Monday, March 24, 2014

Autism Spectrum Disorder, Serotonin, and Vitamin D

Last year I blogged about a study published in the Lancet, British medical journal, The article reported that an international group of scientists had identified some genetic links between several conditions: ADHD, autism, depression, manic-depression (bi-polar), and schizophrenia. This could help explain the reason that some of these diagnoses seem to cluster in families. Recently, Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute (CHORI) released the results of a study related to Social behaviors associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The article was printed in the Autism, characterized by abnormal social behavior, has previously been linked to low levels of brain serotonin and to low levels of vitamin D (a hormone). However, no mechanism has linked Autism with low levels of serotonin and vitamin D—until now. Stay tuned. More tomorrow.

No comments: