BACKGROUND The diagnosis and treatment of Autism in Pakistan occurs in multiple settings and is provided by variety of health professionals. Unfortunately, knowledge and awareness about Autism is low among Pakistani healthcare professionals & the presence of inaccurate and outdated beliefs regarding this disorder may compromise early detection and timely referral for interventions. The study as...

A suite of recent studies has reported positive genetic correlations between autism risk and measures of mental ability. These findings indicate that alleles for autism overlap broadly with alleles for high intelligence, which appears paradoxical given that autism is characterized, overall, by below-average IQ. This paradox can be resolved under the hypothesis that autism etiology commonly invo...

Construct, face and predictive validities are necessary for any disease model. Although rodent models are used to investigate the neurobiology of autism, however, till date there is no such ideal animal model which can fulfill all the above said validities. Available drug therapy to treat autism is very limited and less effective. In this review, we summarize the work done with rodent models of...

A growing body of research has identified significant sleep problems in children with autism. Disturbed sleep-wake patterns and abnormal hormone profiles in children with autism suggest an underlying impairment of the circadian timing system. Reviewing normal and dysfunctional relationships between sleep and circadian rhythms will enable comparisons to sleep problems in children with autism, pr...

Autism is a developmental disorder characterized by pervasive social and communication impairments and restricted range of interests and activities. Although the specific cause is unknown, proposed etiologies for autism have included autoimmune dysregulation of cellular or humoral components and maternal–fetal immunoregulation problems. Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) constitutes several he...

We are fortunate to have invited commentaries from the laboratories of Dr Cathy Lord and Dr Fred Volkmar offering their perspectives on the new Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-5 criteria for the autism spectrum. Both commentaries note how DSM-5 collapses the earlier diagnostic categories of the pervasive developmental disorders into a single category of autism spectr...

Background Autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) refers to a syndrome associated with persistent impairments in communication skills, social interactions, and so forth. Given the approval of risperidone and naltrexone by U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for ASD cases and extant controversy concerning their pertained side effects, this double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover clinical trial...

objectives: this study compared the effects of individual and group training on general health and stress of parents of children with autism spectrum disorders. methods: a sample of 75 parents of children referring to autistic children foundation (including 50 parents in two experimental groups and 25 parents in control group) was taken into account. sample parents were selected through accessi...