Despite decades of extensive research, the exact causes of autism are still a mystery.
About 1 in 36 American children have been diagnosed with autism, a complex set of development conditions characterized by repeated behavior and difficulty with social interactions. Recent studies have suggested that maternal illness during pregnancy increases the risk of autism in the child.
But new research by NYU Langone Health revealed “no convincing evidence” that autism can be caused by a mother who contracts an infection, suffering depression or having other health problems during pregnancy.
Instead, researchers said that autism diagnoses can often be updated to genetics, exposure to pollution and access to health care.
“We saw no connection between the individual [diagnostic codes on medical records] showing the mother’s infection and [a child’s] Diagnosis of autism, “High author of the study Magdalena Janea said The post,” However, we cannot eventually say that the mother’s infection does not cause autism. “
Inside the ‘first’ of his study
The Janea team analyzed more than 1.1 million Danish pregnancies. Denmark’s register data are more organized and comprehensive than the American system, said Janecka, an associate professor at the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the Department of Population Health at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine.
Researchers narrowed their focus on 236 maternal conditions reported in health data. They were able to attribute most of the diagnoses of children’s autism factors such as maternal age during pregnancy – children of older mothers are more likely to have autism – and genetics.
For example, researchers said if a woman experiences depression during pregnancy and her child is diagnosed with autism, much more likely that the couple share the genes that cause both conditions instead of depression that causes autism in the developing fetus.
“Many mothers of children with autism feel guilty of this,” Janecka said, “thinking they did something wrong during pregnancy and is heartbroken.”
She told The Post that over 350 genes are related to autism and development delay – and much more likely to contribute.
“These 350 genes are associated with particularly high risk and often de novo occur in children – ie mutation only occurs in the sperm or eggs of parents, so both parents are not affected, but the mutation is passed on to the child,” Janeck explained. “If the child has one of these mutations, they will most likely be diagnosed with autism or [developmental delay]”
Beyond the mother’s medical history
When the explanation was not immediately clear, the researchers included the sisters and sisters in the analysis. If a mother were to be diagnosed with the same condition while pregnant with her child with autism and her child without autism, it would suggest that other factors were in the game.
“We believe that our study is the first to consider the inclusion of the whole mother’s medical history and explores a wide range of potential associations, checking for numerous simultaneous conditions and confusion factors,” said the author of the main study Dr. Vahe Khachadourian, a Professor’s research assistant at the Department of Child Psychiatry and Adolescents at NYU Grossman School of Medicine.
The team also analyzed the medical stories of fathers. After calculating family factors, the only diagnosis of the mother still strongly associated with autism was the complications of pregnancy related to the fetus.
“Our interpretation is that these fetal diagnoses are likely not to cause autism, but they are its early signs,” Janecka said. “The predominant hypothesis is that autism really starts prenatal. Even before a child receives a diagnosis for autism, development changes have occurred all the time. “
What is next for research
There were restrictions on the study, published Friday in Nature Medicine. For example, researchers did not analyze the use of medicines during pregnancy.
Janea told The Post the team plans to use genetic data from the children he studied to identify which mother’s conditions are the most indicative of genetic predisposition raised against autism.
Meanwhile, levels of autism diagnosis continue to increase. Researchers have speculated that most of the growth may be due to extended examination practices, changes in diagnostic criteria and raising awareness between parents and clinics.
For pregnant couples concerned about the risk of their baby’s autism, Janea recommends seeing a genetic advisor.
“It seems that autism is mainly due to genetic factors, which are difficult to try,” it noted. “If a couple has a history of autism among their close family members, they can talk to a genetic advisor to learn about the likelihood of their child will also have the diagnosis.”
#study #myth #autism
Image Source : nypost.com