Walking Under Water for Cerebral Palsy

Ivanhoe Broadcast News(Murfreesboro, TN)

Swimming, splashing, sliding... must kids love the water, and 11 year old Sarah Grace is no different. But all the water works is actually physical therapy. Sarah Grace was born more than four months premature and weighed just over one pound. She was the smallest baby to ever survive at her hospital.

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Study: Autism Affects Entire Brain

"Report Challenges Theory That Condition Is Limited To Specific Regions

(WebMD) New research is challenging the long-held belief that autism affects only those regions of the brain that control social interaction, communication, and reasoning — suggesting, instead, that the disorder affects the entire brain. The government-funded study found that even highly functioning autistic children had difficulty when asked to perform a wide range of complex tasks involving other areas of the brain. This suggests different parts of the autistic brain have difficulty working together to process complex information. This may be the driving component of autism, the researchers say. "

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Mutated Gene Raises Autism Risk, Study Finds

"WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- U.S. researchers said Monday that they had identified a genetic mutation that raises the risk of autism and could also explain some of the other symptoms seen in children with autism...Dr. Pat Levitt and colleagues at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, studied 743 families in which 1,200 family members were affected by autism spectrum disorders, which range from fully disabling autism to Asperger's syndrome.

They found a single mutation in a gene called MET, which is known to be involved in brain development, regulation of the immune system and repair of the gastrointestinal system. All of these systems can be affected in children with autism. 'This is a vulnerability gene,' Levitt said in a telephone interview. 'There are not genes that actually cause autism. It raises the risk.' "

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CDC Finances Study into Causes of Autism

ATLANTA - "The largest federal study to date into the causes of autism was announced Friday — a multi-state investigation that will involve 2,700 young children."

"The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and five other research centers will study the youngsters over five years. The research is designed to ferret out any genetic and environmental factors that may contribute to autism."

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