title: Simplifying study of fever's dramatic relief of autistic behavior.
abstract: Dramatic relief of autistic behavior by infectious fever continues to tantalize parents and practitioners, yet researchers still hesitate to study its physiology/biochemistry, fearing stress and heat of brain imaging, contagion, and fever's complexity. Yet what could be more revealing than a common event that virtually 'normalizes' autistic behavior for a time? This paper proposes study of three simplified scenarios: (1) improvements appearing hours before fever, (2) return of autistic behavior soon after fever, (3) improvements persisting long after fever. Each scenario limits some risk - and some explanation - inviting triangulation of decisive factor(s) in relief and recurrence. Return of autistic behavior after fever may be most revealing. The complex mechanisms that generated fever have all abated; simpler cooling mechanisms prevail - how many plausible explanations can there be? The decisive factor in fever's benefit is concluded to be water drawn/carried from brain myelin and astrocytes by osmolytes glutamine and taurine released from muscles and brain; the decisive factor in return of autistic behavior after fever is return of water.
authors.affiliation: Autism Studies, La Pine, OR, United States. Electronic address: autismstudies1@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Good
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D041923:Adolescent Development; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D001833:Body Temperature Regulation; D001834:Body Water / Q000378:metabolism; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D002657:Child Development; D005260:Female; D005334:Fever / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D005973:Glutamine / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D009186:Myelin Sheath / Q000378:metabolism; D013654:Taurine / Q000378:metabolism; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D005973:Glutamine; D013654:Taurine
keywords: Astrocytes; Autism; Benefit; Blood; Fever; Glutamine; Myelin; Taurine; Water