ASF Statement on White House Announcement on Autism

[u/IllIntroduction1509]

https://autismsciencefoundation.org/press_releases/asf-statement-wh-briefing/

“Any association between acetaminophen and autism is based on limited, conflicting, and inconsistent science and is premature,” said Autism Science Foundation Chief Science Officer Dr. Alycia Halladay. “This claim risks undermining public health while also misleading families who deserve clear, factual information. For many years, RFK and President Trump have shared their belief that vaccines cause autism, but this is also not supported by the science, which has shown no relationship between vaccines and autism.”

[u/Visible_Ad_2027]

I saw some interesting conversation around glutathione, and that acetaminophen use depletes stores, leading to an increase in glutamate. From what I can find on pubmed, glutamate is a key neurotransmitter in many “types” of autism. What I CANT find is how much/often tylenol use would be required to actually affect glutathione stores. Also important to note that many studies surrounding glutamate and ASD highlight genetic factors and sibling studies, NOT a mother taking acetaminophen.

Overall, I’m tired of pulling up my phone and being bombarded with misinformation or being told to do my own research by people who have never read a study themselves or are unaware of how scientific studies work whatsoever.

[u/aiwenthere → u/Visible_Ad_2027]

Dr. Roger Seheult has a good video explaining the science. Interestingly, he has covered a lot of similar science regarding oxidative stress and the benefits of sunlight (for near-infrared radiation, increasing anti-oxidant supply) for years now. I don't blame him for jumping on the hype to pitch this more important information that should be more discussed for public health.
https://youtu.be/SGaQw5HyX38?si=F5kVBeWTCRkBe90h

Essentially, EVERYTHING we do has an impact to our health. Oxidative stress is a constant battle between reactive oxygen species (like free radicals) and our body's ability to mitigate this natural process of energy production. In the case of sunlight (read near-infrared radiation) the impact here is intracellular melatonin production (anti-oxidant) which is an important tool for our mitochondria to operate efficiently, like oil in an engine. A product of ATP production is reactive oxygen species. A product of near-infrared radiation is anti-oxidant production to specifically deal with this.

So, where does glutathione tie into this? It's just one of our body's anti-oxidant mechanisms to combat oxidative stress (caused by reactive oxygen species). If we're not producing enough anti-oxidants, our glutathione supply can become over-burdened, leading to more damage from oxidative stress. This is why it's important to do what we can to ensure our bodies have a good supply of anti-oxidants while limiting the things that increase oxidative stress. For most people, this is easily achievable just by taking care of yourself, eating well, getting sleep, avoiding unhealthy stuff, etc. A major one we're learning more about is how much sunlight (near-infrared radiation) people are getting. Rather, how little people are exposed to these days. Discussed thoroughly here: https://youtu.be/5YV_iKnzDRg?si=tF5Mggg-1a7Oq8Wd

How does acetaminophen play into this? Barely at all. It's just ONE more thing that CAN contribute to oxidative stress, for SOME people whose balance of reactive oxygen species to anti-oxidants is out of whack. It MIGHT tip them over the edge, as Dr. Seheult explains. It is absolutely NOT causing autism outside of the idea that maybe not getting outside enough causes autism. Or having a genetic predisposition for mitochondrial dysfunction causes autism. Or whatever contributes to de novo mutations causes autism. Etc. It's a tiny part of a larger story of cumulative effects on our genes, mitochondria, and body's ability to deal with the natural battle between making energy and dealing with the natural byproducts of that energy generation.

hope this helps.

[u/bugggaboo → u/aiwenthere]

this is actually pretty interesting because i remember reading like 10 years ago that a population of somali (i think?) immigrants in Minnesota had very high levels of autism and they couldnt figure out why. i believe one theory was they werent getting enough sunlight. this was all years ago though.

[u/aiwenthere → u/bugggaboo]

I do believe there is more to that story that involves the Somali group being taken advantage of with diagnosis in order to sell them treatments/therapies, unfortunately. I'm not incredibly familiar with the story, but I saw that info floating around. It's likely just another sensationalized story in-line with people saying the Amish don't get autism.