“Have scientists found the autism gene?" asks the Mail Online.

The news is based on a genetic study that found children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) were more likely to have a mutation in a gene called CHD8 than children without the disorder.

ASD is an umbrella term for conditions affecting social interaction, communication, interests and behaviour.

However, talk of a single autism gene is premature. This is relatively early stage research. The genetic test will need to be further tested and validated in large and diverse groups to ensure it accurately identifies people with ASD.

The results linking the CHD8 mutation to a specific sub-type of ASD with a similar set of symptoms also made the news but was based on just 15 people. This means this sub-analysis cannot be viewed as reliable.

The hope is that if a test does reliably predict what set of symptoms a child with ASD is likely to develop, an individual treatment and care plan can be devised to meet their future needs.

The study was carried out by a large international collaboration of researchers from medical and academic institutions and was funded by a variety of non-commercial institutions including Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative, the National Institutes for Health (US) and the European Commission.

The study was published in the peer-reviewed science journal Cell.

As with many Mail Online health stories the headline was misleading. There is no such thing as a single autism gene, in the same way that there is no such thing a single type of autistic disorder.

The actual reporting of the study in the main body of the story was accurate and informative. (Mail Online journalists may want to have a quiet word with their headline writers).

This was a genetic study looking for gene variants associated with autism spectrum disorder.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is an umbrella term for a number of conditions that affect social interaction, communication, interests and behaviour. Symptoms can range from mild to severe.

In some cases ASD can lead to below average intelligence and learning difficulties. In other cases intelligence is unaffected or above average.

The researchers describe how different subtypes of ASD have been described based on behaviour but with limited success because behaviour varies so much within and between subtypes. As opposed to behaviour, the researchers thought genes may hold the key to the different subtypes of ASD and sought to investigate this hypothesis.

Researchers sequenced the DNA of 3,730 children with development delay or ASD looking for variations in a gene called CHD8 – a gene previously associated with ASD. They looked to see if any genetic variations were associated with being diagnosed with ASD overall, but also for any links to specific characteristics of subsets of people with ASD such as distinct faces, a larger than average head (marcoencephaly), and stomach or digestive complaints.

While the genetic study recruited a lot of children, the assessment of specific characteristics was based on just 15 asics tiger mexico 66 sale people.

This sort of genetic study is often used to further scientific understanding of any genetic origins of a disease. Scientists know what many genes do, so if there is a genetic link it helps them understand the biology of the disease process, this can ultimately lead to ideas for new drugs and treatments.

The genetic analysis revealed 15 different and independent genetic variations (mutations) in the CHD8 gene in the children with development delay or ASD.

Thirteen of the 15 CHD8 mutations associated with ASD caused the resulting CHD8 protein to shorten (truncate). These truncating mutations were not found in 8,792 healthy controls – including 2,289 unaffected siblings – suggesting the mutations were relatively specific to the disease.

The presence of one of the genetic mutations identified was linked to an increased likelihood of an ASD diagnosis overall.

Specific CHD8 mutations were also associated with distinct characteristics, but only using 15 people with ASD so should be taken with a pinch of salt. These were:

As a follow-up study, the researchers disrupted the CHD8 gene in zebra fish – a popular research animal for genetic manipulation as they breed very quickly and adapt well to being housed in aquariums. They found the effects of this were broadly similar to ASD type symptoms in humans including larger head size as results of expansion of the forebrain and midbrain, and impairment of gastrointestinal motility.

The researchers concluded their findings “suggest that cheap asics kinsei 4 CHD8 disruptions represent a specific pathway in the development of ASD and define a distinct ASD subtype”.

This study used many thousands of children to identified mutations in the CHD8 gene that were associated with the development of ASD. Much less convincing was the finding that CHD8 mutations might be associated with distinct characteristics within the spectrum of disease, potentially representing a genetically defined subtype, as this was based on just 15 people.

Identifying subtypes of ASD is important to guide diagnosis, prognosis and disease management to maximise quality of life. This study is interesting because most categorisation of ASD has focused on behavioural dimensions. By contrast, this study flipped this on its head and looked at the genetic dimension of the disease, which revealed some statistically significant links.

Knowing this gene-disease link will help researchers understand the biological origins of the disease, which improves the chance of treatments being discovered or better ways to manage symptoms of the conditions to improve quality of life.

This is relatively early stage research; the genetic test will need to be further tested and validated in large and diverse groups to ensure it accurately identifies people with ASD and or any subtypes.

Today this test does not help people with ASD, but it does help pave the way for potential improvements in the future.

Analysis by Bazian. Edited by NHS Choices. Follow Behind the Headlines on Twitter. Join the Healthy Evidence forum.

Denmark has new adidas trainers uk a land area of approximately 43,000 sq km, most of which is easily accessible by road and as flat as an Alan Carr joke. It's the cherry on top of Germany and consists of 474 islands.

I drove north through Bronderslev on Motorway E39 to Hjørring, one of the oldest towns in the country and the location of three Middle Age churches: Sct. Catharinæ Church, Sct. Olai Church and Sct. Hans Church.

Jutland has some of the most serene driving tarmac in Scandinavia, from its northernmost town, Skagen, where Kattegat (the waters between Denmark and Sweden) and the Skagerrak (part of the North Sea) meet, to Aalborg, Herning and Ribe in the south, on the German border.

Hjørring to Skagen is under an hours drive, north-east along the wind-cracked coastline of Frederikshavn, where Stena Line ferries connect to Gothenburg and Oslo.

There's a beach this far north and the North Sea laps in, fizzing on the sand. A beach level on the map with Glasgow! with one-hundred palm trees on the sandy stretch of Frederikshavn Kommune, planted by the local municipality in order to, presumably, confuse lost sailors. Small dingies bob up-and-down on the aluminium ocean and the wind whistles through the car window.

Skagen is dotted with colourful houses, the painted yellow brick set against a cloudless sky of pale blue. The paint is a symbol of wealth, having started in the 19th century with the use of ochre transported from France. Artists like cheap adidas gazelle P. S. Krøyer and Holger Drachmann travelled to Skagen to paint the blasted, wind-torn scenery and Hans Christian Andersen holidayed there, when he wasn't thinking about mermaids.

From the tip of Denmark and the Skagerrak the drive back to Aalborg via the E39 and through Norresundby – over the Limfjordsbroen Bridge – takes an hour (going fast – the motorway speed limit is 81 mph). The university city is the fourth most populous in Denmark and was a strategically important harbour during the Middle Ages. The Viking burial site Lindholm Høje on the city's perimeter is worth visiting.

The E45 darts south through Denmark’s second largest city, Aarhus, with the principal port on the east-side of the peninsula. I weave through tight streets of cozy cafés and can see in the distance Aarhus Cathedral, the tallest and longest cathedral in Denmark, dedicated to the patron saint of sailors, St. Clemens.

You can drive the craggy-edged circumference from Aarhus to Horsens into Vejle County, or continue on the E45, then the 501, inland, through quiet countryside and more fields of despondent cattle.

South of Vejle County, Fredericia connects to the island of Funen via the Østjyske Motorvej Bridge, and the E45 becomes the E20; leading you to Odense, Denmark's third largest city. By way of the Funish Motorway (Fynske Motorvej), the E20 links Funen to the island of Zealand. A great expanse of rolled-out tarmac is almost uninterrupted by transport and finishes at Nyborg, where a bridge across the Great Belt, takes me to Copenhagen.

Driving in Copenhagen is not the same as driving in Denmark. Copenhagen has a claustrophobia of cars, designed around cycle paths, where CYCLISTS HAVE RIGHT OF WAY, it's a city for two wheels, like Amsterdam — but with better restaurants. It's where NOMA is and Thomas Herman's Nimb; and Døp hotdog stall, voted by Danes as Copenhagen's favourite eatery.

In the north of Zealand is Elsinore, the closest city to Sweeden and a 40 min drive along the coastline of the Sound (the narrow gateway to the Baltic) from Copenhagen; and home to Kronborg Castle, as immortalised in Hamlet.

GETTING THERE

You can fly there or take a DFDS ferry from Harwich in Essex to Esbjerg, on Denmark's west coast, then you can drive across the country to Copenhagen, island-hop to Jutland, and head north to Hjørring, Aalborg and Skagen.

Standing in the butter and margarine aisle of the supermarket trying to decide which to buy can get overwhelming. While this is just one of many choices you make about dietary fats on a typical grocery trip, you also make dietary fat decisions when you buy cooking oil and foods that contain fats, such as animal products, packaged foods, bakery products, nuts and seeds. Here are some helpful factors to consider.

• Butter. Although new research suggests butter may not be as harmful to heart health as once thought, the American Heart Association still advises limiting your intake of saturated fat (SF), which butter contains. One easy way to trim SF yet still enjoy butter on your bread is to buy whipped butter, which has air beaten into it and thus about half the fat and calories of butter in sticks.

• Margarine, shortening and spreads. Skip stick margarine and vegetable shortening (in baked goods you either make or buy), which frequently contain man-made trans fat (TF). TF is now deemed the most harmful fat for cardiovascular health and is on the FDA chopping block as an ingredient that may be banned from future use in processed foods. Tub margarine spreads are asics kinsei 4 women uk often free of TF, but check for partially hydrogenated oils (the code word for TF) in the ingredient list. This will catch TF amounts smaller than 0.5 grams per serving, which manufacturers are still allowed to round down to zero on the nutrition label. (Also check for and avoid partially hydrogenated oil in packaged foods, such as ready-to-spread frosting and frozen pies.)

Spreads typically contain preservatives and stabilizers, and most are made with genetically modified (GMO) oil, a controversial practice that artificially alters plant genes.

“Traditional plant-breeding techniques are a lot safer than genetic engineering,” says Glenn Lawrence, PhD, a biochemist and lipids expert at Long Island University in Brooklyn, New York. “When you start playing around with a plant’s genetic makeup using laboratory techniques, it can result in unexpected alterations in plant genes that could be harmful to us.”

Earlier this year, one major producer of buttery spreads started using non-GMO oil and promotes this fact on its packages. For baking, choose spreads with at least 60 percent oil rather than light spreads, which contain less fat and may not produce desired results.

• Liquid oils. Health organizations recommend we get the majority of our dietary fat from monounsaturated fat (MUFA), which supports heart health. Both olive oil and avocado oil, and the foods from which they’re derived, contain about 70 percent MUFA and are smart choices for cooking, baking, salads, and vegetable toppings. Opt for extra virgin (unrefined) versions of these oils because they’re higher in beneficial plant compounds, such as polyphenol antioxidants and vitamin E, according to Penny Kris-Etherton, PhD, RD, distinguished professor of nutrition at Pennsylvania State University.

Canola oil is also high in MUFA, but the majority of canola oil is GMO, so opt for organic versions (which aren’t allowed to contain GMOs) if that concerns you. Other common vegetable oils, including soybean and corn oils, are also typically GMO (and organic options are uncommon), plus they’re higher in polyunsaturated fat (PUFA), particularly the omega-6 kind. Replacing saturated fat with MUFA or PUFA can help lower cholesterol.

“However, you should not go overboard swapping omega-6 PUFA for saturated fat, because excess omega-6 fat can be pro-inflammatory,” Lawrence says. PUFA is also more vulnerable to undesirable oxidation in the body, but consuming plenty of antioxidants in your diet from fruits, vegetables, and whole grains alleviates this concern, Kris-Etherton says.

• Fish and animal products. Aim to eat at least two 4-ounce servings per week of oily fish, such as salmon, tuna and sardines. Such fish are high in heart-healthy omega-3 PUFA, which include EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosapentaenoic acid). Chicken and turkey are also smart protein choices, but to minimize fat and reduce calories, opt for skinless, breast meat. You can also use two egg whites in place of a whole egg to reduce fat and calories (and cholesterol).

We’ve long been advised to limit red meats and choose lean cuts because of their SF content. It’s now known that stearic acid, one of the saturated fats in red meat (and prevalent in chocolate), doesn’t raise cholesterol, although other fats in red meat do. If you can afford to pay a bit more for beef, consider buying grass-fed beef, which contains more stearic acid (in lieu of other SF) and double the omega-3s of typical grain-fed beef. Milk, cheese, and yogurt from grass-fed cows also offer more omega-3s; these dairy products are becoming more available, though they are more costly. If that’s not an option, simply shop for reduced-fat dairy products.

• Nuts and seeds. Most nuts, including hazelnuts, almonds, and macadamia nuts, are highest in healthful MUFA compared to other types of fat. Walnuts and walnut oil are higher in PUFA, part of which is a plant form of omega-3 fats called ALA (alpha linolenic acid), which the body can convert in small amounts to heart-healthy EPA. Seeds, such as flaxseed (when ground) and hemp seed, also supply ALA.

Smart oils, their uses and smokepoint

Almond oil: Stir-frying, sauteing, baking, salad dressing, 420F

Avocado oil: Stir-frying, searing, salad dressing, sauces, 520F

Canola oil: All purpose, stir-frying, sauteing, baking, 470F

Extra virgin olive oil: Stir-frying, sauteing, salad dressing, sauces, marinades — 410F

Hazelnut oil: Marinades, salad dressing, sauces, baking, 430F

Flaxseed oil: Marinades, salad dressing, drizzling, 225F

Walnut oil: Some baking, salad dressing, sauces, marinades, 320F

Environmental Nutrition is the award-winning independent newsletter written by nutrition experts dedicated to providing readers up-to-date, accurate information about health and cheap asics trainers mens shoes nutrition in clear, concise English. For more information, visit .