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Kaitlynn was born September 29th, 2004. We have seen neurology specialists from St. Louis to New Orleans since she was born. Unfortunately, we still do not have a definitive diagnosis for Kaitlynn. The best guess her doctors have to offer is mitochondrial disease.

Autism Diagnosis Using A Simple Urine Sample

10:05 PM Posted In , , , , Edit This 3 Comments »
Often parent's and medical professionals find the path to an autism diagnosis to be lengthy, difficult, and lacking in uniformity.  Medical professionals in the U.K. use a lengthy process of social interaction, communication, and imaginative skill testing to obtain a diagnosis.  Aside from this process taking sometimes years to complete, autism is often misdiagnosed as a different behavior related problem.  

This is unfortunate because we already know that early intervention can make a huge difference in how an autistic child is able to progress, and at what rate.

There may be a way to accelerate and solidify the autistic diagnostic process. Imagine if autism could be diagnosed before the child showed symptoms of it! Typical onset of autistic symptoms is between 1 and 5-years-old.  Read more.


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A simple urine test might just enable professionals to immediately identify children with autism and allow them to get that important early intervention. Researchers from Imperial College London and the University of South Australia have found that autistic children have different metabolic fingerprints in their urine than children without autism an non-effected children with autistic siblings.  Those with autism supposedly have a different makeup of bacteria in the gut. This is thought to be why many autistic people suffer from GI issues.

The National Autistic Society in Britain is skeptical of the accuracy of such a test, and the researchers admit that the method is still in the beginning phase of development . However, they are planning clinical trial studies with hundreds of children, and say that if the clinical trials go well, then the urine test could be available by 2015

3 comments:

Chris Stonecipher said...

Autism research has significantly improved since my children where diagnosed. However, i wish this article actually stated what they are looking for in the urine test.

jo oliver said...

Chris, the article about it did not get into real specifics...it just said - "looking at the by-products of gut bacteria and the body's metabolic processes in the children's urine. The exact biological significance of gastrointestinal disorders in the development of autism is unknown.
The distinctive urinary metabolic fingerprint for autism identified in today's study could form the basis of a non-invasive test that might help diagnose autism earlier." Here is the link from the org. article. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100603091641.htm

Chris Stonecipher said...

Thank you Jo,
I haven't spent much time recently with autism research as compared to intervention and life skills. This article has peaked my interest as I believe it has much to do with our environment, nutrition and genetic profile.