What is mitochondrial dysfunction?
Mitochondria are the energy producers of our cells. Therefore, if you have a mitochondrial disorder, you lose function of the mitochondria, which leads to problems with energy production in your cells. It can occur in the brain, in the liver, in the heart, in the muscle, in the peripheral nerves etc. – there are many known mitochondrial disorders that will affect any of these organs because our mitochondria are different in different tissues. Mitochondrial dysfunction is when the mitochondria are still functioning, but just not optimally. What percentage of children with autism suffer from this? There have been very few cases of mitochondrial disorders reported in autism. However, since individuals with mitochondrial dysfunction may not show symptoms, it is difficult to determine how prevalent it really is. In one small population-based study in Portugal, approximately 5% of individuals with autism had evidence of some mitochondrial disease. How does mitochondrial dysfunction affect a
