

Autism, Hypermobility Type EDS and ME/CFS

I wrote an article about how autism, joint hypermobility, ME/CFS and mast cells could be related.


People with hypermobility type EDS have 7.4 times the risk of autism, according to a large Swedish and American study.

Researchers have found increased amounts of a cell called a myofibroblast in the connective tissue of hypermobility EDS patients. Myofibroblasts are caused by inflammation and by mast cells. Myofibroblast alter the structure of connective tissue potentially leading to joint laxity as well as another odd symptom found in hEDS and autism: we tend to look really young. Myofibroblasts also trigger the synthesis of connective tissue, possibly leading to elevated rates of collagen synthesis that could cause young-looking skin and ligaments that are, among other attributes, longer than they should be.

The persistence of myofibroblasts, a cell type designed to heal connective tissue, could be consistent with what Dr. Robert Naviaux has described in the cell danger response, found in people with ME/CFS and people with autism. The cell danger response is a chronic state of inflammation and non-healing. Implicit in this state is a chronic, unresolved attempt at healing. In connective tissue, this is what the cell danger response could look like: the persistence of an inflammation-induced healing cell that ultimately changes the structure and function of connective tissue.

Mast cells are terrific at causing the proliferation of myofibroblasts and also seem to be involved in the cell danger response.

If you would like to read the whole thing, including my own family's experience with autism, hypermobility, MCAS and ME/CFS, you can read it here on Medium: https://medium.com/@SyndromeA/peopl...h-more-likely-to-have-autism-why-ea143193829e