New Autism Study: Environmental Factors Have More Impact Than Genetics
Nearly one percent of children in the U.S. are diagnosed with autism, but the cause of the disease’s staggering growth rate these past decades has been hotly debated. Up until recently, research on twins seemed to put the blame largely on genetics. A new study out of UCSF, though—the largest twin study of its kind—appears to be undermining this theory. From a piece in the San Francisco Gate:
The study, published in Monday’s issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry, looked at 192 pairs of twins in California and, using a mathematical model, found that genetics account for about 38 percent of the risk of autism, and environmental factors account for about 62 percent.
Other recent research out of the Kaiser Permanente Northern California system found an increased risk when mothers had taken anti-depressants in the year before or during pregnancy. This does not mean that the drugs caused the autism, but everyone seems to agree that more research needs to be done on potential environmental factors.
Have you had any experience with autism?
Both my brother and sister have autism (not twins). There is no found genetic mutation that is the cause of it so I am very interested to see if they pin point any environmental causes in the near future.
<3 Sarah
theantiquepearl.blogspot.com
Here is an interview with an autism expert discussing the findings of the study… interesting stuff and it’s certainly food for thought for pregnant women and those planning to become pregnant.
http://t.co/HQvfUq2
My sister is handicapped and autistic. But as far as we can tell there’s neither genetics nor environment at work. She’s been that way since birth, even though all went the same as with me (and I am a pretty typical picture of mental clarity and social communicativeness :P). We sometimes joke that everything she has too much of (mainly patience, inner calm) I have too little of and vice versa. She has made enormous progress over the years, because she started out as a sort off an emotional brick, refusing to eat, showing no emotion, and she’s now your typical teenager/young adult, with exception of the still not-talking and things like that (she’s 18). But she’s social, open, kind and she has warmed up to the world. In so far we can say that environment plays an enormous part: we, as a family, have reached out to her over the years, it’s an endless effort (especially on my moms part), but we’ve managed to somehow meet each other halfway, we learning from her she from us, and it has been it’s own reward.
My daughter will almost 4 and has received an initial diagnoses of early childhood autism. I have always suspected that there were environmental elements involved. It has been along road to find her the right help. When she was born she was healthy and alert- but by the time she was 3months I started to notice changes. Thanks to therapy she is a happy and adjusting little girl. There is a long waiting list to see a specialist in my area- so we wait for a professional to confirm what I know in my heart. I hope that we push enough and more studies are done to investigate the links. In one of the books I read it said- genetics load the gun and the environment pulls the trigger.
One of our close family friends has two 6 year-old twins, one has autism and the other shares many digestive issues. They believe there is environmental causes behind their son’s autism (he had a fixation as a child with eating dirt in their backyard that was contaminated with toxins) and have since changed the diets of everyone in their family. They all eat gluten-free and have recently given up fruit and have found so much success with that. They have become so fixated with the environment they have even opened their own green cleaning company!