The data analysis also examines the relationship between autism, gastrointestinal problems and the use of antibiotics – ScienceDaily

The study was conducted by a team from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, led by Juergen Hahn, a professor of biomedical engineering, who badyzed anonymous administrative claim data from the OptumLabs data warehouse for thousands of children with and without ASD over a five-year period. Hahn said the team had discovered three subgroups of the cohort of 3,278 autistic children.

The first group, about a quarter of the children, had a high rate of concurrent disease diagnoses. The second cluster, also about a quarter of the children, had high rates of developmental delays, in particular. The third group, which included the remaining 50%, had the lowest rates of concurrent disease diagnoses – slightly higher than the 279,693 non-ASD group.

According to Hahn, these results lay the foundation for the creation of a sub-clbadification system within the ASD.

"This could potentially be a plan to look at autism subtypes – I'm not saying that's the only way to do it but I think it's an important step in that." direction, "he said.

The badysis also showed that certain conditions, such as gastrointestinal and immune disorders, as well as seizure disorders and sleep disorders, often occurred at similar times in children with autism. Hahn said these findings could spur other research teams to explore further.

"Once you know what conditions occur together, then you can check if there are any commonalities between the underlying mechanisms.Maybe you will find that the intersection of the mechanism causes the one or the other problem, "said Hahn.

This study builds on previous research published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Trouorders, in which Rensselaer researchers examined gastrointestinal problems and the use of antibiotics in children with autism and non-autism. .

Data have shown that gastrointestinal symptoms are twice as common in children with autism, but that antibiotics do not increase these symptoms more in children with ASD than in children who do not have ASD. Do not have one.

"I think it's important because it's an issue that many parents have when they go to the doctor," Hahn said.

The answer to these big medical questions is one of the features of Rensselaer's Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies (CBIS), which includes Hahn.

"At Rensselaer, using an interdisciplinary approach to the intersection of physical, computer, life and engineering sciences, we seek to give a new angle to human health for complex disorders and diseases such as as ASD, Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, "said Deepak. Vashishth, director of CBIS.

The center's dedication to collaborative work has allowed Hahn's previous discoveries, including the discovery that models with certain metabolites in the blood can accurately predict whether a child has a diagnosis of ASD.

In the two most recent studies, the team was able to map over time the diagnosis of co-occurrence in children. These chronologies show that at certain ages, diagnosis rates diverge between children with autism and non-children.

These cards can help doctors determine at what age they should start screening autistic children for various concurrent conditions.

Greater than that, said Hahn, these results raise more questions to explore.

"That tells you that something must be at the root of this problem, so we need to understand what is going on in the body at this point that could either cause or contribute to these discrepancies," he said. he declares.

Deborah McGuinness, a professor of computer science and a member of the Rensselaer Institute for Data Mining and Applications, has joined Hahn. Troy Vargason, graduate student in biomedical engineering at Rensselaer; and Dr. Richard Frye, Head of the Division of Neurodevelopmental Disorders and Director of the Autism Program at Phoenix Children's Hospital.