World Autism Awareness Day
The day April 2 Is celebrated the World Autism Awareness Day to highlight the need to contribute to the improvement of the quality of life of people with autism, so that they can lead a full and rewarding life as an integral part of society.
The rate of autism in all regions of the world is high and has a great impact on the lives of children, their families, communities and society. Despite being a disorder recognized for more than a century, in many ways it is still a great unknown. Nowadays it is not considered a social problem because it is known that it has a neurological origin and that it is an alteration - the correct term is Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)- which covers many affectations.
What indexes do we have in Canary Islands and what is being done about it?
In the Canary Islands, the majority of Canarian children with Autism are not diagnosed until they go to school, despite being an alteration in the archipelago that affects one person from each 160 between 6 and 64 years. This is because in Canary Islands there are more and more people with disabilities in communication, learning and interactions and personal relationships. In addition, the importance of making an early diagnosis from primary care consultations is key.
In Canary Islandsthere are more and more people with disabilities in communication, learning and interactions and personal relationships.
There is a real need to develop new methods to increase access to diagnostic services and early intervention for people with limited resources.
To achieve this objective, it is proposed to carry out a Investigation programme that includes Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (ERM) technique, which gives the possibility of obtaining levels of cerebral metabolites in those affected, in addition to reference values with which to compare them, which can be used as a future therapeutic target.
It is shown that Magnetic resonance detects anomalies in brain structures. People with autism have abnormalities at a specific site on the 16 chromosome, known as 16p11.2. The removal or duplication of a small piece of chromosome at this site is one of the most common genetic causes of autistic spectrum disorder. Thus, the monitoring of the central nervous system through the different applied techniques of magnetic resonance would allow a better knowledge of the cerebral physiopathology, which translates into a diagnosis and treatment more in line with the cases of ASD.
This study will be carried out in the University Hospital of the Canary Islands, specifically in the Magnetic Resonance Service for Biomedical Research (SRMIB) and in the Research Unit in Neurochemistry and Neuroimaging.