Autism is a severe disorder of brain function marked by problems with social contact,intelligence and language, together with ritualistic or compulsive behavior and bizarreresponses to the environment.Autism is a lifelong disorder that interferes with the ability to understand what is seen,heard, and touched. This can cause profound problems in personal behavior and in theability to relate to others. A person with autism must learn how to communicate normallyand how to relate to people, objects and events. However, not all patients suffer the samedegree of impairment. There is a full spectrum of symptoms, which can range from mildto severe.Autism occurs in as many as one or two per 1,000 children. It is found four times moreoften in boys (usually the first-born) and occurs around the world in all races and social backgrounds. Autism usually is evident in the first three years of life, although in somechildren it's hard to tell when the problem develops. Sometimes the condition isn'tdiagnosed until the child enters school.While a person with autism can have symptoms ranging from mild to severe, about 10%have an extraordinary ability in one area, such as in mathematics, memory, music, or art.Such children are known as "autistic savants" (formerly known as "idiot savants.").Symptoms of autism usually appear during the first three years of childhood and continuethroughout life. Some common symptoms are:
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absence or impairment of imaginative and social play
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impaired ability to make friends with peers
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impaired ability to initiate or sustain a conversation with others
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stereotyped, repetitive, or unusual use of language
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restricted patterns of interests that are abnormal in intensity or focus
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apparentlyinflexibleadherence to specific routines or rituals preoccupation with parts of objectsNo definitive treatment regimes have thus far beendeveloped for this serious disturbance and therapy is generally merely supportive. Someattempts have been made to support such therapy with psychiatryand psychology, as well
as high doses of vitamin B6, vitamin E, andmagnesium.Various psychoactive drugs have
also been tried, as well as a group of medications called H2 blockers. A "huggingmachine" has been built to support therapy by the holding method. This device makes it possible for children with autism to overcome their fear of touch (tactile stimuli).
An alternative treatment approach has been attempted using secretin, which is a hormone
secreted by cells in the digestive tract to help control digestion. The history of theapplication of secretin in the treatment of childhood autism dates back to 1996, when, bycoincidence,a significant improvement in mental condition was noticed in a child withautism who had received secretin for diagnostic purposes. When it was administrated,
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