Possible Cure For Autism

"Jeff" wrote in message
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" vernon" stilthere@athere wrote in message
m...

"Jeff" wrote in message
news:5E0Dh.3436$Cr1.971@trnddc08...

" vernon" stilthere@athere wrote in message
m...
...

People have to remember that. Autism is not a specific disease but a
symptom. If it were know exactly what it is and only one thing, we
would have a cure quickly.

We know exactly what sickle-cell anemia is. We know the exact genetic
cause. There is no cure, only treatment.

So, I believe, your statement is in error.

Jeff

Really?

You better tell the labs that.
You can't compare genes to a disease.

A mutation in the hemoglobin gene is responsible sickle cell anemia. Linus
Pauling figured this out in 1949.

The point is that it was known what the cause is over fifty years, but no
cure is known. So even if we knew what the cause(s) of autism is, that
doesn't mean we would know what the cure is.

Another example is Tay-Sachs disease. The cause of the disease is a
mutation in the gene for Hexasaminidase A. Yet, there is no cure for it.

Knowing the cause of a disease means we know the cure for it.

Just in case you didn't know, there is no cure for being born black
either.

There is nothing to cure. Nothing wrong with being black. In fact, my
ancestors were black. So were yours.

Jeff

Your definition of a disease says a broken arm is a disease or people who
don't grow to exactly 5'10" is a "DISEASE".

So, you assume the retarded or uncivilized or undeveloped or early evolution
must have been black?

"Jeff" wrote in message
news:UVrDh.1900$4J4.1477@trnddc01...

"Jeff" wrote in message
news:klrDh.1561$CG5.469@trnddc03...

" vernon" stilthere@athere wrote in message
m...

"Jeff" wrote in message
news:5E0Dh.3436$Cr1.971@trnddc08...

" vernon" stilthere@athere wrote in message
m...
...

People have to remember that. Autism is not a specific disease but a
symptom. If it were know exactly what it is and only one thing, we
would have a cure quickly.

We know exactly what sickle-cell anemia is. We know the exact genetic
cause. There is no cure, only treatment.

So, I believe, your statement is in error.

Jeff

Really?

You better tell the labs that.
You can't compare genes to a disease.

A mutation in the hemoglobin gene is responsible sickle cell anemia.
Linus Pauling figured this out in 1949.

The point is that it was known what the cause is over fifty years, but no
cure is known. So even if we knew what the cause(s) of autism is, that
doesn't mean we would know what the cure is.

Another example is Tay-Sachs disease. The cause of the disease is a
mutation in the gene for Hexasaminidase A. Yet, there is no cure for it.

Knowing the cause of a disease means we know the cure for it.

This should have been "knowing the cause of the a disease does not mean we
know the cure for it."

Mea Culpa.



If they are born with a difference, birth is the "cause".

Don't confuse disease with variation.

" vernon" stilthere@athere wrote in message
m...

"Jeff" wrote in message
news:klrDh.1561$CG5.469@trnddc03...

" vernon" stilthere@athere wrote in message
m...

"Jeff" wrote in message
news:5E0Dh.3436$Cr1.971@trnddc08...

" vernon" stilthere@athere wrote in message
m...
...

People have to remember that. Autism is not a specific disease but a
symptom. If it were know exactly what it is and only one thing, we
would have a cure quickly.

We know exactly what sickle-cell anemia is. We know the exact genetic
cause. There is no cure, only treatment.

So, I believe, your statement is in error.

Jeff

Really?

You better tell the labs that.
You can't compare genes to a disease.

A mutation in the hemoglobin gene is responsible sickle cell anemia.
Linus Pauling figured this out in 1949.

The point is that it was known what the cause is over fifty years, but no
cure is known. So even if we knew what the cause(s) of autism is, that
doesn't mean we would know what the cure is.

Another example is Tay-Sachs disease. The cause of the disease is a
mutation in the gene for Hexasaminidase A. Yet, there is no cure for it.

Knowing the cause of a disease means we know the cure for it.

Just in case you didn't know, there is no cure for being born black
either.

There is nothing to cure. Nothing wrong with being black. In fact, my
ancestors were black. So were yours.

Jeff

Your definition of a disease says a broken arm is a disease or people who
don't grow to exactly 5'10" is a "DISEASE".

A broken arm is an illness. Being too short or too tall is not a disease.

So, you assume the retarded or uncivilized or undeveloped or early
evolution must have been black?

This doesn't even make any sense.

People evolved in Africa before they migrated to other parts of the world.

Unless you can do a first for this thread and make an intelligent comment, I
won't reply to you again in this thread.

Jeff

"Jeff" wrote in message news:wWDDh.6$JB2.1@trnddc07...

" vernon" stilthere@athere wrote in message
m...

"Jeff" wrote in message
news:klrDh.1561$CG5.469@trnddc03...

" vernon" stilthere@athere wrote in message
m...

"Jeff" wrote in message
news:5E0Dh.3436$Cr1.971@trnddc08...

" vernon" stilthere@athere wrote in message
m...
...

People have to remember that. Autism is not a specific disease but a
symptom. If it were know exactly what it is and only one thing, we
would have a cure quickly.

We know exactly what sickle-cell anemia is. We know the exact genetic
cause. There is no cure, only treatment.

So, I believe, your statement is in error.

Jeff

Really?

You better tell the labs that.
You can't compare genes to a disease.

A mutation in the hemoglobin gene is responsible sickle cell anemia.
Linus Pauling figured this out in 1949.

The point is that it was known what the cause is over fifty years, but
no cure is known. So even if we knew what the cause(s) of autism is,
that doesn't mean we would know what the cure is.

Another example is Tay-Sachs disease. The cause of the disease is a
mutation in the gene for Hexasaminidase A. Yet, there is no cure for it.

Knowing the cause of a disease means we know the cure for it.

Just in case you didn't know, there is no cure for being born black
either.

There is nothing to cure. Nothing wrong with being black. In fact, my
ancestors were black. So were yours.

Jeff

Your definition of a disease says a broken arm is a disease or people who
don't grow to exactly 5'10" is a "DISEASE".

A broken arm is an illness. Being too short or too tall is not a disease.

So, you assume the retarded or uncivilized or undeveloped or early
evolution must have been black?

This doesn't even make any sense.

People evolved in Africa before they migrated to other parts of the world.

And in your mind African is synonomous with black.


Unless you can do a first for this thread and make an intelligent comment,
I won't reply to you again in this thread.

Jeff

I understand, since you preconceived (incorrect) notions of what disease,
illness, etc mean.
A basic genetic variation from the norm is NOT a disease.

You have not identified ONE SINGE disease which has been identified.

Sickle cell anemia is basic, just as black or short is.

GET IT?

the thread, they have yet to identify what Autism is or even if it is a
singular problem or possible a term used for the similar SYMPTOMS of several
problems, some of which MAY be diseases. Children with brain compression
(not curable, a physical attribute) exhibit "autism"

On Feb 23, 3:41 pm, "Jeff" wrote:
" vernon" stilthere@athere wrote in message

So, you assume the retarded or uncivilized or undeveloped or early
evolution must have been black?

People evolved in Africa before they migrated to other parts of the world.

Jeff *may* be right to point out that those early Africans were not
necessarily black.

Modern native north Africans are Arabs, and not black. The evidence
suggests that modern humans first evolved somewhere near the East
coast of Africa. North and East clearly overlap.

That said, the greatest genetic diversity in our species can be found
in black Africans. And there is also evidence for an evolutionary
'bottleneck' - we lack genetic diversity because our ancestors nearly
went extinct around the time that modern humans evolved. This suggests
that everyone alive today is descended from a very small population of
black Africans around (IIRC) 100 thousand years ago. The modern non-
black races descend from a relatively small subgroup of that
population (the people who migrated), which is why our genetic
diversity is relatively small.

So, in a way, you are both right. You can't just assume our ancestors
were black just because they were African, but nonetheless we know
from other evidence that they almost certainly were.

Not that I agree with Vernons clumsy attempt to discredit you by
accusing you of racism, but there you go.

As for the whole is-autism-a-disease thing, my view is that the
symptoms most directly link to brain injury rather than a disease. But
at the same time, that brain injury may be caused by any of a number
of things, including viral disease processes and genetic disease
processes.

I say 'genetic disease' not just because the problematic combinations
of genes are relatively unusual, but because the resulting symptoms
include real disabilities.

Consider mental retardation. As I'm British, if I was being
politically correct, I'd say 'learning disabilities', but that term is
ambiguous so I won't.

The guideline IQ cutoff for mental retardation is 70. This doesn't
define mental retardation, since there are criteria relating to
practical functioning, but nevertheless the IQ cutoff is significant.

Given the bell curve shape of the IQ distribution, it seems that
mental retardation cannot be considered a disease - its just a part of
the normal variation of human ability. Just as being a genius (with,
by the principle of symmetry, an IQ of over 130) isn't considered a
disease.

But that bell curve is artificially imposed. If you graph the
distribution of actual IQ scores for a sufficiently large population,
you will see that there is a small peak centered around IQ 30 - an
extra bell-curve superimposed on the main one. This bump seems to
represent those who are mentally retarded due to brain injury or
disease.

So many cases of mental retardation (particularly people with IQs
above about 50) result from the normal variation of the human species,
but many others result from brain injury or brain disease. And there
is no reliable way to separate them - and probably no reason to do so
either. They all have the same kinds of problems, and they all need
the same kinds of help.

Similar logic can apply to things like being short - as likely a
result of dietary deficiencies and other environmental factors as it
is a result of genetics.

The same thing probably applies to autism. It may well be possible to
have autism as part of the normal variation in social ability - one
extreme end of a bell curve. But there is already plenty of evidence
stacked up for brain injury and brain disease also causing autism.
Either way, the needs are the same, and the only reason for
identifying the specific mechanism is in order to give treatments that
prevent injury/disease based autism from getting worse.

So again, I think you're both partly right - genetic causes doesn't
necessarily make autism a disease, just because the relevant
combinations of genes are unusual, but for many if not most of us it
almost certainly is anyway.

On Feb 25, 2:11 pm, "Ninereeds" wrote:

Jeff *may* be right to point out that those early Africans were not
necessarily black.

Oops - Vernon, I mean. Sorry.

In message , vernon wrote:
"Jeff" wrote in message
news:UVrDh.1900$4J4.1477@trnddc01...
"Jeff" wrote in message
news:klrDh.1561$CG5.469@trnddc03...

Another example is Tay-Sachs disease. The cause of the disease is a
mutation in the gene for Hexasaminidase A. Yet, there is no cure for it.

Knowing the cause of a disease means we know the cure for it.

This should have been "knowing the cause of the a disease does not mean we
know the cure for it."

Mea Culpa.

If they are born with a difference, birth is the "cause".

Don't confuse disease with variation.

Some variations work better than others.
Lacking the mechanism for an essential biochemical process
(as with Tay-Sachs) means early death.

I suppose you could define "early death" as just another
"variation," but at some point a value judgment starts to
be hard to avoid.

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In message , vernon wrote:

A basic genetic variation from the norm is NOT a disease.

You have not identified ONE SINGE disease which has been identified.

Sickle cell anemia is basic, just as black or short is.

Sickle cell anaemia kills, and even carrying the recessive
for it can severely limit one's choices in life: high altitude,
cold, etc. *kill* carriers.

Things that can kill you when everyone around is doing fine.
Go ahead and call it a "variation" if you like.

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| Bogus as it might seem, people, this really is a deliverable |
| e-mail address. Of course, there isn't REALLY a lumber cartel. |
| There isn't really a Santa Claus, but try www.santaclaus.com. |
+--------------- D. C. Sessions --------------+

In message . com, Ninereeds wrote:

That said, the greatest genetic diversity in our species can be found
in black Africans. And there is also evidence for an evolutionary
'bottleneck' - we lack genetic diversity because our ancestors nearly
went extinct around the time that modern humans evolved. This suggests
that everyone alive today is descended from a very small population of
black Africans around (IIRC) 100 thousand years ago. The modern non-
black races descend from a relatively small subgroup of that
population (the people who migrated), which is why our genetic
diversity is relatively small.

Extinction is one explanation, but another is a favorable
mutation that drove one ancestral line to dominance. The
latest anthropological thinking is that the capacity for
speech appeared about 50,000 years back and conferred so
much advantage that those who had it displaced all those
who didn't.

--
| Bogus as it might seem, people, this really is a deliverable |
| e-mail address. Of course, there isn't REALLY a lumber cartel. |
| There isn't really a Santa Claus, but try www.santaclaus.com. |
+--------------- D. C. Sessions --------------+

"Ninereeds" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Feb 25, 2:11 pm, "Ninereeds" wrote:

Jeff *may* be right to point out that those early Africans were not
necessarily black.

Oops - Vernon, I mean. Sorry.


's aright

It is an interesting subject as you point out.
Mathematical analysis of gene dominance and probabilities play hell with the
common theories.