Autism, or autistic spectrum disorder (ASD), has a lifelong effect on someone’s ability to interact socially and communicate and it’s estimated that 70 million people are afflicted with the disability worldwide. This week, there’s hope for earlier detection and treatment, thanks to two new methods: a spinal tap and a revolutionary new scan.
As reported by BBC News, the scan has been developed by scientists at the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College in London. The researchers hope that it will lead the way in the early diagnosis of ASD and take over from the lengthy, expensive and stressful methods currently used, which result in half of sufferers in the UK left undiagnosed and untreated.
Tested by the Medical Research Council, the new technique uses a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner and computer software to produce 3D images that can detect changes in the structure of different regions of the brain. After 20 healthy adults and 20 adults suffering from ASD were tested, the results were 90 percent accurate.
Dr Christine Ecker, who led the study, hopes that the new scan will make the diagnosis of autism much easier in the future. “It could help to alleviate the need for the emotional, time consuming and expensive diagnostic process which ASD patients and families currently have to endure,” she said.
Researchers hope that the breakthrough will help in detecting the disability in young children, resulting in quicker treatment.
Photo by Patrick Denker via Flickr.
