www.aspie-editorial.com

First Published Monday, 22 December 2008

Smoking, physical inactivity the main factors

Amanda Jekowsky

Anyone will tell you that stress is bad for the heart. Many people also know about the toxic effects of anxiety and depression. But how exactly do these negative emotions cripple the cardiovascular system-and what can be done about it?

New research published in the December 16/23, 2008, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC) offers some answers. It found that many people who experience psychological distress also slip into poor health habits, particularly smoking and physical inactivity. Over several years, these two factors alone may account for nearly two-thirds of the risk of heart attack and other cardiovascular illnesses in people with depression and anxiety.

“Psychological distress is a growing problem,” said Mark Hamer, PhD, a senior research fellow at University College London, UK. “It’s very important that physicians try to identify psychological distress, but it’s also important to look at the behaviors and the risk factors that are associated with it.“

Previous studies have established the link between psychological distress and heart disease, but so far there is insufficient evidence to show that treating depression and anxiety can reduce the risk of heart attack and death. The new research findings suggest a broader approach may be necessary.

“Treating psychological factors on their own might not be the best way,” Dr Hamer said. “We’re suggesting that you might have to intervene in the more intermediate pathways, which is the behavior, in addition to trying to treat the psychological problems.“

For the new study, researchers recruited 6,576 men and women who were participating in the Scottish Health Survey, a population-based study involving a typical group of people living in Scotland. At the beginning of the study, participants completed a 12-item standardized questionnaire designed to measure their general happiness, symptoms of depression or anxiety, and any recent sleep disturbances. Those with a score of 4 or more-approximately 15 percent of those participating in the study-were considered to be suffering from psychological distress.

At the same time a nurse took a blood sample that was later tested for common physical risk factors for heart disease, such as cholesterol and C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker of arterial inflammation. Researchers also collected information on height, weight, physical activity, alcohol intake and smoking, and had access to each participant’s medical history, including information on blood pressure.

Researchers followed-up study participants for an average of more than 7 years, using hospital records to document death from heart disease, as well as the rate of heart attack, stroke, cardiac bypass surgery and coronary interventions (e.g., angioplasty). Over that time, there were a total of 223 such cardiovascular “events,” including 63 deaths.

Researchers found a significant and direct link between increasing psychological distress and increasing risk of cardiovascular illness and death. In fact, after age and sex were taken into account, people with depression and anxiety faced more than a 50 percent increased risk when compared to happier people.

However, when the researchers included unhealthy behaviors in the analysis, they found that smoking and physical inactivity alone explained approximately 63 percent of the increased cardiovascular risk. (Smoking had the greatest impact, accounting for nearly 41 percent of the risk.) Alcohol intake explained less than 2 percent of the risk, while high blood pressure explained 13 percent and CRP explained just under 6 percent.

“This study helps us to better understand the relative contributions of stress-related changes in behavior and physiology leading to heart disease,” said Roland von Känel, MD, a professor of medicine and psychiatry, and head of the psychocardiology unit of the Swiss Cardiovascular Center at the University Hospital of Bern, Switzerland. Dr von Känel did not participate in the study but was invited to write an editorial comment in the same issue of JACC.

“From a public health perspective, the findings encourage us to emphasize broad preventive strategies to target the behavioral and physiological pathways leading from stress to cardiovascular disease,” he said. “These may span from behavioral interventions targeting smoking cessation and increasing physical activity, to stress management and relaxation techniques previously shown to restore cardiovascular function and to reduce inflammation. Whether such interventions ultimately decrease the cardiovascular risk associated with psychological distress needs further study.”

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Hamer M, Molloy GJ, Stamatakis E. Psychological Distress as a Risk Factor for Cardiovascular Events J Am Coll Cardiol. 2008 Dec;52:2156-2162   [Abstract]

First Published on AE Monday, 22 December 2008

By T.J. GREANEY of the Tribune’s staff. Published Saturday, December 20, 2008

Sitting in front of a computer in his grandmother’s office this week, Collin Driscoll heard a cacophony of noise.

The whir of the computer fan, the sound of chattering voices in the next room, the buzz of electricity – each attracted his attention. Several years ago, it would have made it impossible for the 16-year-old with Asperger’s syndrome to work, but now he can ignore it.

“What I’ve learned to do is kind of dissect sounds throughout the room, and I can say, ‘OK, that sound is the fan. I can ignore it. That’s my father, that’s my mother. I don’t need to be listening to that right now,’ ” Collin said. “That has helped me a lot.”

Collin, whose condition is on the autism spectrum, has made huge strides. Recently, he and his father started a computer consulting and repair business called HireTheBrain.com.

Collin’s parents say it has been a long road for their son to get to where he is today. They began to notice he was different in the fourth grade. Collin needed literal, concrete instructions from teachers and got in trouble for not paying attention. It was a tell-tale sign of Asperger’s, they say.

“If you tell a kid with Asperger’s to go empty the trash, you need to specify,” Collin’s mother Jeani Dricoll said. ” ‘Go outside, you need to empty the garbage can and then bring back the lid.’ “

Things got worse for Collin when he went to a middle school with an unusual setup. His classroom didn’t have full partition walls, and he could hear everything going on in adjoining classes. “They were basically really large cubicles,” Collin said. “Combined with the tile floors, the hanging ceiling everything just echoed.”

Things got so overwhelming that he stopped going to school and retreated into his own world. He spent most of his day in front of the computer – Colin is a computer prodigy who published his first computer program at age 11 – but he felt it was impossible to interact socially with others. His mother bought him special earplugs and took him to the grocery store for short periods of time just to be around people.

Eventually, Collin said, he started taking classes at the Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders at MU. He learned how to overcome his sensitivity to sound and how to read social signs such as body language and facial expressions.

“Before, I wouldn’t even necessarily know if someone was upset with me until they said, ‘I’m upset with you’ or ‘You need to go to your room,’ ” he said.

Janine Stichter, associate director of the Thompson Center, said Collin is one of the highest functioning children on the autism spectrum, and with a slight regulation of his behavior he can learn to do anything.

“Their capacity to do things is unlimited,” she said. “For decades and centuries, mainstream society has had people with this very mild form” of autism “holding good jobs and maybe even as leaders.”

Stichter said the center provides classes that encourage children to emphasize their strengths, which often include focus and memory. “They might not make a good sales representative, but they might make a great computer programmer,” she said.

And that is precisely what Collin plans to do. Several months ago, his mother convinced him to take a trip by himself to his aunt’s home in Kansas and to help her trucking company fix its computer system. It was a big step for Collin, but he enjoyed it, and at his aunt’s encouragement decided he wanted to start the business with his father, Steve, an IT programmer who formerly worked for large companies but was forced into semi-retirement after suffering a stroke.

“I’ve gone from being the geek to being his driver,” joked Steve Driscoll, who marvels at his son’s ability with computers.

Collin hopes to grow the company and, through it, improve his social abilities. He hopes someday he can be an inspiration to others with the same condition.

“Hopefully, it will help bring an awareness in the public eye to get more resources for helping other kids like me,” he said.

Source:   http://www.columbiatribune.com/2008/Dec/20081220News007.asp

First Published Tuesday, 23 December 2008

Autism is no barrier to local small business owner

For the Cumberland Times-News
Cumberland Times-News

CUMBERLAND — Because of his autism, 22-year-old Andrew Pegg of Frostburg has not spoken a single word since he was 2 years old. Yet, he owns Andilla Designs & Graphics, a home-based business that personalizes gifts and advertising products.

The Maryland Division of Rehabilitation Services and the Maryland Rehabilitation Association recently presented Pegg with its annual Personal Achievement Award at a statewide conference in Ocean City. Andilla Designs & Graphics is evidence that individuals with severe disabilities can build a future with the right mix of community programs and family support.

The award honors a former consumer of the Division of Rehabilitation Services who has overcome barriers to reach personal and economic independence.

Pegg has received assistance from his DORS counselor, Erin Shahan, and his family. Since certain aspects of his business are difficult due to his disability—marketing and driving, for example—he is assisted by Derrick Swandol, a job coach from Spectrum, a local non-profit agency.

A part of the Maryland State Department of Education, DORS, with initial consultation from its Reach Independence through Self-Employment Program, assisted Pegg with his start-up costs and purchase of the equipment he utilizes to make his creations. He continues to acquire new business from individuals as well as organizations.

Pegg communicates well in writing and brings a prepared slide presentation to numerous events, informing and teaching others what individuals with disabilities can accomplish.

Source:   http://www.times-news.com/business/local_story_354000741.html

First Published Tuesday, 23 December 2008

The National Autistic Society is conducting research into a new benefit called Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). We are looking for autistic adults who have applied for ESA to be involved in research. If this applies to you or someone you care for with autism, and you would like to find out more information, please complete the form below.(see link)

http://www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=1895&a=18370

First Published Tuesday, 23 December 2008

The Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) is working on a project about visual impairment and autism. The project is now under way and will run until August 2010.

The project’s partners are the RNIB, Brookfields School, The National Autistic Society (NAS), and Sunfield. There is a steering group made up of staff from each of these organisations.

The intention is to develop resources that give practitioners information about approaches and strategies that have been used successfully with children who have both visual impairment and autism.

We have run a pilot survey at Brookfields School, looking at the strategies employed there with children in this group. Next, we will be surveying pupils in a number of other schools, including specialist schools for visually impaired children; local authority day special schools; and mainstream schools.

Many practitioners have contacted us to say that they work with pupils who have both visual impairment and autism. We hope to include these children in the survey as well.

While our primary concern is the strategies employed in schools, we will also ask parents and carers of the children who take part in our survey about any strategies they use at home.

For more information, visit the project’s website.

The project can be contacted

• *by email: vi-autism.medina@tiscali.co.uk
• *by post: Ian Bell
  Visual Impairment and Autism Project
  c/o RNIB Children’s Services
  RNIB Regional Centre
  58-72 John Bright Street
  Birmingham B1 1BN
• *by telephone: 07920 252 383.

Notes

Brookfields School is a West Berkshire day school for pupils with learning difficulties, including needs associated with autism and sensory impairment.
www.westberks.org/grouphomepage.asp?groupID=2558

The RNIB’s website is: www.rnib.org.uk

Sunfield, a UK charity, provides residential care, education and outreach support for children with severe and complex learning needs, many of whom have autism. www.sunfield.org.uk