Clinical histories reveal surprising evidence of multiple, distinct 'autisms'

Analyzing the electronic medical records of thousands of patients diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, or ASD, a group of researchers at the Harvard Medical School Center for Biomedical Informatics found three distinct kinds of autism, which suggests that "autism" is perhaps an umbrella term comprising several illnesses with different genetic and environmental causes and different potential treatments.

...Electronic medical records shared in a flexible, open-source database like SHRINE [Shared Health Research Information Network] provide a bird's-eye view of the medical system that offers researchers unique insights into disease and treatment. "We spend tons of money to construct these databases and open record-sharing systems," Kohane said. "We should take advantage of all that data not just to bill people for our services, but to better understand and treat disease."