connection with lupus and autism

[sarahbou]

I have read a small piece from A.G.Moore book "A Lupus Handbook: These Are The Faces of Lupus", It said that there is a link between parental autoimmune conditions and the development of autism, is this true because my eldest son was diagnosed with autism when he was four, it would be good to have some clarification.

[NeeNaw]

I think it is still an unknown quantity ...... environmental factors can trigger it too and I know parents with autistic children who have no autoimmune conditions in their family at all. Knowledge is power, but sometimes it can also cause you to beat yourself up and few books are written by the lupus sufferer. I can also say with hand on heart that I know the majority of lupus patients in NI and I cannot think of one of them who has any autistic children.

[Paul_Howard Partner LUPUS UK]

Hi sarahbou,

I've just checked with everyone here at National Office and none of us have ever heard of any link between parental autoimmune conditions and the development of autism.

Our Chair is meeting some top lupus doctors this afternoon and she will be asking them if they know of any link. I should have an answer back by early next week hopefully.

[Paul_Howard Partner LUPUS UK]

Hi Sarahbou,

I'm ever so sorry for taking so long to get back to you. I didn't hear from our chair until a few days after I expected and then I'll be honest - I completely forgot to update you.

Jane (our Chair) spoke to 6 leading lupus specialists and none of them had ever heard of a link between autism and paternal lupus.

[sarahbou]

you never know until you hear from experts, there are so much information not knowing what is true or not, only been diagnosed in 2010 so still learning about it, glad to know, sometimes i blame myself for it, one less thing to worry about thank you so much

[lupuswriter]

Hi, I am A.G. Moore and I wrote the book A Lupus Handbook: These Are the Faces of Lupus. I wrote the book to help and to inform; I was very careful about the research I cited. In the chapter that discusses autoimmune disease and autism, I discuss the fact that a definite association exists between some autoimmune diseases and the incidence of autism. Some of the sources for this information are:

Epidemiology: November 2010-Vol 21-Issue 6 pp 805-808: Parental

Autoimmune Diseases Associated With Autism Spectrum Disorders in Offspring; Keil: Alexandera; Daniels, Julie,.....

Psychiatric News: August 21, 2009 Vol 44 Number 16 Page 25 American Psychiatric Association Clinical and Research News Relationship Found Between Autism and Autoimmune Disorders

Child Neurol June 1999 vol 14 no 6 388-394 Familial Clustering of Autoimmune Disorders and Evaluation of Medical Risk Factors in Autism Anne M.. Come, MD, Johns Hopkins Hospital....

Please note that a statistical relationship such as demonstrated in these research articles is not necessarily valid when considering any individual case. The autism/autoimmunity association is helpful only to scientists as they seek to understand the cause of a disease. Given the information available today, none of us can guess why one of us has lupus or why one of us has autism. What we can do is seek the best possible medical care for our respective conditions. And if medicine cannot bestow upon us good health, then we, as members of a community, whether it be lupus or autism, can help each other to find a way toward the richest and fullest life possible.

[Blueberry]

That's really interesting - my son has autism

[Millissa]

I too have lupus IGA and my son was diagnosed with autism at 4. I believe genetic factor must play a role. Understanding this will probably take years. We also have a paternal family history of autism. There was a study released a few weeks ago about mapping the genome from the paternal side. Might be an interesting read.