Category: Diseases, Syndromes and Conditions

Categories : Diseases, Syndromes and Conditions GastrointestinalTags :

Pathogenic Bacteria Use A Sugar from Intestinal Mucus to Dig Themselves in

On By ModernMedia
Source: CC0

A new study shows the sugar sialic acid, which makes up part of the protective intestinal mucus layer, fuels disease-causing bacteria in the gut. The findings, published in PNAS, suggest a potential treatment target for intestinal bacterial infections and a range of chronic diseases linked to gut bacteria, including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), celiac disease, irritable bowel syndrome and short bowel syndrome.

The research by researchers at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and BC Children’s Hospital, used a mouse model of gut infections.

“Bacteria need to find a place in our intestines to take hold, establish and expand, and then they need to overcome all the different defences that normally protect our gut,” says Dr Bruce Vallance, a professor in the department of paediatrics at UBC and investigator at BC Children’s Hospital. “In the future, we can potentially target this sugar, or how pathogens sense it, to prevent clinically important disease.”

Inflammatory diseases such as IBD are on the rise in children, who are more susceptible to gut infections because of their immature immune systems. Dr Vallance and his team sought to understand what enables these bacterial pathogens to survive and expand inside our intestines.

For the study, the researchers examined Citrobacter rodentium, an intestinal bacterial pathogen of mice that’s used to model infections with human E. coli. The team discovered that the bacteria have genes involved in sialic acid consumption, and when these genes are removed, the bacteria’s growth is impaired.

Further investigation revealed that upon consuming the sugars, the bacteria produced two special virulence proteins that help the bacteria cross the colonic mucus layer and stick to the underlying epithelial cells. The findings reveal how the bacteria can change over time and actually worsen disease.

“You start off with IBD, your microbes change, they start digging their way into the cells lining your gut, causing more inflammation, and that may be one reason why IBD becomes chronic,” says Dr Vallance. “Specific nutrients such as sialic acid or other sugars might be the Achilles heels for them in terms of things you could target to remove dangerous bacteria from the intestine.”

Dr Vallance and his team are now examining the role other sugars in the gut may play in feeding pathogenic bacteria. They’re also looking for probiotics that could outcompete the dangerous bacteria, stealing the sugars away from them.

They also plan to explore potential interactions between resident and pathogenic bacteria. Pathogenic bacteria can’t access the sugars on their own and thus, some of the normally harmless resident bacteria must serve as accomplices.

“Basically, these accomplices cut the sugar off the mucus, and then either they hand it to the dangerous bacteria or the dangerous bacteria have come up with a way of stealing it from them,” he explains.

A better understanding of these interactions could provide new ways to block pathogenic bacteria, something Dr. Vallance says is urgently needed.

“In the past, our ancestors were constantly assaulted by dangerous bacteria,” says Dr. Vallance. “With the advent of more and more antibiotic resistance in bacteria, these bacterial infections are going to become a growing problem again. Without new antibiotics, we need to come up with novel ways to fight these bacteria, like starving them.”

Source: University of British Columbia

Categories : Diseases, Syndromes and Conditions Environmental EffectsTags :

Ticks’ Trick: Using Static Electricity as a Grappling Hook

On By ModernMedia
Photo by Pixabay

Ticks can be attracted across air gaps several times larger than themselves by the naturally accumulated static electricity of their hosts, researchers at the University of Bristol have discovered. This makes it much easier to finding hosts to parasitise because ticks cannot jumping, making this is the only mechanism by which they would be able to latch onto hosts that are beyond the reach of their tiny legs.

The findings, published today in Current Biology, are the first known example of static electricity being implicated in the attachment of an animal to another animal.

Lead author Sam England from Bristol’s School of Biological Sciences explained: “We knew that many animals, including humans, can accumulate quite significant electrostatic charges.

“We see this when we get a static shock after bouncing on a trampoline, or when rubbing a balloon on our hair, for example. But this electrostatic charging also happens to animals in nature when they rub against objects in their environment like grass, sand, or other animals. These charges are surprisingly high, and can be equivalent to hundreds if not thousands of volts — more than you get out of your plug sockets at home! Importantly, static charges exert forces on other static charges, either attractive or repulsive depending whether they are positive or negative.

“We wondered whether the static charges that mammals, birds, and reptiles naturally accumulate could be high enough that parasitic ticks could be lifted through the air by electrostatic attraction onto these animals, therefore improving their efficiency at finding hosts to feed on.”

The team initially tested the idea by bringing statically charged rabbit fur and other materials close to ticks and observing whether they were attracted to them.

They witnessed the ticks being readily pulled through the air across air gaps of several millimetres or centimetres (the equivalent of humans jumping up several flights of stairs) by these charged surfaces, and so investigated further.

Sam continued: “First, we used previous measurements of the typical charge carried by animals to mathematically predict the strength of the electric field that is generated between a charged animal and the grass that ticks like to sit on and wait for hosts to pass by.

“Then, we placed ticks underneath an electrode, with an air gap in between, and increased the charge on the electrode until the ticks were attracted onto the electrode. By doing this we were able to determine the minimum electric field strength at which the ticks could be attracted. This minimum electric field was within the order of magnitude predicted by the mathematical calculations of the electric field between a charged animal and grass, therefore it is likely that ticks in nature are attracted onto their hosts by static electricity.”

There are several wider implications and potential applications to these findings. Firstly, the phenomenon likely applies to many other parasitic species that want to make contact and attach to their hosts, such as mites, fleas, or lice, and so it could be a universal mechanism for animals to make contact with and attach onto each other.

Beyond the purely scientific implications, the discovery opens the door for new technologies to be developed to minimise tick bites in humans, pets, and farm animals, such as developing anti-static sprays.

Sam concluded: “We have now discovered that ticks can be lifted across air gaps several times larger than themselves by the static electricity that other animals naturally build up. This makes it easier for them to find and attach onto animals that they want to latch onto and feed from. Until now, we had no idea that an animal could benefit from static electricity in this way, and it really opens up one’s imagination as to how many invisible forces like this could be helping animals and plants live their lives.”

Now the team plan to investigate whether the ticks are capable of sensing the approaching electrostatic charge of their prospective hosts.

Source: University of Bristol

Categories : Diseases, Syndromes and ConditionsTags :

Researchers Link Lupus Flare-ups to Microbiota Blooms

On By ModernMedia
A woman with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus. Source: Wikimedia CC0

Recurrent bouts of systemic lupus erythematosus, marked by the body’s immune system attack of its own tissues, closely tracked with upticks in growth in the gut of a certain species of bacteria. New research from NYU Grossman School of Medicine shows that bacterial blooms of the gut bacterium Ruminococcus blautia gnavus occurred at the same time as disease flare-ups in five of 16 women with lupus of diverse racial backgrounds studied over a four-year period.

Systemic lupus erythematosus involves damaging inflammation, especially in the kidneys, but also in joints, skin, and blood vessels. Four of these study patients with R. gnavus blooms had severe cases of the most common and kidney-specific form of the disease, lupus nephritis, while one had a severe example of lupus involving inflammation in multiple joints.

Published in the Annals of Rheumatic Diseases, the team’s analysis of these lupus patients’ gut bacterial blooms identified 34 genes that already had established links to the bacterium’s growth in people with inflammation. While the specific causes of lupus remain unknown, many experts suspect that bacterial imbalances trigger inherited genetic factors responsible for the disease.

This study also investigated how tightly these patients’ immune system antibodies bonded to structures in the bacterial wall, much like they would an invading virus. These antibodies showed a strong affinity to specific bacterial lipoglycan molecules that are known triggers of inflammation. These lipoglycans were found to be common in R. gnavus strains in lupus patients but not in healthy people. Antibodies are a major cause of the body damage in this disease, and this diagnostic antibody response, the researchers say, highlights the important role played by R. gnavus in the autoimmune disease.

“Our findings provide the strongest evidence to date that silent growths of Ruminococcus blautia gnavus are tied to active serious renal disease in lupus patients,” said study lead investigator Doua Azzouz, PhD.

“Interestingly, our study also established this common bacterial link among a racially diverse group of females with varying forms of lupus,” said Azzouz, a postdoctoral researcher. Lupus is more common in women than in men, and the disease affects more Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians than Whites.

“Our goal is to use our growing understanding of the biological pathways that underpin the disease to develop new treatments that prevent or treat flares for all forms of lupus,” said study senior investigator and immunologist Gregg Silverman, MD.

“Such future treatments for lupus, especially lupus nephritis, could potentially decrease the use of drugs designed to dampen the immune system and instead promote the use of less-toxic antibacterial agents, probiotics or dietary regimens that prevent imbalances such as Ruminococcal blooms in the local gut bacterial population, or microbiome,” said Silverman.

Previous research by Silverman’s team showed that R. gnavus blooms weaken the gut wall barrier, prompting bacterial leakages that in turn trigger inflammatory and overactive immune responses.

The team plans to extend the research to other medical centre and also plans further experiments in mouse models of lupus to see how R. gnavus colonisation triggers lupus. Using mouse models, they also want see whether if R. gnavus blooms speed up or otherwise affect the severity of flares and inflammation.

The researchers say they also want to conduct experiments on various lipoglycan molecules from different R. gnavus strains to see if any particular part of the molecular structure is key to triggering inflammation or if other lipoglycans also prompt an immune response tied to lupus or other diseases of the gut, including Crohn’s.

For the study, researchers used stool and blood samples from lupus patients being treated at NYU Langone. All study participants were being closely monitored for disease flare-ups. Test results were compared with those of 22 female volunteers of similar age and racial background who did not have lupus and were otherwise healthy.

As an autoimmune disease, systemic lupus erythematosus can lead to widespread inflammation and long-term tissue damage in affected organs. According to researchers, about half of patients develop lupus nephritis, of whom one-quarter are likely to experience end-stage renal disease that may require regular blood dialysis and even kidney transplantation.

Source: NYU Langone Health / NYU Grossman School of Medicine

Categories : Diseases, Syndromes and Conditions VaccinesTags :

A New Way to Vaccinate Against Diarrhoeal Diseases: ‘Bribe’ the Bacteria

On By ModernMedia
Scanning electron micrograph image of E. Coli bacteria. Credit: NIH

Scientists have found that pairing specific diets with disease-causing bacteria can create lasting immunity in mice without the costs of developing sickness, revealing a new potential vaccination strategy. Their findings, published in Science Advances, may lead to new vaccines that could promote immunity for those with diarrhoeal diseases and possibly other infections.

The body takes one of two defence strategies against bacterial infections: kill the intruders or impair the intruders but keep them around. If the body chooses to impair the bacteria, then the disease can occur without the diarrhoea, but the infection can still be transmitted – also known as asymptomatic carriage.

“We discovered that immunisation against diarrhoeal infections is possible if we allow the bacteria to retain some of its disease-causing behaviour,” says senior author Professor Janelle Ayres at Salk Institute. “This insight could lead to the development of vaccines that could reduce symptoms and mortality, as well as protect against future infections.”

In 2018, Ayres’ lab looked at how dietary interventions can create an asymptomatic infection, which Ayres calls a cooperative, asymptomatic relationship between bacteria and host. They discovered that an iron-rich diet enabled mice to survive a normally lethal bacterial infection without ever developing signs of sickness or disease. The high-iron diet increased unabsorbed glucose in the mice’s intestines, which the bacteria could feast on. The excess glucose served as a ‘bribe’ for the bacteria, keeping them full and incentivised to not attack the host.

This process produced long-term asymptomatic infection with the bacteria, leading the researchers to believe that the adaptive immune system (which ‘remembers’ infections) may be involved.

“Being able to generate lasting immunity against bacteria like C. rodentium or E. coli has not been possible using established vaccination strategies. We wanted to figure out what mechanism was sustaining this lasting immunity, so we could use that mechanism to create an impactful solution to these diarrheal diseases,” says first author Grischa Chen, a former postdoctoral researcher in Ayres’ lab.

The researchers moved to figure out how the body suppresses infection symptoms, whether infection without symptoms can create long-term immunity, and whether that immunity is reproducible as a vaccination strategy.

The team compared mice with iron-rich and normal diets after C. rodentium infection to find whether the diet impacted symptomless infection. Immediately after infection, mice fed an iron-rich diet had no symptoms whereas mice fed a normal diet did have symptoms. All mice were then put on a normal diet to see whether the asymptomatic infection would last.

Mice without functional adaptive immune systems, regardless of whether they had ever been on an iron-rich diet, could not continue maintaining a cooperative relationship with the bacteria. Although the iron-rich diet suppressed symptoms immediately after infection, the adaptive immune system was required for lasting cooperation. Importantly, the mice with functional adaptive immune systems had the disease without any symptoms, with lasting immunity, as demonstrated by survival upon reinfection after a month.

Ayres and team concluded that an iron-rich diet alone can prevent bacteria from creating deadly symptoms in mice during active infection. But a functional adaptive immune system is required for immunity against future infection in the absence of dietary supplementation.

Some bacterial strains, if mutated enough, don’t cause symptoms. To test whether such bacteria could produce lasting immunity, the team repeated their iron-diet versus normal-diet experiment in mice, but this time using bacteria that could cause disease and bacteria that could not cause disease. They found that only mice that received disease-causing, unmutated bacteria were able to support immunity upon reinfection.

The scientists note that this is only a preliminary study and people shouldn’t consume large amounts of iron after reading it. They also hope their insights will provide a basis for future research in humans and the creation of a vaccination regiment that protects and prevents against diarrhoeal illness.

Source: Salk Institute

Categories : Diseases, Syndromes and ConditionsTags :

‘Indian Hedgehog’ – a Protein That Drives Chronic Kidney Disease

On By ModernMedia
Photo by Robina Weermeijer on Unsplash

Researchers studying mice to investigate scarring in kidneys and hearts have found that it is driven by a protein called Indian Hedgehog (IHH), which is produced and released by a subset of cells in aged and injured kidneys. They published their findings in the journal Science Translational Medicine.  

The researchers believe that IHH could become a potential target for therapies to treat chronic kidney disease (CKD) – a condition that affects 10% of the world’s population.  

Risk factor

CKD is a term used to cover any form of kidney disease that continues for more than a few months. It can affect people of any age, but older people are more likely to experience some level of CKD.  

While CKD primarily causes damage to kidneys, it is also a major risk factor for accelerated cardiovascular disease and premature death.  

Progressive fibrosis – scarring of the kidneys – is a common feature in all CKD, but the mechanism underlying this connection is not fully understood.  

Reduced scarring

A team from the University of Edinburgh identified a subset of epithelial cells that produce IHH and are only present within aged or injured mouse kidneys. They showed that these cells produced IHH in response to being activated by the protein TNF – a well-recognised driver of inflammation.   

When blocking the actions of TNF or IHH in mouse models of kidney scarring, the team found that scar production in the kidney was reduced and kidney function was also better preserved. Increased levels of scarring in the heart also returned to normal levels.   

Blocking pathway

In humans, the team showed that circulating IHH levels were significantly raised in patients with CKD. Patients with cardiovascular disease also had higher levels of IHH than those without cardiac problems. 

The findings offer hope that blocking the TNF/IHH signalling pathway could improve both kidney and heart fibrosis problems – the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with CKD. 

There is a major unmet need for better treatments to halt the progressive kidney scarring and cardiovascular problems which affect so many patients with CKD. I’m excited at the potential of this work, and the new insights to be gained into the role of IHH as a major driver of multi-organ fibrosis, which we hope can be a first step on the road towards better treatments for patients.

Dr David Ferenbach, MRC Senior Clinical Fellow at the University of Edinburgh

Source: University of Edinburgh

Categories : Cardiovascular Disease Diseases, Syndromes and ConditionsTags :

Even Modest Drop in Kidney Function is Linked to Greater Health Risks

On By ModernMedia
Photo by Robina Weermeijer on Unsplash

A Canadian study of more than 8 million adults suggests that even a modest loss of kidney function is associated with increased health risks. The study, published in The BMJ, could lead to better approaches to prevent chronic kidney disease and related conditions, particularly in younger adults.

“The dogma is that healthy, young adults don’t need to worry about kidney function unless it drops to around 50% of the normal level, but our research suggests that even a more modest 20–30% drop may have consequences and we may want to have earlier conversations about prevention and monitoring,” explained senior author Dr Manish Sood at the University of Ottawa.

The research team used health records from 2008 to 2021 for every Ontario, Canada adult aged 18–65 who had at least one blood test for kidney function, but no history of kidney disease. They found that 18% of those in the 18–39 age group had kidney function that was modestly below normal levels, but not low enough to be diagnosed with chronic kidney disease. Individuals in this ‘grey zone’ faced a modestly increased risk of kidney failure, death and cardiovascular events.

For example, in young adults (age 18–39), a 20–30% loss in kidney function was associated with a 1.4-fold increase in death, 1.3-fold increase in a cardiac event and a 6-fold increase in the risk of kidney failure. The absolute risk of any of these events was still low at less than 2 per 1000.

“Thankfully, the absolute risk for any one individual with kidney function in this grey zone is low, but when we look at the whole population, the impact could be quite significant,” said co-senior author Dr Greg Knoll, senior scientist, nephrologist and Head of the Department of Medicine at The Ottawa Hospital and the University of Ottawa. “We need further research to confirm these findings and then see if we can reduce the risk through lifestyle modification.”

While the blood creatine test for kidney function is relatively inexpensive and readily available, the researchers are not suggesting routine testing for all individuals at this time. However, if an individual has had a kidney test that shows a modest reduction in function, it could prompt consulting health care provider. All individuals can also reduce their risk of kidney disease by eating a healthy diet with lower salt, exercising regularly and limiting alcohol intake.

Dr. Sood and his colleagues previously developed the Project BigLife Chronic Kidney Disease calculator to help individuals calculate their kidney disease risk and see the impact of lifestyle changes. The calculator will continue to be refined as new research arises.  

Source: EurekAlert!

Categories : Diseases, Syndromes and Conditions GeneticsTags :

Food Poisoning Bacteria Species Swap Pathogenic Genes

On By ModernMedia
Escherichia coli. Image by CDC on Unsplash

Researchers have identified how pathogenic genes in some Providencia spp., which have gained attention as causes of food poisoning as well as enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli. O157 and Salmonella, are transferred within bacterial cells. Their findings are expected to provide new insights into the identification of infection routes of Providencia spp. and the establishment of preventive methods for food poisoning.

Recently, Providencia spp. which have been detected in patients with gastroenteritis, and similar to enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli. O157 and Salmonella spp., have been attracting attention as causative agents of food poisoning. For children with low immunity, food poisoning can be lethal as it causes severe symptoms such as diarrhoea and dehydration, so clarifying the source of infection and pathogenic factors of Providencia spp., and establishing preventive methods are urgent issues worldwide.

A joint research group led by Professor Shinji Yamasaki, Dr Sharda Prasad Awasthi, a Specially Appointed Lecturer, and graduate student Jayedul Hassan from the Graduate School of Veterinary Science, Osaka Metropolitan University, determined how the pathogenic genes in some Providencia spp. such as Providencia alcalifaciens and Providencia rustigianii are transferred within bacterial cells of genus Providencia. The group has also elucidated that the pathogenic genes of Providencia rustigianii are also transferred to other bacterial cells belonging to Enterobacteriaceae.

Professor Yamasaki concluded, “This achievement is expected to provide new insights into the identification of infection routes of Providencia spp. and the establishment of preventive methods for food poisoning.”

Source: Osaka Metropolitan University

Categories : Diseases, Syndromes and Conditions PaediatricsTags :

18th & 19th Century Grannies Protected Their Grandchildren from Infectious Diseases

On By ModernMedia
Photo by CDC on Unsplash

While grandmothers today have a popular image of spoiling their grandchildren with treats, in premodern times they also acted as healthcare providers. To find out more, University of Turku researchers looked at historical data on childhood mortality from infectious diseases in the 18th and 19th century in Finland. The study, which is published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, found that grandmothers decreased all-cause and cause-specific mortality of children.

In historical and in several contemporary societies, children with living grandmothers are more likely to survive into adulthood, but the mechanism behind this effect remains poorly known.

As childhood infections have been a leading cause of death in children under the age of 5 years, the researchers aimed to investigate whether the effect of grandmothers on childhood survival was related to providing knowledge in childcare, particularly during critical times such as epidemics. One way for grandmothers to do so could be by encouraging vaccine uptake or earlier vaccination against childhood infections, as has been observed in some contemporary populations.

Researchers first studied the effects of grandmothers on children’s cause-specific mortality, using historical records of five causes of death: smallpox, measles, pulmonary infections, diarrhoeal deaths, and accidents. The large multigenerational dataset of pre-industrial Finnish families included 9705 individuals from 12 parishes across Finland, where the survival of individuals until the of age 15 years was monitored from 1761 to 1900. In the second part of the study, the researchers determined whether increased survival against the childhood infection smallpox was mediated by vaccination. To this end, they used 1594 vaccination records from two rural parishes and matched them to their individual family histories.

The results show that grandmothers decreased all-cause mortality, an effect which was mediated through improved survival from smallpox, pulmonary and diarrhoeal infections, but not from measles or accidents. However, the researchers found no evidence of increased or earlier vaccination between children with or without grandmothers.

“Our results show that the grandmother’s presence protected against some childhood infections, which could indicate that in historical Finnish society, the assistance provided by grandmothers in childcare was likely an important factor in ensuring the survival of children,” says study lead author, Doctoral Researcher Susanna Ukonaho.

Grandmothers in contemporary societies

Although grandmother care provided health benefits in many historical societies, these benefits may no longer be relevant in contemporary societies. The progress in healthcare during the 20th century especially in high-income countries likely decreased the role of grandmothers. However, some studies indicate that grandmothers improve childhood survival in several contemporary middle- and low-income countries.

“The type of benefits that grandmothers provide may vary depending on cultural contexts and individual circumstances. Even though in many societies grandmothers are no longer essential for childhood survival, their efforts in childcare remain valuable for the well-being of the whole family,” says Ukonaho.

Source: University of Turku

Categories : Diseases, Syndromes and ConditionsTags :

Oestriol Shown to Reverse Cortex Damage from MS in Mouse Model

On By ModernMedia
Source: Pixabay CC0

Treating a mouse model of multiple sclerosis with the pregnancy hormone oestriol reversed the breakdown of myelin in the brain’s cortex, a key region affected in multiple sclerosis, according to a new UCLA Health study.

In multiple sclerosis, inflammation spurs the immune system to strip away the protective myelin coating around nerve fibres in the brain’s cortex, hampering electrical signals sent and received by the brain. Atrophy of the cortex in MS patients is associated with permanent worsening of disability, such as cognitive decline, visual impairment, weakness and sensory loss.

No currently available treatments for MS can repair damage to myelin. Instead, these treatments target inflammation to reduce symptom flare-ups and new nerve tissue scarring. Previous UCLA-led research found that oestriol, a type of oestrogen hormone produced in pregnancy, reduced brain atrophy and improved cognitive function in MS patients.

In the new study, researchers treated a mouse model of MS with oestriol and found that it prevented brain atrophy and induced remyelination in the cortex, indicating that the treatment can repair damage caused by MS, rather than just slow the destruction of myelin.

This is the first study to identify a treatment that could repair myelin in the cortex, undoing some of the damage caused by MS.

Source: University of California – Los Angeles Health Sciences

Categories : Diseases, Syndromes and Conditions Injury & TraumaTags :

Autistic Adults Have Higher Risks of Injury and Disease

On By ModernMedia
Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash

A large-scale registry study found that older autistic adults have a significantly higher risk of injury, especially self-inflicted, and physical conditions such as type 2 diabetes, anaemia, heart failure and COPD. The findings were published in The Lancet Healthy Longevity.

“We found an increased disease burden in middle-aged and older autistic adults, both men and women, irrespective of the presence of intellectual disability,” says Shengxin Liu, doctoral student at Karolinska Institutet. “Our findings point up the need to improve the support and care of older autistic adults.”

In the population-based study, the KI researchers linked different national registers and compared the risk for five types of injury and 39 age-related physical conditions in people over the age of 45. Of the four million-plus people born between 1932 and 1967, 1930 women and 3361 men had an autism diagnosis. For each physical condition, they evaluated the 25-year cumulative incidence and the relative risk in autistic people compared with non-autistic people of the same sex and age.

Seven-fold risk of self-harm

Autistic people had a higher risk of four of five studied injures, for which self-harm accounted for the greatest risk increase, followed by poisoning, falls and other physical injuries.

“The risk of self-harm was worryingly high, a full seven times higher than in non-autistic people,” says Liu. “Reasons behind this remain largely unknown. One possible contributing factor could be mental health conditions that commonly co-occur with autism, such as anxiety and depression.”

The researchers also found a risk increase for 15 physical conditions. For example, autistic people had three times the risk of anaemia and glucose dysregulation and almost double the risk of heart failure, type 2 diabetes, and COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease).

Multiple contributory factors

“We now need to find out the cause of these associations and how they are affected by factors such as biology, age when diagnosed with autism, psychotropic treatment and psychosocial environment,” says the study’s last author Mark Taylor, senior researcher at the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet. “But most importantly, researchers, health services and policymakers need to cooperate to make sure that older autistic adults have a better quality of life.”

Since this was an observational study, no causal relationships can be ascertained, and the researchers were not able to take into account variables such as socioeconomic status. Furthermore, given that the study used Swedish registers, it is difficult to make generalisations to other countries.

Source: Karolinska Institutet