Page 39 - SFHN1118pagesFINAL.qxp_SFHN 0608 Friday 5.0

Back Cover Story: Autism and the Endocannabinoid System

Continued from Back Page cause of autism include Dr. Martha tor and EC enzymes—further indicating no age requirement/limitation
• Children who have a sibling with ASD Herbert, author of “The Autism the involvement of the EC system in • Michigan—it was added to their exist-
are at a higher risk of also having ASD. Revolution—whole body strategies for autism-associated immunological disrup- ing comprehensive medical cannabis law
• ASD tends to occur more often in peo- making life all it can be”, which offers a tions. These new findings offer a novel in 2018.
ple who have certain genetic or chromoso- revolutionary new view of autism: perspective in autism research and indi- • Minnesota—it was added by petition
mal conditions, such as fragile X syn- “Autism is not hardwired into a child’s cate that the EC system could represent a in 2017.
drome or tuberous sclerosis. genes and destined to remain fixed forev- novel target option for autism pharma- • Pennsylvania— it was included in the
• When taken during pregnancy, the er, instead, autism is a collection of chal- cotherapy. original bill that created their comprehen-
prescription drugs valproic acid and lenges, i.e., less than optimal nutrition, There are many different types of treat- sive medical cannabis program in 2016.
thalidomide have been linked with a high- toxic exposures, a weak or depressed ments available; the different types of How can a child be “qualified” for med-
er risk of ASD. immune system and stress.” treatments can generally be broken down ical cannabis in Florida, or other states
• Children born to older parents are at How does the Endocannabinoid System into the following categories: where medical cannabis is legal, but not
greater risk for having ASD. (ECS) relate to autism? • Medication - anti-epileptic drugs, anti- included in the qualifying conditions? In
A newer thought for the cause of autism • Plasma anandamide concentrations depressants, anti-anxiety, anti-psychotics, Florida, and many other “legal” states,
includes the concept of too many synaps- are lower in children with autism spec- etc. doctors can qualify and recommend
es; an interesting feature of brain develop- trum disorder. •Behavior and Communication cannabis because autism is a debilitating
ment is that the number of synapses actu- • The ECS is affected in conditions Approaches, i.e., Discrete Trial Training condition. Florida's law allows any condi-
ally decreases as children grow older. often present in subsets of patients diag- (DTT), Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), tion diagnosed as "debilitating" by a certi-
Toddlers and preschoolers have more nosed with ASD, such as seizures, anxiety, Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention fying physician as long as it can be
synapses than teenagers, and those “extra” intellectual disabilities, and sleep pattern (EIBI), Pivotal Response Training (PRT), “linked” to one of the named qualifying
synapses are supposed to get “pruned” disturbances. Verbal Behavior Intervention (VBI) conditions. Conditions that are “co-mor-
away as the years go. In autism, the num- • Neuroinflammation had been shown • Dietary Approaches - gluten free diet, bid” and can “be linked” with autism are:
ber of synapses is normally high early in in postmortem brain specimens from ASD vitamin therapy, anti-yeast therapy, anti- • Epilepsy
life, but fails to decrease in the usual way. patients. The growing number of medical bacterial therapy, probiotics, detoxifica- • Neurological Conditions, i.e., MS or
As a result, teenagers with autism end up benefits of the ECS, such as their ability to tion ALS
with more synapses than is typical. regulate processes like neuroinflamma- • Complementary and Alternative • Crohn’s disease
Patients with autism may carry a mutation tion, neurogenesis and memory, raise the Medicine, i.e., music therapy, occupation- • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
that prevents one of their ubiquitin genes question of their potential role as a pre- al therapy, physical therapy, chiropractic
(RNF8) from working properly. To under- ventive treatment of ASD. manipulation, sensory integration. In the next issue,
stand the role of ubiquitin genes in brain • Early studies in autism animal models Which are the medical cannabis friend- I will be discussing the following:
development, scientists removed the ubiq- have demonstrated alterations in the ly states for autism? • Management of Autistic Patients
uitin gene (RNF8) in neurons in the cere- brain's EC system. Autism is also charac- • Delaware—In Nov. of 2015, it was the with Medical Cannabis
bellum of young mice [the cerebellum is terized by immune system dysregulation. first state to make autism a qualifying con- • Clinical studies supporting the
one of the key brain regions affected by This alteration includes differential mono- dition. management of patients with Autism
autism], the researchers found that neu- cyte and macrophage responses, and • Georgia—for adults over 18, or if with medical cannabis
rons that lacked the RNF8 protein. abnormal cytokine and T cell levels, as younger than 18, for severe autism only. • Medicinal cannabis strains for the
“Unconventional” thoughts for the well as mRNA and protein for CB2 recep- • Louisiana—across the spectrum and management of patients with Autism

Visit us on the web at

www.cannabisnewsflorida.com
www.cannabisnewsflorida.com

South Florida Hospital News southfloridahospitalnews.com November 2018 39