’s professional experience, based on the medical cases from author’s practice.

BOOKS:
Navigating the Medical Maze with Autism Spectrum Disorder – A Practical Guide for Parents’ by Sue Ming, MD and Beth Pletcher, MD, provides an in-depth and comprehensive view on various medical issues comorbid to, or underlying autism, and possible test and treatments. This book is also available to borrow from our members’ library.

VIDEOS:
Autism – The Fundamental Role of Gut Bacteria, a video interview with Dr Derrick MacFabe discussing fascinating new research that connects changes in gut bacteria to autism spectrum disorder.

What if this is not autism? conference webcast by the Dr M Goldberg, creator of the NIDS (Neuroimmune Dysfunction Syndrome) approach to treating autism. Also available on youtube www.youtube.com/watch?v=asMyEggNKxo

The Immune System & Autism interview with T Theoharides MD PhD