Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is an ‘umbrella diagnosis’, given to a highly heterogeneous group of disorders, caused by a combination of different genetic and environmental factors.
Due to the heterogeneous nature of ASD, a “one-size-fits-all” treatment approach is likely to fail.
Precision medicine (personalized medicine) in ASD aims to identify more homogenous subgroups of patients to optimize treatment selection for each subgroup. To this end we stratify patients with ASD according to their behavioral symptoms and their unique biological markers (biomarkers). In many disorders we use biomarkers for the diagnosis of the disorder and the monitoring of treatment efficacy (for example the measurement of fasting blood glucose levels in diabetes).
In autism we didn’t have such biomarkers until recently and it made the development of new treatments more difficult.
In recent years, some biomarkers have been proven to be correlated with the diagnosis and the treatment response in autism. These biomarkers include electrophysiological measurements such as: electrical activity and blood flow in certain brain areas and electrodermal activity and eye tracking during neurocognitive tasks. Other biomarkers include biochemical and genetic markers in the blood and the microbiome in fecal samples.
In the Precision Medicine In Autism clinic, we use state of the art equipment to characterize each patient with ASD according to the highest current standards of psychological, electrophysiological and biochemical assessments. Establishment of a multilayer panel of biomarkers for each patient will enhance an optimal treatment selection.
As children with autism often have a very limited attention span and are not able to participate in consecutive assessments, our new autism assessment room will be equipped with high-end equipment that enables a simultaneous assessment of all these biomarkers.