Is there a connection between MS and autism?"

[lusciousleaves]

I'm not sure if this is my imagination drawing connections where there aren't any, or pure coincidence, but it seems to me that quite a large number of people here have mentioned having children on the autism spectrum.

Has there ever been much research on how many kids on the spectrum have a family member with MS? Could there be a connection?

While I haven't been diagnosed, my grandfather was, and my son was autistic until he went on a round of oral steroids for asthma. Within a week (at the age of 2.5) he began speaking two word sentences and giving eye contact that he had never done before. His speech therapist that had been working with him for 6 months was dumbfounded at the change and documented it in her records. She said it was absolutely not related to anything that she had done.

I was convinced at that point that at least my son's issues were autoimmune and tremendously helped by steroids. Only a handful of doctors acknowledge that this could even happen. Most consider me an off-the-wall lunatic.

And now, here we are ten years later, I end up showing signs of some neurological thing that could be autoimmune as well. I never dreamed there could have been something wrong with my body that might have transferred to his or have been passed on through genetics that may have caused his difficulties. I am, however, 100% grateful to the doctor that mistakenly prescribed oral steroids to him when he did. It took him from autistic to high functioning in one week and we haven't looked back.

I was just wondering if any others here might have similar stories or experiences. In reading many of these research studies, an oft repeated practice is to transfer antibodies to tissue from one animal to another to trigger the disease process. As a parent, I can't not question if this is what happened when I was pregnant with my son.

[acaverly]

That is wonderful about your son. I mean that he is high functioning now. I do not have any autism in my family. My daughter was diagnosed with Crohns disease when she was 11 and ended up having surgery and doing great now with meds at age 16.
I have been having symptoms that are nueralogical but no dx at this time.

[Jules A]

Interesting thought because I absolutely do believe the chances of having children with MS or autoimmune diseases is a very real concern for us but I haven't seen anything that screams a connection between MS and ASD.

There is seems to be minimal data on an autoimmune aspect to ASD which would be where I would look first to find a connection. Try searching google scholar using different key words if you are interested in the data that has been published.

Good luck in your search for answers and please keep us posted if you find anything! Although you didn't get many responses so far there are a few of us who are very interested in this kind of information.

[JerryD]

I would be happy to know that I witnessed a 'miracle'. And that you may have some physical characteristics and traits that are familial, doesn't seem unreasonable. The fact that you have seen a remarkable change in your son, means that 'all things are possible'. I appreciate your story, as it bolsters my confidence that there will be a cure and it may come from 'out of the blue'.

[MandaPanda2888]

VERY INTERSTING THEORY! I was diagnosed with MS in June but believe very much so I've had it since the age if 12. My son is almost 2. There are no signs of autism but he dors have expressive language delay. He makes great eye contact and us very social so I'm not worried about autism but he definitely has a language delay. He has been working with a therapist too. His dad and I split up a few months after his first birthday though and I think that might have a little to do with it. We both alsO needed speech therapy when we were younger and his dad still has some speech impediments but that's arill interesting all the same.

[ffjosh]

My little cousin (maybe 18 now) has/had autism. You cant tell she has it anymore but I am 27 and have MS.

[rfreshour]

Very interesting suggestion.....my son is 15, and though he is not autistic, he does have dyslexia, which no one in my family or his father's has ever had.....kind of makes you wonder about a lot of things, doesn't it?

[lusciousleaves]

Thank you for the Google Scholar suggestion. Apparently, the idea of maternal antibodies and anti-brain antibodies has been studied for quite some time in relation to autism. Studies go back to the late 80s. They've found higher levels of anti-brain antibodies in ASD, but haven't determined if they're causative or not.

[lusciousleaves]

I did find something interesting. There are studies that find associations between mothers with AI diseases and higher incidences of ASD in their offspring. This one studied genetic data and found genetic associations between ankylosing spondylitis and multiple sclerosis with ASD.

Free full text a pubmed. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...6/?tool=pubmed

[lusciousleaves]

Sorry for the extra post, but I wanted to thank huntrd for fixing the title. Thank you!

[Still Smyelin]

My was diagnosed with Aspergers about 3 years after my diagnosis. Never really related the two...

[Still Smyelin]

My son was diagnosed...my brain is faster than my fingers...

[lusciousleaves]

I should correct my post above as well. Have that brain-finger thing here too! My son has Asperger's now (since he started speaking) and after years of treatment along with changes in the diagnostic criteria, will likely lose his dx soon.

That doesn't mean there aren't still hurdles ahead, because there are and they're still profound. However, his chances of overcoming this are far better than they would have been without the treatment he received early on, medical and otherwise.

If anyone else has read the study above, they've connected MS to ASD in the sense that certain MS genes are protective. It has an inverse association, whereas the ankylosing spondylitis confers risk for ASD. They also mention a few other AI diseases associated with ASD - psoriasis, autoimmune thyroid and RA. I'm sure there are others. The important thing is, there does seem to be a connection to AI and ASD.

I could have told them that, but nobody would listen. I'm just a fringe-worshipping loony. lol

[lusciousleaves]

And guess who just met the parent of an ASD kid who has 2 siblings with MS? The parent's siblings, that is.

[lemstar]

There are more and more people identified with ASD lately. Could be environmental, or increased awareness, or looser diagnostic criteria.

One theory includes viruses as possible triggers for ASD, and perhaps for MS as well.

I think its a loose connection, and if and when we know more, we will see the differentiation.