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Autism research on single neurons suggests signaling problems in brain circuits

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Re: Autism research on single neurons suggests signaling problems in brain circuits

#3

Since when was autism classified as a disease?

Since always? It’s a developmental disorder, and a disease is “a disorder of structure or function in a human, animal, or plant, especially one that produces specific symptoms or that affects a specific location and is not simply a direct result of physical injury.”

Pretty much every medical body would list it under its classification of illnesses.

e.g. NHS: https://www.nhsinform.scot/illnesses-and-conditions/brain-ne...

Re: Autism research on single neurons suggests signaling problems in brain circuits

#7
post #6

Since when was autism classified as a disease?

Since always. What is it otherwise?

There was an HN thread the other day about how some (many?) autistic people don't think there is anything wrong with them and that they wouldn't "cure" themselves even if there were a "cure" because from their point of view there is nothing to cure and they are happy the way they are.

Re: Autism research on single neurons suggests signaling problems in brain circuits

#8

Since when was autism classified as a disease?

Since always? It’s a developmental disorder, and a disease is “a disorder of structure or function in a human, animal, or plant, especially one that produces specific symptoms or that affects a specific location and is not simply a direct result of physical injury.” Pretty much every medical body would list it under its classification of illnesses. e.g. NHS: https://www.nhsinform.scot/illnesses-and-conditions/brain-n…

Perhaps the GP was referring to the role that social norms play regarding whether some abnormality is considered a disease or not, and the ensuing debates about whether or not is should be.

Re: Autism research on single neurons suggests signaling problems in brain circuits

#9

Since when was autism classified as a disease?

Whether ASD is a disease or illness is still out for debate [0].

What most seem to agree on is that “Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) refers to a group of complex neurodevelopment disorders [1].”

Is a disorder a disease? While the terms are often used interchangeably by us laymen, the DSM-5 distinguishes the two [2].

[0] https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/abcs-child-psychiatr...

[1] https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/Patient-Caregiver-Educat...

[2] http://www2.hawaii.edu/~heiby/overheads_classification.html

Re: Autism research on single neurons suggests signaling problems in brain circuits

#10
post #7
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since always. What is it otherwise?

There was an HN thread the other day about how some (many?) autistic people don't think there is anything wrong with them and that they wouldn't "cure" themselves even if there were a "cure" because from their point of view there is nothing to cure and they are happy the way they are.

Some highly functioning adults which some medical professionals advocate shouldn’t even be on the spectrum might feel like that.

Most people on the spectrum will require help to go to the bathroom or complete other basic tasks so them making medical decisions is unlikely.

There is now a pretty big concern about the over-diagnosing of ASD especially amongst functioning adults.

In many countries you can be diagnosed in a commercial center without even seeing a doctor, it has become almost a business similar to the ADHD “epidemic” of the early 2000’s.

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