Val's Take/Conjecture

• The BLESSING and the CURSE of the Neuro-Developmental/Psychiatric Continuum is that most people on it do not have any visible MOBILITY issue.
• However, many people with MOBILITY ISSUES do have PSYCHIATRIC SYMPTOMS.
  • That includes Autoimmune Diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis, Cerebral Palsy, Cancer, Parkinson's, Dementia, etc.
• People with Neuro-Developmental/Psychiatric Disorders and an IQ above 70 can be at risk of Incarceration and/or Homelessness.
  • This is not a situation in which ignorance is bliss.
    

I think there can be a lot of fear of the "MEDICAL MODEL" --- but many people feel ill-served by the "NON-MEDICAL MODEL" or PRIMITIVE MODEL of SUBJECTIVE SYMPTOM CLUSTERS in the DSM.

Further, while many neuro-diverse people do not have obvious MOBILITY issues, many do have IDIOSYNCRATIC "FATIGUE" and/or ENERGY/OVER-EXCITABILITY issues that relate to MITOCHONDRIAL DYSFUNCTION, among other things.

Can lifestyle choices help this, I think it probably can but that is a lot more complicated than how we normally treat it.

We need to acknowledge the challenge of ACCELERATED AGING AT A CELLULAR LEVEL as a result of MATERNAL IMMUNE ACTIVATION.

BIOMARKERS can make that a lot clearer for everyone.

Mitochondrial dynamics and psychiatric disorders: The missing link (2024)

Accumulating data have underlined how mitochondrial bioenergetics affect major psychiatric disorders. However, how mitochondrial dynamics, a term addressing mitochondria quality control, including mitochondrial fission, fusion, biogenesis and mitophagy, is im …

Neurodivergent Rebel
Setting & Maintaining Healthy Boundaries

Val's Take:  This is an interesting video and it goes in part to the difficulty of defining "Neurodivergence" from symptoms alone --- because those symptoms can be fairly idiosyncratic.

There are often processing differences --- but those too tend to be idiosyncratic.

To me, Neurodevelopmental Inflammation is a much better predictor of Neurodivergence --- at least in many to most cases.

Mitochondria: multifaceted regulators of aging (2019)

Metabolic processes, including nutrient sensing pathways and mitochondrial function, have emerged as prominent regulators of aging.

Mitochondria have been considered to play a key role largely due to their production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), resulting in DNA damage that accumulates over time and ultimately causes cellular failure.

BUT

• the Neuro-Developmental/Psychiatric Continuum is a whole lot more than Psychosis.
• People may have various "EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING" Challenges.
• They may literally be MORE SENSITIVE --- they may have MORE REACTIVE CELLS ---
  • That may take more time and effort to manage, but
  • It can also be a SUPER POWER of SORTS in the right circumstances and part of that is creating the right circumstances.
  • It can seem like such a SUPER POWER that we, family members and employers often don't appreciate that the person needs more TIME to RECOVER to avoid a BURNOUT or BREAKDOWN.

Val's Take/Conjecture

• People on the Neuro-Developmental/Psychiatric Continuum --- millions of people--- are in essence contending with Pre-Mature Aging as a result of In Utero Inflammation.
  • Inflammation acquired after birth is important too, but how that inflammation is processed by the body will be influenced by the Inflammation that was acquired prior to birth.

One of the things that CMS (the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) did awhile back was it partnered with the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) to develop protocols for 1st Episode Psychosis.

The Feds and the States have a HUGE INTEREST in getting better treatments for a whole range of issues, including:

• Autoimmune Disease
• the Neuro-Developmental/Psychiatric Continuum
• Endocrine Disorders
• Cancer, and
• Dementia

There are numerous researchers around the world in quest of the HOLY GRAIL of MICROGLIA (immune cells in the brain) REPLACEMENT, REPAIR and/or PROTECTION.

This could be a game-changer.

We need CMS and the National Institutes of Health to champion Public Education and Professional Education in this important area as well as other emerging research.

The Microglia focus has considerable potential to reduce Institutionalization of People with Disabilities