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Query: UMLS:C0004352 (autism)
 32,579 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Autistic children undergoing therapeutic programs, which adopt in our service (USL 3 CT) different theoretical approaches, sometimes show a marked reduction in motor activities, a lowering of tone of voice, physical expression of sadness. We observe that animation is absent in the scene they may draw and colours are no longer used in their drawings. Sleep disturbance may appear or reappearance of enuresis. Many authors consider these symptoms as signs of depression. These changes, even though they create new problems in therapeutic management, are, in our opinion, a very important index of the unblocking of autistic withdrawal and beginning of development of those emotional, relational and cognitive components which seem to be frozen in autistic children and inhibit the birth of the mind, according to the U. Frith Theory. We report in this paper the psychoanalytic, cognitive, systemic, biological viewpoint on the occurrence of depression in infantile autism. We submit three cases of patients being treated in our service with the cognitive-behavioural oriented educational program and pharmacological therapy and discuss the multidimensional approach. The temporary occurrence of depression symptoms may be an index of a change within the resisting autistic balance, which may have a biological basis, but indicates the disorganization of the autistic child's mind in view of further development.
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PMID:Prognostic significance of depression occurrence in infantile autism. 906 96

Sleep disturbances are regarded as a common clinical feature in autistic children. This concept is based primarily on informal observations or studies conducted with questionnaires. In this study we compared data obtained by questionnaires to that obtained with actigraphy. Among 22 autistic children, 12 were reported as having sleep problems and 8 patients completed 72 hours actigraphy. While the employment of questionnaires disclosed that autistic children had an earlier morning awakening time and multiple and early night arousals, actigraphic monitoring showed that with the exception of an earlier morning arousal time (p = .045), sleep patterns of autistic children were similar to that of normal children. Parental oversensitivity to sleep disturbances of the autistic children may explain this phenomenon.
J Autism Dev Disord 1999 Apr
PMID:Sleep patterns in autistic children. 1038 34

We studied the usefulness of melatonin for sleep disorders and emotional/behavior disturbances of patients with developmental disorders. The efficacy and side effects of melatonin at bedtime were evaluated in 50 children and young adults with sleep disorders (3-28 years old, 41 males and 9 females, autism [AU] in 27 patients, mentally retardation [MR] in 20 patients, and severe motor and intellectual disability [SMID] in 3 patients). The sleep disorders consisted of various types of insomnia in 44 patients and of circadian rhythm sleep disorders in 6 patients. Thirty nine of the insomnia patients and 3 of the circadian rhythm sleep disorder patients experienced improvement in response to melatonin. In some cases, the efficacies were diminished after the daily medication of melatonin. With the emotional/behavior disturbances, excitabilities were often improved in cases whose sleep disorders were also improved. There was almost no change in contrariness, stereotyped behavior and in school/workshop refusal. Melatonin at bedtime was efficacious in 42 of the 50 patients with sleep disorders. In 17 patients, there were side effects (residual drowsiness on the next morning, awakening in the middle of sleep, excitement after awakening and before going to sleep, etc.). But these side effects were not serious. The effects of melatonin were influenced by the type of sleep disturbances, the factors of the environment and the mental conditions. Taking side effects into account, we judged melatonin to be useful in 34 patients.
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PMID:[Usefulness of melatonin for developmental sleep and emotional/behavior disorders--studies of melatonin trial on 50 patients with developmental disorders]. 1048 68

Due to the behavioral and communication difficulties autistic children need individualized approaches providing them medical help. Aspects of nursing of autistic children were not investigated in our country. Thirty seven mothers of autistic children and 74 mothers of children without developmental disorders (control group) were interviewed orally and filled the questionnaire. The age of children was 3-12 years old. The aim of the research was to analyze peculiarities of behavior, communication and social adaptation of children with autism disorder together with troubles they face in medical services (outpatient and inpatient), and prepare practical recommendations to the pediatric and mental health nurses. It appeared that families with autistic children come across the great difficulties in various areas of the daily life. Autistic children tended to have severe behavioral and emotional difficulties while being examined by the medical staff. Adaptation difficulties in medical services were very prominent, especially at the in-patient departments (unpredictable and impulsive behavior, anxiety, decrease of appetite, sleep disturbances). Possibilities of home visit of the nurses are underestimated and could provide more useful and constructive help to the families. The data showed existing difficulties for the pediatric nurses and medical staff to establish good contact with the autistic children and their parents and lack of knowledge about the children with pervasive developmental disorders and their needs. Practical recommendations are provided.
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PMID:[Features of nursing of the autistic children]. 1247 90

Although the exact nature of sleep disturbances present in children with psychiatric disorders has not been studied extensively, it is apparent that children with significant emotional and behavioral problems are more likely to experience sleep difficulties. Children with sleep-related issues that are limited to bedtime can be managed effectively with specific cognitive-behavioral interventions. Children with more pervasive anxiety (eg, PTSD or OCD, mood disorders such as major depression or bipolar disorder, or neurodevelopmental disabilities such as autism) require a more exhaustive evaluation, and most of them also need sleep problems to be managed by sleep professionals using combinations of psychotherapeutic and pharmacologic approaches.
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PMID:Sleep in children with psychiatric disorders. 1500 82

Sleep problems are commonly reported in children with autistic disorders. Most studies are based on sleep questionnaires and sleep diaries, but polysomnographic and actigraphic data have also been used. In this study we investigated sleep in older individuals (aged 15-25 years) with autism and Asperger syndrome, using sleep questionnaires, sleep diaries and actigraphy. Although the sleep questionnaires completed by parents and caretakers revealed only a moderate degree of sleep problems, greater sleep disturbance was recorded with actigraphy. Using the latter method, low sleep efficiency (below 85 percent) or long sleep latency (more than 30 minutes) were found in 80 percent of the individuals. There was no early morning awakening, contrary to some earlier reports. This study suggests that even though subjective complaints of sleep disturbances are less common in adolescents and young adults with autism, this may be due to an adaptation process rather than an actual reduction in sleep disturbances.
Autism 2005 Feb
PMID:Sleep disturbances in adolescents and young adults with autism and Asperger syndrome. 1561 64

The importance of genetic factors in autism has prompted the development of mutant mouse models to advance our understanding of biological mechanisms underlying autistic behaviors. Mouse models of human neuropsychiatric diseases are designed to optimize (1) face validity, i.e., resemblance to the human symptoms; (2) construct validity, i.e., similarity to the underlying causes of the disease; and (3) predictive validity, i.e., expected responses to treatments that are effective in the human disease. There is a growing need for mouse behavioral tasks with all three types of validity for modeling the symptoms of autism. We are in the process of designing a set of tasks with face validity for the defining features of autism: deficits in appropriate reciprocal social interactions, deficits in verbal social communication, and high levels of ritualistic repetitive behaviors. Social approach is tested in an automated three-chambered apparatus that offers the subject a choice between a familiar environment, a novel environment, and a novel environment containing a stranger mouse. Preference for social novelty is tested in the same apparatus, with a choice between the start chamber, the chamber containing a familiar mouse, and the chamber containing a stranger mouse. Social communication is evaluated by measuring the ultrasonic distress vocalizations emitted by infant mouse pups and the parental response of retrieving the pup to the nest. Resistance to change in ritualistic repetitive behaviors is modeled by forcing a change in habit, including reversal of the spatial location of a reinforcer in a T-maze task and in the Morris water maze. Mouse behavioral tasks that may model additional features of autism are discussed, including tasks relevant to anxiety, seizures, sleep disturbances, and sensory hypersensitivity. Applications of these tests include (1) behavioral phenotyping of transgenic and knockout mice with mutations in genes relevant to autism, (2) characterization of mutant mice derived from random chemical mutagenesis, (3) DNA microarray analyses of genes in inbred strains of mice that differ in social interaction, social communication and resistance to change in habit, and (4) evaluation of proposed therapeutics for the treatment of autism.
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PMID:Designing mouse behavioral tasks relevant to autistic-like behaviors. 1566 35

The prevalence of sleep disturbances in 52 children with Asperger syndrome (AS) as compared with 61 healthy controls (all subjects aged 5-17 years) was investigated. Problems with sleep onset and maintenance, sleep-related fears, negative attitudes toward sleeping, and daytime somnolence were more frequent among children with AS than among controls. Short sleep duration (<9 h) was almost twofold (59% vs. 32%), and the risk for sleep onset problems more than fivefold (53% vs. 10%) more common in the AS group than in the control group. Child-reported sleeping problems were also more prevalent in the AS group than in controls (58% vs. 7%). The results suggest that sleep disturbances should be routinely evaluated in children with AS.
J Autism Dev Disord 2008 Jan
PMID:Sleep in children with Asperger syndrome. 1734 Feb 1

To determine if there is a relationship between low serum ferritin and sleep disturbance in children with autism spectrum disorder, an 8-week open-label treatment trial with oral iron supplementation was conducted as a pilot study. At baseline and posttreatment visits, parents completed a Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children and a Food Record. Blood samples were obtained. Thirty-three children completed the study. Seventy-seven percent had restless sleep at baseline, which improved significantly with iron therapy, suggesting a relationship between sleep disturbance and iron deficiency in children with autism spectrum disorder. Sixty-nine percent of preschoolers and 35% of school-aged children had insufficient dietary iron intake. Mean ferritin increased significantly (16 microg/L to 29 microg/L), as did mean corpuscular volume and hemoglobin, suggesting that low ferritin in this patient group resulted from insufficient iron intake. Similar prevalence of low ferritin at school age as preschool age indicates that children with autism spectrum disorder require ongoing screening for iron deficiency.
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PMID:Children with autism: effect of iron supplementation on sleep and ferritin. 1735 47

Two groups of physically healthy schizophrenic patients comprised of fifteen withdrawn and fifteen actives per group with comparable sex and age distribution were selected for this study. Both groups were placed first in a quiet environment in which the noise level was kept between 40-60 decibels, for three hours each morning for six weeks' duration. Therapeutic and psychological and clinical parameters were used to examine the effects of this particular environment. At the end of six weeks, they were switched to a noisy environment with the noise level averaging 80-90 decibels. Noisy environment increased the withdrawn groups' motor and verbal performance, improved perceptual organization, improved sleep pattern and hallucinations. As a result, overall improvement caused medication decrease. For the active group, in a noisy environment, performance decreased, conceptual disorganization, anxiety and restlessness heightened, resulting in an increase of 40% in their medication. The withdrawn group in the quiet environment showed considerable regression with heightened autism, seclusiveness, more conceptual disorganization and disturbed sleep patterns with increased hallucinations. The active group in the quiet environment showed improved performance, decreased anxiety, more conceptual organization, less hallucinations, better sleep patterns; motor and verbal productivity increased.
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PMID:Environmental noise level as a factor in the treatment of hospitalized schizophrenics. 1789 8


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