Picture
Val Corzine
Lady Gaga
A&E:  Adult Children with Down Syndrome
​
​Born This Way

Working to Eliminate Homelessness & Criminal Justice Involvement of People with Cognitive Disabilities


  • Current Scientific Research
  • Legal Analysis, and
  • Authenticity & Lived Experience
What are the RAMIFICATIONS of the Developmental Origins of Health & Disease for:
  • The American Psychiatric Association, and
  • The Criminal Justice System
Val's Take/Conjecture
  • Researchers are already working on means to re-regulate the immune system after Maternal Immune Activation either in utero or after birth.
  • That certainly sounds like:
    • Obstetrics,
    • Pediatrics
    • Immunology and 
    • Neuro-Immunology.

​Maternal immune activation: implications for neuropsychiatric disorders (2017)

"MIA as a Disease Primer"
​Maternal immune activation results in complex microglial transcriptome signature in the adult offspring that is reversed by minocycline treatment (2017)
Supplementing with Vitamin D during Pregnancy Reduces Inflammation and Prevents Autism-Related Behaviors in Offspring Caused by Maternal Immune Activation (2025)

*Chinese Researchers

PREVIEW:

THE IMPORTANCE OF INTEGRATING

dEVELOPMENTAL, pHYSICAL & mENTAL hEALTH
​
[developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD)]​​

Neurosarcoidosis and Maternal Immune Activation
Val's Take/Conjecture
  • The move to integrate physical and mental health has been around since the mid-1980s ---
    • ​and a lot of progress has been made in Medicaid and in Health Care generally in  the last 10 to 20 years.
  • ​Especially, with regard to Mental Health and the Immune System ---- that has EXPLODED with many Neuro-Developmental & Psychiatric Disorders conceptualized as Neuro-Immune Disorders.
    • ​as well as autoimmune disease, cancer, etc. recognized as often containing a "psychiatric" component.
  • We've also generally been aware of "genetic risks" and those exist --- 
    • BUT the risk of DEVELOPMENTAL INFLAMMATION is critically significant and it may also "turn on" certain genes that are "pro-inflammatory"
      • I think this also goes to why our "Diet & Exercise" prescriptions are much more successful for some than others.
Maternal Immune Activation has been greatly associated with Neuro-Developmental and Psychiatric Disorders.

At least Google AI recognizes the possibility that Maternal Immune Activation could be associated with neurosarcoidosis.​
Influence of Immune System Abnormalities Caused by Maternal Immune Activation in the Postnatal Period (2023)

*Japanese Researchers
Abstract

The developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD) indicate that fetal tissues and organs in critical and sensitive periods of development are susceptible to structural and functional changes due to the adverse environment in utero.

Maternal immune activation (MIA) is one of the phenomena in DOHaD.

Exposure to maternal immune activation is a risk factor for neurodevelopmental disorders, psychosis, cardiovascular diseases, metabolic diseases, and human immune disorders.

It has been associated with increased levels of proinflammatory cytokines transferred from mother to fetus in the prenatal period.

Abnormal immunity induced by MIA includes immune overreaction or immune response failure in offspring. Immune overreaction is a hypersensitivity response of the immune system to pathogens or allergic factor.

Immune response failure could not properly fight off various pathogens.

The clinical features in offspring depend on:
​ the gestation period, inflammatory magnitude, inflammatory type of MIA in the prenatal period, and exposure to prenatal inflammatory stimulation, which might induce epigenetic modifications in the immune system.

​An analysis of epigenetic modifications caused by adverse intrauterine environments might allow clinicians to predict the onset of diseases and disorders before or after birth.
Val's Note:  There's also Paternal Immune Activation.
Neuropsychiatric manifestations of sarcoidosis (2025)

 What is neurosarcoidosis?
 (Cedars Sinai)

Neurosarcoidosis is a form of sarcoidosis.

It is a long-term (chronic) disease of the central nervous system, which encompasses the brain, spinal cord and optic nerve, and is characterized by inflammation within one or more of those areas.

This inflammation can cause the destruction of the coating (myelin) that surrounds and protects nerve fibers (axons).

As a result, the damage disrupts the normal flow of messages (nerve impulses) from the central nervous system, causing a reduction or loss of body function.
WHAT'S THE LARGER POINT?
  • I've written a lot about why we have such a hard time recognizing "DEVELOPMENTAL ISSUES" in Health Care.
    • ​And there are seemingly "sympathetic" reasons for that.
      • We don't want to be Nazis or Eugenicists
      • We want to be EMPOWERING.
​
  • The problem is the flip side of that coin can be just as damaging and disconnected from "REALITY" and that disconnect means it is often NOT EMPOWERING.
 
  • It is with Neuro-Developmental and Psychiatric Disorders that we are recognizing the importance of  "MATERNAL IMMUNE ACTIVATION." ​
    • ​I would be surprised if the significance of MATERNAL IMMUNE ACTIVATION was limited to "Neuro-Developmental" and "Psychiatric Disorders."

Preview

DeMYelination and Neuro-Immunology

in neuro-developmental & Psychiatric Disorders

Val's Take/Conjecture
  • ​If we do think of "DEMYELINATION" ---- we might most often think of MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS -- an AUTO-IMMUNE DISEASE.​
  • Part of the last 10 to 15 years, has been appreciating how IMPORTANT the IMMUNE SYSTEM is to:
    • Neuro-Developmental,
    • Psychiatric
    • and even Substance Use Issues.
  • Further, DEMYELINATION is a significant consequence of Brain Injury.
Demyelination in psychiatric and neurological disorders: Mechanisms, clinical impact, and novel therapeutic strategies  (2025)

*Japanese Researchers including those at Chiba University Center for Forensic Mental Health
Highlights

  • Demyelination plays a key role in major psychiatric and neurological disorders.

  • Genetic, environmental, and immune factors drive myelin loss.

  •  Arketamine has potential for promoting myelin restoration through TGF-β1 activation.

  • Therapies targeting the gut-brain axis through the vagus nerve may support myelin repair.
"Demyelination, defined as the loss of myelin sheaths around neuronal axons, is increasingly recognized as a key factor in a broad range of psychiatric and neurological disorders, including:
  • schizophrenia,
  • major depressive disorder,
  • bipolar disorder,
  • post-traumatic stress disorder,
  • autism spectrum disorder,
  • substance use disorders,
  • Alzheimer's disease,
  • Parkinson's disease, and
  • multiple sclerosis."
​
[bullets added]

Preview:  Olmstead Law & order Thursday

Mast cell activation Syndrome & Psychiatric disorders

Understanding the ramifications of Psychiatric Disorders as Neuro-immune Disorders​

Val's Take/Conjecture​
  • Preventing unnecessary institutionalization of people with Neuro-Developmental and Psychiatric Disorders will be more successful with better IMMUNE ASSESSMENTS.​​
  • Serious Mental Illness (SMI) --- is  SERIOUS -- but it is made  much more SERIOUS because our PARADIGMS and DIAGNOSTIC CATEGORIES are not tracking REALITY.
    • ​It's a DANGEROUS SITUATION that puts people AT RISK.
It is a MAJOR CHANGE to go from BRAIN DISORDER to DEVELOPMENTAL NEURO-IMMUNE DISORDER affecting MULTIPLE SYSTEMS of the Body.

That doesn't mean that everyone with a PSYCH DIAGNOSIS has every immune disorder ---- BUT there's much more of a CUMULATIVE EFFECT of Multiple Factors that individually might not be a big deal --- but taken together are overwhelming the body.
WHAT ARE MAST CELLS?​
​
Mast cells are a part of your immune system.

  • They’re made in your bone marrow, then move through your bloodstream into your tissues.

    The mature mast cells live in tissues throughout your body to help protect you from hazards around you.

    They can help fight infections and regulate your organs.

    When your mast cells are overprotective, you may react to harmless things in your environment. This happens in people with seasonal allergies or allergic asthma.

    Mast cell activation can sometimes cause anaphylaxis, a serious allergic reaction.

​PHYSIOLOGICAL CORRELATIONS WITH GIFTEDNESS -- Gro-gifted.org
​Mast cell diseases–especially MCAS–are involved with many of the immune issues associated with RCCX/CAPS disorders.

Because mast cells are involved with every system in the body, MCAS symptoms can vary widely as can the severity of the syndrome.

Although many physicians were trained to find systemic mastocytosis, which is the most severe form of mast cell disease, they were not trained to find less severe forms of mast cell disease.

Symptoms of mast cell disease can be wide-ranging. For that reason, physicians and patients are often unable to pin down what caused a particular symptom.

Additionally, tests traditionally used for some of the symptoms of mast cell disease do not test for mast cell disease itself, but rather test for other causes of those symptoms.

. . . Because it appears that mast cell activation problems exist in the gifted population in greater frequency than in the general population, we urge those in the gifted populations with health issues not solved by drugs in those categories to discuss the possibility of mast cell activation problems with their doctors. . . 



​

​Neuropsychiatric Manifestations of Mast Cell Activation Syndrome and Response to Mast-Cell-Directed Treatment: A Case Series  (2023)
AbstractMast cell activation syndrome (MCAS) is an immune disease with an estimated prevalence of 17%.

Mast cell chemical mediators lead to heterogeneous multisystemic inflammatory and allergic manifestations.

This syndrome is associated with various neurologic and psychiatric disorders, including headache, dysautonomia, depression, generalized anxiety disorder, and many others.

Although MCAS is common, it is rarely recognized, and thus, patients can suffer for decades.

The syndrome is caused by aberrant mast cell reactivity due to the mutation of the controller gene.

A case series is presented herein including eight patients with significant neuropsychiatric disorders that were often refractory to standard medical therapeutics.

Five patients had depression, five had generalized anxiety disorder, and four had panic disorder.

Other psychiatric disorders included attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, phobias, and bipolar disorder.

All eight patients were subsequently diagnosed with mast cell activation syndrome; six had comorbid autonomic disorders, the most common being postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome; and four had hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.

All patients experienced significant improvements regarding neuropsychiatric and multisystemic symptoms after mast-cell-directed therapy.

In neuropsychiatric patients who have systemic symptoms and syndromes, it is important to consider the presence of an underlying or comorbid MCAS.

Anti-Social Personality Disorder as a

​Neuro-Developmental Disability
Associations of the immune system in aggression traits and the role of microglia as mediators (2024)

Policy Challenges

top pages

​At this time, we generally do not provide INDIVIDUAL ADVOCACY.  Further, we do not address Individual Requests for Information and Referral --- See the Orchid Indexes for OTHER RESOURCES.