Post Date: 21st Nov, 2009 - 11:41pm / Post ID:
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Eye Reaction May Detect Autism Automatically
What would you say if I tell you that with a simple eye check up/procedure you can find out whether your child is autistic? I am very interested in this study, so far I am impressed (based on percentage). I wish I could access these medical trials here.
QUOTE SALT LAKE CITY -- Researchers have found that a simple response in the eyes from a flash of light may reveal children with autism. Utah parents and researchers hope this preliminary finding will lead to larger, more comprehensive studies.
It sounds too simplistic, but researchers at the University of Missouri in Columbia used a tool routinely used by eye doctors to measure how the pupils of the eye react to a 100-millisecond flash of light. The pupils in children with autism responded significantly slower than those in a control group.
In Utah's autism community, Dr. Brent Petersen of the Carmen Pingree Center says, though cautious, he's impressed with the accuracy of the test.
"In his study, 92.5 percent. If that could hold up, that would be an amazing result -- certainly way, way above the mean for usual findings," Petersen says.
This kind of marker might be especially significant as a screening tool if it could be used on kids, say, at age 2.
"With autistic children, the sooner you know that they are autistic, the sooner you can get treatment for them," says Doug Cash, who's 7-year-old son London is autistic.
Dr. Bill McMahon at the University of Utah says if this is a trait of autism, the marker might lead to the development of rehabilitation techniques designed for younger kids.
"If it could be found that this eye finding is exclusively found in autistic children, it would be a wonderful litmus test of the diagnosis -- because right now we don't have a biological marker," Petersen says...