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A study out of Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore suggests that children on the autistic spectrum (ASD) may have symptoms improve while running fevers. This study gives those researching autism “hope” that the brain structure and potential functioning are intact in children with ASD. It also may provide clues into how to stimulate the brain to operate more normally.
Dr. Andrew Zimmerman, the senior investigator explains that the researchers aren’t sure why the fever improves the child’s behaviors and symptoms, but that it may be due to the heat of the fever causing changes at the cellular level. Or it may be due to the fever’s impact on the hormonal and immune systems, believed to both be compromised in children with ASD.
This is interesting research indeed. LuLu is rarely sick, and even more rarely runs a fever. When she was first home, she often felt hot to the touch, but her internal body temperature was not elevated. On the rare occasion when she is sick enough to run a fever, her behaviors improve remarkably…always have. But I just assume it was because of the energy drain due to the illness.
Yet, other parents report the same thing. They say their children become sweet snuggly little ones when their ill (and ultimately Mom snuggles them and catches whatever virus they have). Could the fever’s effect on the body have something to do with it?
Another study released recently shows that babies who are “plump” are less likely to suffer from anxiety or depression later in life than small babies.
Adverse conditions in the womb that interfere with a baby’s growth may also cause brain differences, the researchers report in the December issue of Biological Psychiatry.
The study, conducted at the University of Alberta concluded, after reviewing the records of over 4,600 Britons in a 40-year study, that those with lower birth weights were more likely to react to major life stressors with depression, than those with normal birth weights.
The researchers hypothesize that the mother’s prenatal stressors come in to play, and that a pregnant mom under stress can actually have decrease blood flow to her uterus during pregnancy.
This news, although confirming, isn’t too surprising in the adoption/attachment community, where it has long been suspected that a mother’s pre-natal mental health and anxiety levels can greatly impact the child’s mental and emotional health.
