1. Cysneiros RM, Terra VC, Machado HR, Arida RM, Schwartzman JS, Cavalheiro EA, Scorza FA. {{May the best friend be an enemy if not recognized early: possible role of omega-3 against cardiovascular abnormalities due antipsychotics in the treatment of autism}}. {Arq Neuropsiquiatr};2009 (Sep);67(3B):922-926.
Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are neurodevelopment disorders that cause severe and pervasive impairment in socialization, communication, and behavior. Although the availability of antipsychotic treatment in ASD has expanded, we will be very careful with side effects of these pharmacological agents. Following this reasoning, emerging data indicate that some antipsychotics may be associated with cardiovascular adverse events (e.g., QT interval prolongation), suggesting that this could be correlated to sudden death. Quite interesting, substantial evidence from epidemiological and case-control studies indicates that omega-3 reduces the risk of cardiovascular mortality, particularly sudden cardiac death. In accordance to the above mentioned findings, as omega-3 fatty acids per se have a direct cardiovascular protective role, our paper hypothesized that omega-3 fatty acids supplementation in ASD patients treated with atypical antipsychotic drugs may reduce cardiac arrhythmias and hence sudden cardiac death.
2. Gillberg C, Billstedt E, Sundh V, Gillberg IC. {{Mortality in Autism: A Prospective Longitudinal Community-Based Study}}.{J Autism Dev Disord};2009 (Oct 17)
The purposes of the present study were to establish the mortality rate in a representative group of individuals (n = 120) born in the years 1962-1984, diagnosed with autism/atypical autism in childhood and followed up at young adult age (>/=18 years of age), and examine the risk factors and causes of death. The study group, which constituted a total population sample of children with these diagnoses, were followed up in Swedish registers. Nine (7.5%) of the 120 individuals with autism had died at the time of follow-up, a rate 5.6 times higher than expected. The mortality rate was significantly higher among the females. Associated medical disorders (including epilepsy with cognitive impairment) and accidents accounted for most of the deaths, and it was not possible to determine whether autism « per se » actually carries an increased mortality risk.
3. Johnson KP, Giannotti F, Cortesi F. {{Sleep patterns in autism spectrum disorders}}. {Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am};2009 (Oct);18(4):917-928.
Like children with other developmental disabilities, children with autism spectrum disorders suffer from sleep problems at a greater rate than typically developing children. It is increasingly recognized that addressing these sleep problems may improve daytime functioning and decrease family stress. The sleep problems experienced by children with autism spectrum disorders are presented in this article.
4. Saad AG, Goldfeld M. {{[Echolalia in the language development of autistic individuals: a bibliographical review.]}}. {Pro Fono};2009 (Jul-Sep);21(3):255-260.A ecolalia no desenvolvimento da linguagem de pessoas autistas: uma revisao bibliografica.
BACKGROUND: echolalia is one of the most common symptoms among the language characteristics in Autism. AIM: to provide a detailed literature revision about the role of echolalia in the language development process of autistic individuals, and to discuss the use of this language feature in the speech-language clinical practice. The researches show classifications and analysis criterions of echolalia in a discursive context. A few of the analyzed studies are against the use of echolalia, pointing that it has no communicative function, and therefore should be discouraged. On the other hand, other studies indicate that echolalia has a communicative value and can be used as a communicative in speech-language intervention. CONCLUSION: this bibliographical review raises the issue about the importance of evaluating the conditions in which echolalia might occur before considering it as having a communicative value or not.
