threadworm

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Ok, so its just a thought.
I've read a lot about threadworm on the internet, and I expect half of it is false information, and I'm wondering if there is any link with autism. I'm not saying that one causes the other, but maybe an un diagnosed threadworm infestation may make autism symptoms seem worse?
heres why:-
threadworm infestation is caused by injesting the eggs, from contaminated food, or hands. This may mean children are more likely to get threadworm as they begin to eat independantly, and explore their surroundings more (at about the same age they get the mmr shot?)

An infestation can cause disturbed sleep and irratability. Thats not going to do much for children who have dificulty concentrating at school especially if they have other reasons that make concentrating difficult.

About 40% of children in the uk and usa are infected with threadworm at any one itme (it is very common) many of these children will have no symptoms.

A diet high in processed wheat flour, and sugars can make an infestation worse (could that mean a gf/cf diet could aleviate symptoms of both conditions?) also an autistic child with a restrictive diet may be eating too much flour, and not enough fibre (not enough fibre can make a threadworm infestation worse)

Some sites have said that threadworm infestations can persist for decades or more, are near impossible to get rid of even with prescription drugs.

Some intestinal worms can travel through the intestines (would this lead to leaky gut?)

Untreated threadworm infestations (whether eliminating or lessening the problem?) can lead to further complications, eg. insomnia, bed wetting, weight loss.

I have found it a bit confusing that the usa and uk term the parasites differently, either pinworm or threadworm.

Its just a thought, but I'd be interested to hear anyone else's opinions.

Threadworm/pinworm causes no communication or social difficulties and no sensory issues. There is no overlap in presentation between somebody who has the pinowrm/threadworm infection and somebody with autism. There is no chance of misdiagnosis of one for the other.

No relationship to autism, but a symptomatic case could definitely create a higher stress level.

Back to the basic facts: Healthy autistic children learn better.

I think your right that theres no chance of a misdiagnosis of one for the other, but I do think there are some overlapping symptoms between the related conditions of asd, and worms.
I'm not claiming to have found the cause of autism, and I'm not talking about the core impairments of asd (of which sensory issues isn't one?). but some of the related conditions could be related to worms?eg irritability (which can also be due to feelings of annoyance or frustration)
insomnia (which can cause sleep deprevation which affects memory, can cause a racing mind similar to bipolar symptom, causes clumsiness, temper tantrums in children, and symptoms similar to adhd and psychosis),-adhd symptoms do overlap with asd-
bowel problems, which are apparently common in people with asd,
restlessness.
What I mean is, if its true that 40% of children have worms, then a percentage of asd children will also have worms. In those children, the symptoms of worms could they make the asd related conditions symptoms appear worse? if a child has asd and worms, there could be two things, for example causing temper tantrums.
Also could threadworm cause damage to the intestinal wall and be a possible cause leaky gut, a theory which has been linked to autism?
The gf/cf diet, that some people say has improved some symptoms of asd, could part of the results be down to a diet that worms are less likely to thrive in? if the diet reduced insomnia and its related symptoms, increased concentration, reduced irritability etc, could that be relieving symptoms of autism, or relieving symptoms of threadworm? (or both)

I've just found this on wikipedia, regarding parasitic infections Toxoplasmosis

"Possible link to psychiatric disorders

Studies have been conducted that show the toxoplasmosis parasite may affect behavior and may present as or be a causative or contributory factor in various psychiatric disorders such as depression, anxiety and schizophrenia.[9][10][11] In 11 of 19 scientific studies, T. gondii antibody levels were found to be significantly higher in individuals affected by first-incidence schizophrenia than in unaffected persons. Individuals with schizophrenia are also more likely to report a clinical history of toxoplasmosis than those in the general population.[12] Recent work at the University of Leeds has found that the parasite produces an enzyme with tyrosine hydroxylase and phenylalanine hydroxylase activity. This enzyme may contribute to the behavioral changes observed in toxoplasmosis by altering the production of dopamine, a neurotransmitter involved in mood, sociability, attention, motivation and sleep patterns. Schizophrenia has long been linked to dopamine dysregulation.[13]"

and "Dopamine has many functions in the brain, including important roles in behavior and cognition, voluntary movement, motivation, punishment and reward, inhibition of prolactin production (involved in lactation and sexual gratification), sleep, mood, attention, working memory, and learning. Dopaminergic neurons (i.e., neurons whose primary neurotransmitter is dopamine) are present chiefly in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) of the midbrain, the substantia nigra pars compacta, and the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus." - on the dopamine wikipedia page.

and "Other pathological states have also been associated with dopamine dysfunction, such as schizophrenia, autism, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, as well as drug abuse."

does anyone know any more information regarding the effect of parasitic infections on dopamine, or any link between dopamine and autism?

Last edited by zippy-tri on 07 Jul 2011, 10:18 am, edited 1 time in total.

Autism has been linked to dysfunction or abnormality in literally every area of the brain (yes, including the brainstem) and every neurotransmitter. So what we're looking at isn't a specific dysfunction, but atypical development in general. They could just go through the entire Wikipedia base and note in every article about the brain that it's atypical in autism...

But not all atypical development is autism?
And autism isn't a precise diagnosis, but rather an umbrella term?
So does that mean that there may be a type of autism that is caused by, or perhaps some of the atypical develpoment / behaviour could be accountable to parasitic infection?

I do have a habit of failing to see the whole picture, and concentrating all my thoughts to a specific part of a topic, but what I have read about the work of Dr Glenn.A.McConkey, about toxoplasmosis and the correlation with dopamine, I find really interesting. I just can't help wanting more information than there currently is. I try to keep in mind that there is no single cause of autism known.

If toxoplasmosis infection does cause symptoms that are assosiated with autism (rather than correlation) then I can't help thinking its possible that in some cases, without the toxoplasmosis infection, there would not have been enough atypical behaviour to diagnose autism. (also scitzophrenia, parkinsons and adhd)