Autism and Parkinson's Disease

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There are many common symptoms between Parkinson's and autism including flat affect, gait disturbance, rigidity, etc.

I'm wondering if anyone has been diagnosed with Parkinson's or if you know autistic people who have it or had it ruled out?

My doctor has suggested that my mother seems to have it and she wants followup with a geriatrician and neurologist. I think it's my mum's autism, broken hip, and resting b***h face.

The doctor also hinted that she might investigate it for me but I won't know for sure until next week. In my case I'm autistic and I've also had two cerebellar strokes which affect my movement and nuance. I've always had RBF and it's not like I was born with Parkinson's.


Anyway, I googled and it says autistics are 3x more likely to develop symptoms or actual Parkinson's.



Thoughts and experiences?










https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586- ... population.



Symptoms:







https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/parkinso ... s#symptoms

Google lewy bodies and alpha syn proteins.
Some studies relating to those and Autism and also Parkinson’s but I haven’t had time to do a real in-depth hyperfocus on it.

My dad was evaluated for Parkinson’s at HUP (Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania).

There used to be no biomarkers for Parkinson’s but now you can get. DAT scan. A Spinal Tap to look for alpha-syn proteins (indicating presence in the brain as well) was under experimental development at HUP few years ago.


ChatGPT summary:

Recent studies have begun examining the relationship between alpha-synuclein (alpha-syn)
and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Alpha-syn, primarily known for its role in
neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s disease (PD), is now being explored in
neurodevelopmental disorders such as ASD due to overlapping genetic and molecular mechanisms.
For instance, alpha-syn has been shown to affect signaling pathways like brain-derived
neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which is essential for brain development and function.

A particular study analyzed the plasma levels of alpha-syn and gamma-synuclein (gamma-syn)
in children with ASD. The results indicated that both synucleins were elevated in children
with ASD, and importantly, higher levels of these proteins were correlated with more severe
ASD symptoms. This suggests that alpha-syn could be involved in the pathophysiology of ASD
and may even serve as a biomarker for the severity of the disorder. The study also
associated cognitive deficits with overexpression of these synucleins, drawing parallels
between ASD and neurodegenerative conditions like PD.

While more research is necessary, these findings suggest a possible role for synucleins in
both neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders, expanding our understanding of
the biological connections between them. Future studies could uncover new therapeutic
targets for both conditions.

I had an autistic brother who died from Parkinsons (he was 42) although I think it was really Aspartame poisoning. (He drank about a quart of fat-free tea sweetened with Aspartame each morning for years)

I have most of those symptoms but blame it on tardive dystonia.
The treatment is the same...levodopa/benserazine.
My GP won't prescribe before I've seen a neurologist, and I haven't even made it to the public waiting list yet. My developing speech impediment is driving me crazy. It feels like my tongue is trying to kill me.

I had a Neurologist for years because of my strokes and they tested me for things like MS and MG. I had some weird brain scans which they couldn't quite explain. The closest thing was Epilepsy but they decided not to call it Epilespy since technically it didn't fit the criteria. I've also had sleep studies with brain mapping and my brain does weird things when I'm asleep, like I don't do certain stages of sleep or physical restoration.

I've been told all my life that I have weird posture. My grandmother made me walk with books on my head when I was really young. People used to mock how I moved, or laugh if they saw me on video. My neighbour once said my daughter and I had a distinctive walk (the same as each other), and that really stressed me out because it meant they watched me walk? I walked weirdly? I think that's part of why I have such bad Agoraphobia and fear of being seen / watched by people even now. I've never swung my arms when walking. As a kid I toe-walked and now I flat foot walk. I didn't know you were supposed to do heel-toe and now it feels weird to do that, like I'm imitating a pony.

I have skin issues, not just pre-cancerous AKs but lots of other skin problems. I have sleep abnormalities. I have ticks although they haven't been formally dx. My massage therapist and osteopath are always shocked by how tense my muscles are, like I'm made of cement. They've never seen anything like it. I assumed it was from trauma and anxiety. I get bad pain like Sciatica, something I call "long arm hang" where it feels like my arms are made of lead, and I've had tremors in my thumbs for a few years but I thought that was stroke damage. I have urinary issues but that's because I had part of my bladder removed from trauma damage. I was also born with three ureters but that's a birth thing.

idk, I kind of feel like I fit all the descriptors but at the same time don't many autistics? I have autistic traits that aren't part of PD, like my sensory issues, but I have all of the PD issues.

Thanks for the info so far. I'll have to read back and look at stuff more closely.

I'm sorry for your loss, Aspinator.

I was really into Aspartame in my coffee for years as well, but quit a very long time ago.

I'd never heard of Levadopa until I googled after seeing the doctor. I've tried SSRI before and they never work, but I don't know which ones specifically worked on Dopamine. It sounds like a lot of us could benefit from extra Dopamine since it seems to help depression, animation, etc. I've felt for years like I'm one of those wind-up toys and my battery has run out. I move really slowly and get exhausted by simple things like brushing my teeth or having a shower. I thought that was autistic burnout. I'm dx with Chronic Fatigue but this sounds even more comprehensive because it includes musculoskeletal problems.

Oh, also - I have a long history of falling. It was happening even before my strokes. My balance is pretty bad too, like when I used to play Wii Fit I couldn't do the one where you have to stand on one leg on that game board.

How long can a person have stage 1? If I have this, I feel like it started decades ago.

I have trouble drinking from glasses without it pouring down my front. It's getting worse.
I can't think what that's called.
They tested me for it post-strokes and I wasn't too bad, but now it's kind of every time.

I need a bib to have a drink unless it's in a bottle or can.

^ hi.
I can send you one of my sippy cups.

Estimation of alpha-synuclein monomer and oligomer levels in the saliva of the children with autism spectrum disorder: a possibility for an early diagnosis

A Siddique, HF Khan, S Ali, A Abdullah, H Munir, M Ariff - Cureus, 2020 - ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Abubakkar Siddique, Humaira Fayyaz Khan, Shazia Ali, Athar Abdullah, Hina Munir, Madiha Ariff
Cureus 12 (8), 2020
Background
In degenerative brain diseases like Parkinson's disease (PD), alpha-synuclein (a-syn) can be in its monomeric (a-syn-mono) or toxic oligomeric (a-syn-oligo) or as a total (a-syn-total) forms in the biological body fluids including saliva. Past research has observed major a-syn plasma variations in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) pointing toward brain degenerative components in their pathophysiology. No prior study has shown a-syn levels in ASD patients' saliva.
Objective
This study estimates the levels of alpha-synuclein monomer (a-syn-mono) and alpha-synuclein oligomer (a-syn-oligo) in the saliva of ASD affected children so that saliva can be a method for detecting disorder.
Materials and methods
This cross-sectional, multi-center study was conducted in Islamic International Medical College, Autism Resource Centre (ARC), and Step-to-learn Rehabilitation center for the slow learner in Rawalpindi. The research was performed for one year from August 2018 to August 2019. Saliva samples from 80 children (40 ASD affected children, and 40 age-and sex-comparable healthy controls) were collected. Specific anti-alpha-synuclein monomers (anti-a-syn-mono) and anti-alpha-synuclein oligomers (anti-a-syn-oligo) enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits analyzed the salivary samples. Mean±SD were reported for quantitative data. The data between the two groups were compared using an independent t-test. The p-value of≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results
A total of 80 children were included in the study (n= 40 ASD affected, n= 40 healthy controls). The age of participating children was between four and eight years. The mean alpha-synuclein monomer level in the saliva of ASD children was 92.03±117.09 pg/ml (p≤ 0.05), and in healthy subjects was 186.78±239.31 ρg/ml. The levels of alpha-synuclein oligomer in the saliva of patients with ASD children were 0.13±0.05 ng/ml (p< 0.001), and in the healthy subjects was 0.33±0.26 ng/ml. Both alpha-synuclein monomer and alpha-synuclein oligomer levels were low in the saliva of ASD children.
Conclusion
Children with ASD had low levels of alpha-synuclein monomer and oligomer than healthy children which are unique than that of levels found in other degenerative brain diseases.

There was a man in an old folks home that I volunteered at 20 years ago who had Parkinson's. He displayed a lot of autistic traits.

I just know I'm going to get Parkison's disease because my sleeping patterns are all over the place. Because you can never have too many problems on top of having a disorder that makes many people think you're broken and incomplete.

And dementia. Every time I screw up doing something it's an early sign of dementia. Like just a couple of weeks ago I accidentally sprayed some air freshener instead of spray-on sunscreen onto my arm. I knew I had made a mistake as soon as I noticed my "sunscreen" smelling like vanilla. I stuck my arm in the shower to wash it off since it could have really irritated my skin. If I did this while still in my 40s I wouldn't have seen it as a big deal but now I know every act of carelessness and forgetfulness is dementia.