Comorbidities in Autism and the Curious Cleaning Lady

Regular readers will know that I believe in the value of investigating the comorbidities of autism. 

We have a cleaning lady who comes each week to help keep our house in order.  She also understands the value of comorbidities. She is one of my independent observers, in changes in the behaviour of Monty, aged 10 with ASD.  She has a friend, whose husband was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s.

Alzheimer’s is not autism, but they are both examples of brain damage.

Still in his early 50s, the husband does not recognize his children and cannot leave home.  The expert Professor, treating him privately, was not halting the rapid decline.

So the cleaning lady asks me about all my investigations and decides that she might as well tell her friend.  She decided to suggest the antioxidant NAC and the cholinergic stimulant nicotine.

Well, after NAC, the husband was able to make it to the WC and do his business.  A small step forward.

After a day with the nicotine patch, things really changed so much that the family decided that they should seek a second opinion, this time from a doctor, yet to publish a book.

Doctor number two decided that it is not Alzheimer’s after all, and the prescribed medicines of the last three years were only making things worse.  And the new therapy? Nicotine patches.

Conclusion

The conclusion is self-evident. 

The next related conditions I will be investigating are cluster headaches, febrile seizures and absence seizures.