Allison, Fever effect

This article is about the “fever effect” on Autistic children. This is the phenomenon that occurs when children with Autism have a high fever, their symptoms lessen and they seem to be able to communicate easier with those around them. Parents have noticed that children who do not make eye contact or speak, begin to talk and interact with others when they have fevers, but as fevers go away, so do these improvements. Some studies have been done on this, and while it did not happen to all children, some children had great improvements while their temperatures were high. The question now is why does this happen. Some scientists believe that it has something to do with the extra amount of proteins called cytokines that are in the brain when it is feverish. Further research of this may lead to possible treatments.

Cytokines- any number of substances that are secreted by certain cells of the immune system and have an effect on other cells

I really liked this article, it introduced to me a new idea of a possible cure for Autism. I think that more research should be done in this field, if it is possible to put the cytokines into the brains of these Autistic children with out giving them a fever, may lead to a much easier and happier life. While the study that was reported here had only used 30 children, more studies could be done to see if this so called "fever effect" happens in enough children to make it practical to continue research in the field.

Hamilton, Jon. "Autism Study Lends Credence to 'Fever Effect'" NPR (2007). 6 Feb. 2008 .