August 14, 2023
- A new interview with Dr. Judy Van de Water, discusses the new test MARAbio designed to detect and prevent Maternal Autoantibody Related Autism (MARA). The MARAbio test is based on a proprietary set of autoantibodies that are present in the blood of a significant percentage (20%) of mothers with children on the spectrum. Van de Water states that with MARAbio, she can identify the risk of autism. The test provides prospective mothers with a simple blood test before (not during) pregnancy and early post-natal. The goal is to provide families with options to reduce the occurrence and severity of MARA materially. Through MARAbio, families and their physicians can be equipped with medically actionable information to prevent and limit the severity of this type of autism through pre-pregnancy and post-natal interventions.
- According to a recent CDC analysis, prenatal ultrasound is not associated with an elevated risk of autism. This finding supports previous work that also discovered no correlation between the two. The authors feel confident in their conclusions, indicating that their analysis employed gold standard assessments for autism case classification, compared cases to controls, and considered pre-existing medical conditions and pregnancy complications associated with heightened prenatal ultrasound monitoring and autism risk.
- Researchers from the Karolinska Institutet discovered that infants with an elevated likelihood of autism show differences in their gut microbiota and metabolic profile in the first few months of life. Their study analyzed stool samples from 311 infants at five months and found those at risk for ASD had significantly less Bifidobacterium and higher levels of Clostridium. They also had a lower abundance of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), a neurotransmitter thought to be involved in ASD. The researchers suggest their study could open up the possibility of supplementing at-risk infants with probiotics or prebiotics.
- Federal Medicaid officials have announced they will extend some pandemic-related flexibilities for home and community-based services to help the struggling disability services sector stay afloat. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has issued guidance that states can continue to rely on changes adopted during the pandemic while they work to incorporate them into their waiver programs officially. Changes include the use of telehealth, increased payment rates, expansion of self-direction service delivery models, and expansion of provider networks to include family members and legally responsible individuals. The extra wiggle room in extending these changes will help disability service providers to attract and retain direct support professionals, among other challenges that have been an issue in recent years.
- Don’t miss the Autism Research Institute’s newest webinar, “Pain, Sensory Issues and Autism.” This free event takes place on Wednesday, August 30, at 1 p.m. EDT and will cover topics from sensory and pain behavior to neurophysiology.
