Autism.  ASD.  As soon as you hear the words, there’s a hushed response.  Or a huge outcry.  First, the outbreak was claimed to be the result of inoculations.  WRONG!  Now, it seems that the penchant in America to ‘wait to have kids’ is taking its toll.  Because the older the father, the more likely the child can be born with diseases such as autism and schizophrenia.

But, even so, we have a problem in that there are no uniform tests to determine if a child is autistic.   Part of the reason is that there is a spectrum of disorders (which is why it is called Autism Spectrum Disorder).  And, the earlier we can determine these conditions, the more we can provide care to have the child grow up as normally as possible.   In the past, there was hope that MRI measurements could be used, but the results were inconclusive.

Well, there is a test being developed by Dr. Frank Duffy at Children’s Hospital in Boston.   Duffy found that there are some 33 separate EEG (electro-encephelography) readings that are associated with ASD.  He chose to study the patients via EEG analyses, since ASD is associated with altered brain connectivity, which is something that should be discoverable via EEG.  He found these patterns among 2 to 12 year children who manifest ASD symptoms, to a 90% degree certainty.   (It is possible that this test may also afford the ability to separate out those with Asperger’s syndrome from the rest of the ASD.)

Duffy presented (in concert with Dr. H. Als) the results from his clinical trials (necessary to prove the utility before it is used by other medical professionals) in the BMC Medicine Journal.  Some 1304 subjects were tested, of which 463 were identified as with ASD, which matched the diagnoses afforded by other clinicians.

As of today, the clinical trials have not led to the approval of the process.

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