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The National Institutes of Health has awarded $5.3 million in initial one-year funding to the latest two recipients of the Autism Centers of Excellence (ACE) program. With these awards, announced on World Autism Awareness Day, these and nine other ACE centers around the country are now being funded for up to five years. The program was created in 2007 to launch an intense and coordinated research effort aimed at identifying the causes of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and finding new treatments.

People with serious mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depression can lose weight and keep it off through a modified lifestyle intervention program, a National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)-funded study reported online today in The New England Journal of Medicine. Over 80 percent of people with serious mental illnesses are overweight or obese, which contributes to them dying at three times the rate of the overall population. They succumb mostly to the same things the rest of the population experiences — cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer. Although antipsychotic medications increase appetite and cause weight gain in these patients, it is not the only culprit. Like the general population, sedentary lifestyle and poor diet also play a part. Lifestyle modifications such as diet and exercise should work for these patients, yet they are often left out of weight loss studies.

Targeting the core social deficits of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) (http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/autism-spectrum-disorders-pervasive-developmental-disorders/index.shtml) in early intervention programs yielded sustained improvements in social and communication skills even in very young children who have ASD, according to a study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), part of the National Institutes of Health. The study was published online Dec. 8, 2010, in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.

The National Institutes of Health is awarding nearly $100 million in grants — the most ever — to research the causes of autism and look for treatments. The funding is part of $5 billion that’s being awarded by the NIH to study autism, cancer and heart disease, among other conditions. The grants represent half of the NIH funding allotment from the federal economic stimulus package enacted earlier this year. Collectively, the grants are “the single largest boost to biomedical research in history,” President Barack Obama said at the NIH Wednesday.

The National Institutes of Health announced today that it is creating a public database that researchers, consumers, health care providers, and others can search for information submitted voluntarily by genetic test providers. The Genetic Testing Registry (GTR) aims to enhance access to information about the availability, validity, and usefulness of genetic tests.

My son Ian had a lack of oxygen to his brain at 9 weeks of age and spent 3 weeks in the hospital. Perhaps it was caused by a seizure, perhaps a near-SIDS incident, but we are not sure of the cause. He had a resulting brain injury, with “other developmental disabilities” of autism, blindness, communication impairment, severe cognitive impairment, seizure disorder, and other issues. The brain injury was in 1989, so he is now 23 years old. As you can imagine, this incident devastated our family, at first mostly because we had no clue what to do, what it meant for any of us, how to help him grow, and how much it would change our lives.

Autism is a complex brain disorder that first appears during early childhood. It affects how a person behaves and interacts with others. People with autism might not look you in the eye when talking. They may spend a lot of time lining up toys or other objects. Or they may say the same sentence over and over. The disorder is so variable—affecting each person in very different ways—that it can be difficult to diagnose and treat. This variability is why autism is called a “spectrum” disorder. It spans the spectrum from mild to severe and includes a wide range of symptoms.

Most children who have trouble controlling their asthma with low-dose inhaled corticosteroids show improvement by increasing the dose or adding another medication, a new study finds. But the best option differs for each child.

The National Institutes of Health has awarded more than 50 autism research grants, totaling more than $65 million, which will be supported with American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds. These grants are the result of the largest funding opportunity for research on autism spectrum disorders (ASD) to date

The longest study of its kind shows that an early education program for children from low-income families provides benefits that last well into adulthood.

This research protocol seeks to learn more about bipolar disorder in children and adolescents ages 6-17. Researchers will describe the moods and behaviors of children with bipolar disorder and use specialized testing and brain imaging to learn about specific brain changes associated with the disorder. This protocol studies children who have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and those who have a sibling or parent with bipolar disorder and are thus considered "at risk" for developing the disorder.

The stresses of poverty — such as crowded conditions, financial worry, and lack of adequate child care — lead to impaired learning ability in children from impoverished backgrounds, according to a theory by a researcher funded by the National Institutes of Health. The theory is based on several years of studies matching stress hormone levels to behavioral and school readiness test results in young children from impoverished backgrounds. Further, the theory holds, finding ways to reduce stress in the home and school environment could improve children's well being and allow them to be more successful academically.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Facts, diagnosis, treatment, questions and answers, data and statistics, research, screening tools, training and education resources, and free materials for consumers and health professionals. Includes materials in Spanish and Russian. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Diagnostic & Prevention Network Screening, diagnostic, surveillance, intervention, prevention, and training tools for health professionals, social service providers, and researchers. Includes diagnostic software, instructions on using a four-digit diagnostic code, and photographs to use in diagnosis. Medline Plus: Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Information for consumers including overviews, news, research tools, reference material, and links to additional information sources. National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (NOFAS) An online information packet, electronic newsletters, public service announcements, a national and state-by-state resource directory, a list of NOFAS state affiliates, and tools for educators, including a school-based FASD education and prevention curriculum http://www.nofas.org/about/K-12Curriculum.htm> developed in partnership with CDC. PubMed Over 18 million citations and abstracts from MEDLINE and other life science journals for biomedical articles indexed by the National Library of Medicine back to the 1950s, with links to full text articles when available. Search tips: Enter the term “fetal alcohol syndrome” or the term “fetal alcohol spectrum” in the Search box. Click the Limits tab, and choose the box for Humans and the box for English (or other desired language). Limit the search by date to retrieve only more recent items. SAMHSA Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) Center for Excellence Downloadable fact sheets and brochures, links to state resources and legislations, model programs, a publications database, and training courses. University of Wisconsin, Madison: Pregnancy and Alcohol Information on alcohol and pregnancy and fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, including fact sheets, self-help guides, research findings, and answers to frequently asked questions. Expert advice offered via e-mail or toll-free information line (800) 752-3157.

The National Library of Medicine's Mobile Medline Plus builds on the NLM's MedlinePlus Internet service, which provides authoritative consumer health information to over 10 million visitors per month. These visitors access MedlinePlus (http://medlineplus.gov) from throughout the United States as well many other countries, and use desktop computers, laptops and even mobile devices to get there.

BMJ Editor Fiona Godlee presented a discussion of the stunning investigation she published earlier this year that revealed the MMR scare was based not on bad science but on deliberate fraud.  The three-part series was produced by journalist Brian Deer, who spent seven years investigating Andrew Wakefield’s infamous study linking the MMR vaccine with autism, discovering Wakefield had been paid by a lawyer to influence his results and had blatantly manipulated the study data. 

Click here to download the flyer (PDF) What: The National Institute of Mental Health is hosting a lecture in conjunction with the Department of Health and Human Services’ month-long focus on raising autism awareness. Join us for this discussion on recent advances in autism treatment and research. When: Thursday, April 21, 2011 8:30-9:30am Mountain How to view: This event will also be by live videocast and archived for later viewing at http://videocast.nih.gov. Speakers: Susan Swedo, M.D. NIMH Pediatrics and Developmental Neuroscience Branch Rebecca Landa, Ph.D. Kennedy Krieger Institute

Most of the genetic risk for autism comes from versions of genes that are common in the population rather than from rare variants or spontaneous glitches, researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have found. Heritability also outweighed other risk factors in this largest study of its kind to date. About 52 percent of the risk for autism was traced to common and rare inherited variation, with spontaneous mutations contributing a modest 2.6 percent of the total risk.

Developing effective, real-world-ready approaches to providing early diagnosis, treatment, and supportive services for people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is the goal of 12 research grants awarded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). These grants are part of a broad research effort to provide models for the delivery of needed services to children, youth, and adults with ASD, across different communities and care settings, appropriate to each age and individual. NIMH is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).