More evidence for folate malabsorption in Neurodivergent bodies

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there an easy genetic test for the malabsorption gene? I would love to know if there’s an st home test for this kind of thing. I feel like I’ve asked for so many tests for my kid they are going to flag me for munchausen by proxy or something.

Isn't it sad how they make us feel like loons for trying to help our children?
There isn't an at home test unfortunately.

There is a test for it called the FRAT test. I was thinking of sending an article about it to my pediatrician and giving them time to read it over before I ask for the test. I think you might send the frontiers article if you do vs like the ABC news article.

Watch this space in future weeks. I'm going to be pursuing the test and post my experiences here...

[Anonymous]

If you have even a suspicious your ASD child has this FRAA... you should stop milk and other dairy . Butter and hard cheese may be OK.
It seems the dairy protein causes the body to produce even more of these auto antibodies.
I have no science background but asking chatgpt about it.. the antibodies will become ineffective over time so dont panic.

[Anonymous]

Maybe this is why parents sometimes see an improvement in asd symptoms when kids have fevers /are sick. Fevers influence anti autobody behavior and may prevent them from binding or blocking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Found out my son who’s almost 30 has that MTHFR thing, so B9 malabsorption. He has spina bifida occulta and moderate executive dysfunction. I’ve always wondered if this is basically a neural tube development issue in utero. We didn’t know about this stuff when I was pregnant with him (the malabsorption problem), but I did take folic acid and Prenatal vitamins.

Is your son on the spectrum?

You make a good point that mthfr is yet another way folate can be disrupted.
Does he take any special supplements because of the mthr, like methylated folate or folonic acid?

I have a family member who has spina bifida and is on the spectrum. He is 50.

He has ADHD and executive dysfunction. One of those guys whose wives complain on here about not doing what they say they’ll do, I have to nag, do everything myself, etc. He was a wreck K-12, dropped out of college, is back in and should graduate this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Found out my son who’s almost 30 has that MTHFR thing, so B9 malabsorption. He has spina bifida occulta and moderate executive dysfunction. I’ve always wondered if this is basically a neural tube development issue in utero. We didn’t know about this stuff when I was pregnant with him (the malabsorption problem), but I did take folic acid and Prenatal vitamins.

Is your son on the spectrum?

You make a good point that mthfr is yet another way folate can be disrupted.
Does he take any special supplements because of the mthr, like methylated folate or folonic acid?

I have a family member who has spina bifida and is on the spectrum. He is 50.

He has ADHD and executive dysfunction. One of those guys whose wives complain on here about not doing what they say they’ll do, I have to nag, do everything myself, etc. He was a wreck K-12, dropped out of college, is back in and should graduate this year.

That's amazing! Congratulations!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe this is why parents sometimes see an improvement in asd symptoms when kids have fevers /are sick. Fevers influence anti autobody behavior and may prevent them from binding or blocking.

My kid is sooo much nicer when he's sick.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is very interesting and now the thought has to be with pregnancy supplements possibly being the cause.

Because most autistic and neurodivergent kids seem to come from middle and upper middle class getting proper supplements and care. Although I still think age of mother plays a very important part that society doesn’t want to admit.

They do not “come from middle and upper class”. Middle and upper class have more access to diagnostics.

I very much disagree. There are not many nonverbal autistic kids that are minorities. It is very rare to see, Asian, Hispanic or middle eastern decent have autistic children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is very interesting and now the thought has to be with pregnancy supplements possibly being the cause.

Because most autistic and neurodivergent kids seem to come from middle and upper middle class getting proper supplements and care. Although I still think age of mother plays a very important part that society doesn’t want to admit.

They do not “come from middle and upper class”. Middle and upper class have more access to diagnostics.

I very much disagree. There are not many nonverbal autistic kids that are minorities. It is very rare to see, Asian, Hispanic or middle eastern decent have autistic children.

What statistics are you basing this on, or is it just what you personally have observed?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is very interesting and now the thought has to be with pregnancy supplements possibly being the cause.

Because most autistic and neurodivergent kids seem to come from middle and upper middle class getting proper supplements and care. Although I still think age of mother plays a very important part that society doesn’t want to admit.

They do not “come from middle and upper class”. Middle and upper class have more access to diagnostics.

I very much disagree. There are not many nonverbal autistic kids that are minorities. It is very rare to see, Asian, Hispanic or middle eastern decent have autistic children.

I think it’s likely you don’t see them because of your social circle and/or cultural norms (I.e. some cultures keeping their disabled children out of public). But I go to a mega church with a ministry for children with disabilities and there are definitely a number of autistic children of Asian and Hispanic descent. And I generally see a fair amount of autistic south Asian kid just out and about. I also think South Korea has pretty high rates of autism.

I also remember when I was a kid in the 90s there was a kid in my apartment building that I was afraid of that was middle eastern who I now realize was non verbal autistic. I feel pretty bad about being afraid now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is very interesting and now the thought has to be with pregnancy supplements possibly being the cause.

Because most autistic and neurodivergent kids seem to come from middle and upper middle class getting proper supplements and care. Although I still think age of mother plays a very important part that society doesn’t want to admit.

They do not “come from middle and upper class”. Middle and upper class have more access to diagnostics.

I very much disagree. There are not many nonverbal autistic kids that are minorities. It is very rare to see, Asian, Hispanic or middle eastern decent have autistic children.

This comment is pure ignorance.

[Anonymous]

FRAT testing is very helpful for this as above poster said. You can get an rx for the higher dose but should work up slowly as can get adhd style hyperactivity if done too fast. Look into the intellxx dna testing as well if you’ve got this running in your family. We have ASD on both sides and it was very helpful to see the one and two copies of various SNPs causing my kid’s issues. Also look for mold/tick borne issues/hypermobility issues as well. There is a small subset of doctors focusing on this work ( most have ASD kids themselves). Find a MAPS doctor

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FRAT testing is very helpful for this as above poster said. You can get an rx for the higher dose but should work up slowly as can get adhd style hyperactivity if done too fast. Look into the intellxx dna testing as well if you’ve got this running in your family. We have ASD on both sides and it was very helpful to see the one and two copies of various SNPs causing my kid’s issues. Also look for mold/tick borne issues/hypermobility issues as well. There is a small subset of doctors focusing on this work ( most have ASD kids themselves). Find a MAPS doctor

What is maps

[Anonymous]

For those of you who did FRAT test, if the outcome comes out negative or positive, what’s the next step? We asked our pediatrician (not developmental) to order it, but not sure if she will be able to prescribe in the event my child indeed needs the prescription. Thanks in advance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For those of you who did FRAT test, if the outcome comes out negative or positive, what’s the next step? We asked our pediatrician (not developmental) to order it, but not sure if she will be able to prescribe in the event my child indeed needs the prescription. Thanks in advance.

If it's high, the prescription is leucovorin which is simply high dose folinic acid
Your doctor would need to consult about it before prescribing because they must also look for b12 and iron.
Most doctors look for just those but they need more independent panels.
I believe there is information out there on the panels and then the correct dosage

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those of you who did FRAT test, if the outcome comes out negative or positive, what’s the next step? We asked our pediatrician (not developmental) to order it, but not sure if she will be able to prescribe in the event my child indeed needs the prescription. Thanks in advance.

If it's high, the prescription is leucovorin which is simply high dose folinic acid
Your doctor would need to consult about it before prescribing because they must also look for b12 and iron.
Most doctors look for just those but they need more independent panels.
I believe there is information out there on the panels and then the correct dosage

Sorry not independent panels* in depth panels