tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548560205914833324.post576080178881340699..comments2023-04-23T00:16:48.148+01:00Comments on Questioning Answers: Estimating parental occupational exposures and autismPaul Whiteleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14288851488012254897noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548560205914833324.post-15801240011825254892012-03-16T19:28:09.464+00:002012-03-16T19:28:09.464+00:00Many thanks for the link RAJ.Many thanks for the link RAJ.Paul Whiteleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14288851488012254897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548560205914833324.post-25634723198585601082012-03-16T18:09:32.446+00:002012-03-16T18:09:32.446+00:00I have discussed the C-BASS (Chines benzene and sp...I have discussed the C-BASS (Chines benzene and sperm study) study in greater detail with full refernces in the comments section that addresses three questions that have puzzled epidemiologists:<br /><br />1. Since autistic people seldom reproduce, why hasn't autism become extinct.<br /><br />2. Why is increased autism risk assoicated with advancing parental age<br /><br />3. What are the mechanisms underlying de novo sperm or egg mutations in the genetic syndromes and in simplex families.<br /><br />The in depth discussion is here:<br /><br />http://sfari.org/news-and-opinion/news/2012/effect-of-paternal-age-seen-in-girls-with-autismRAJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17686665037607780553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548560205914833324.post-20205132684150806462012-03-16T16:30:00.194+00:002012-03-16T16:30:00.194+00:00Thanks for the comment pD.
My Star Wars obsession...Thanks for the comment pD.<br /><br />My Star Wars obsession leaks out yet again (just for the record, the original 3 films are still infinitely better than the last 3!)<br /><br />I had heard some rumblings about the Nature story on drug interactions and found the whole thing to be fascinating, not least because the question is now one of 'what do you tell the patient'? Someone, somewhere who writes the patient information leaflet to these medications is about to put in some serious overtime I think.<br /><br />For all the hype on the recent exposure paper, I do like it, and the continued message that the 'chemicals' (solvents, particulates, etc) around us do need a lot more investigation individually and collectively.Paul Whiteleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14288851488012254897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548560205914833324.post-91302434402708082982012-03-16T15:53:42.571+00:002012-03-16T15:53:42.571+00:00Hi Paul Whiteley -
don't be too proud of thi...Hi Paul Whiteley - <br /><br /><i>don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed.</i><br /><br />Hehe. <br /><br />Serendipitously, I ran into this paper:<br /><br />http://www.nature.com/news/drug-data-reveal-sneaky-side-effects-1.10220<br /><br />exactly one bookmark click before coming to questioning-answers today.<br /><br /><i>An algorithm designed by US scientists to trawl through a plethora of drug interactions has yielded thousands of previously unknown side effects caused by taking drugs in combination.</i><br /><br />and<br /><br /><i>The team then used this method to compile a database of 1,332 drugs and possible side effects that were not listed on the labels for those drugs. The algorithm came up with an average of 329 previously unknown adverse events for each drug — far surpassing the average of 69 side effects listed on most drug labels.</i><br /><br />We don't get to pick and choose which functions get re-jiggered when you try to monkey with the molecular machinery of intertwined systems. <br /><br />Thanks for an assessment of this paper, it was one I'd been meaning to read, but my initial thoughts were that it was probably too scattershot to be much more than (broad) hypothesis forming. <br /><br />- pDpassionlessDronehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05398721312156704738noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548560205914833324.post-74962518024794730482012-03-16T14:51:37.251+00:002012-03-16T14:51:37.251+00:00Many thanks RAJ and very well spotted.
Not to st...Many thanks RAJ and very well spotted. <br /><br />Not to steal any thunder from RAJ, readers can see more about benzene (and the benzene ring) here: <br /><br />http://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/benzene/ <br /><br />and here: <br /><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aromatic_hydrocarbonPaul Whiteleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14288851488012254897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548560205914833324.post-78752655727820863212012-03-16T14:43:06.689+00:002012-03-16T14:43:06.689+00:00I have written to Erin McCanlies about the study. ...I have written to Erin McCanlies about the study. I pointed out to her that the four manufactured products identified in the study (lacquer, varnish, xylene, and asphalt) all use benzene in the manufacturing process and the association was with occupational exposures. An important study was published a few months ago that examined the frequency of sperm mutations in workers at manufacturing plants in China who were exposed to benzene. The study recruited 30 workers who had worked at the manufacturing plants for more than a year and divided the workers into three groups, a low exposure group, a moderate exposure group and a high exposure group. The study included a control group of 11 unexposed workers from the same town.<br /><br />Every participant in all four groups was found to have de novo sperm mutations including 1p36 sperm mutations. The frequency of de novo 1p36 sperm mutations was lowest, but present, in the unexposed group, higher in the low exposed group, higher still in the moderate exposed group and highest in the high exposed group. The 1p36 deletion syndrome is present in 1 in 5,000 to 10,000 newborns:<br /><br />http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/1p36-deletion-syndrome<br /><br />The 1p36 deletion syndrome is also associated with autism:<br /><br />http://174.79.186.155/GeneDetail/MTHFR<br /><br />This is the first study that has demonstrated a direct connection between a specific sperm mutation (1p36 deletion), a specific severe genetic syndrome (1p36 deletion syndrome) and a specific environmental pathogen (benzene).<br />The CHARGE group who published the occupational exposure study also published a paper last year that found that living in close proximity (<309m) to heavily congested freeways in densely populated California urban areas was associated with increased risk for autism. Benzene, because of its high octane number, is an important component in the production of refined gasoline and diesel fuels and one has to consider the possibility that at least some of these cases might be related to sperm mutations associated with long-lasting exposure to benzene particles and other air borne environmental pathogens produced by exhaust fumes.<br />The CHARGE group has been studying the environmental effect of pathogens in the womb and early in childhood development. Environmental pathogens have neurotoxic effects but the CHARGE group was not studying the genotoxic effects of environmental pathogens. They now realize that both genotoxic and neurotoxic effects should be part of their continuing studies and may modify the study design to account for this.RAJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17686665037607780553noreply@blogger.com