Question about autism.

[NCTraveler]

It is my understanding that under current and past NH1 protocol for diagnosing autism that autism is on the rise. I have yet to read one peer reviewed scientific paper even linking autism and vaccines. Therefore I am of the belief that there is absolutely no connection. So my question is, what is causing the increase in autism? Not the increase due to the NHI changing requirements to meet a standard. When that happens one can expect a dramatic fluctuation. As I understand, it is on the rise even under the old standards. In my mind right now I believe it to be environmental. I am using that word as it is used in the debate of autism and science with respect to autism.

While I have read a lot on autism and vaccines together, I have read very little on autism and its causes. Please correct anything in my op that is an error as I do not claim to be an expert in any way. I see a lot of "discussion" about autism being related to vaccines or not but very little about autism and what causes it.

Thanks in advance.

[Marrah_G]

1. I think part of it is the expansion of the definition of Autism

The definition has been widened, adding more to the number.

[NuclearDem]

3. Bingo.

No doubt there are probably some other factors as well, but this is the chief reason for the increase.

[NCTraveler]

6. That is why I put that in the op.

Clearly that is a big part of the increase. I was with the understanding that it would actually be on the increase even under the old definition. No where near as big of a percentage increase, but an increase none the less.

[bravenak]

2. I've always thought it was environmental too.

In utero, probably. My daughter got colds all the time and lung infections the first year. I noticed she was weird after she got her shots too. Only because she had already had a cold and got a big fever after her shots. Was disoriented. Regressed a bit. But she had always progressed and regressed.
I don't think it was vaccines. She gets so sick when she catches something, I worry she'd be dead without the vaccinations.

[HereSince1628]

15. Was you daughter full term, was she born by a caesarian or vaginal delivery?

I've read, but too long ago to say it was from anything other than a daily newspaper, that early deliveries are associated with lung problems as are caesarian deliveries having higher associations with lung problems.

That's also the circumstance for one person I know of, but I do recognize that n of 1 = anecdote.

[bravenak]

16. I was induced into labor with her. Vaginal.

She was smaller than I expectedc 5lbs 14 oz. My youngest was 7-11. They took her out almost a month too early. Toxemia I think. I started swelling up.

[HereSince1628]

18. My sort of step daughter was cesarian and has had many lung problems

Of course there is the problem of knowing a problem is present and then linking it to every cause known to be associated with it.

We'd love to have an explanation of why the SO's daughter is so vulnerable to respiratory problems.

So we are vulnerable to grasping at things...but I think lung development is really a critical feature of later fetal development that is in large part avoided by full-term births.

[bravenak]

19. I think so too.

The early birth and how sick I was getting seem to stick out in my mind as reasons why she catches everything.

[JaneyVee]

4. There really is no known cause of autism, but...

Mainstream research has identified other contributing factors, including:

Pesticide Exposure: Scientists think that chemicals in pesticides may adversely affect those who are genetically predisposed to autism, leading them to develop the full-blown disorder

Parental Age: A study found that women who are 40 years old have a 50 percent greater risk of having a child with autism than women who are between 20 and 29 years old.

Pharmaceuticals: Babies that have been exposed to certain pharmaceuticals in the womb, including SSRI’s, valproic acid and thalidomide, have been found to have a higher risk of autism.

Freeway Proximity: A study found that children born to mothers who live within a 1000 feet of freeways have twice the risk of autism

Limited Prenatal Vitamin Intake: Women who reported not taking prenatal vitamins immediately before and during a pregnancy were twice as likely to have a child with autism, one study found.

Although, the above info does come from an autism association that strongly believes vaccines can trigger autism, so interpret it how you will: http://nationalautismassociation.org/about-autism/causes-of-autism/

[Ilsa]

10. Advanced paternal age has also been shown

to be a factor.

[HereSince1628]

17. Income/poverty has associations with many diseases...

I wouldn't be surprised at all by the fact that kids born within a block or two of a freeway are also generally low income and so experience compromised prenatal, perinatal and pre-adolescent childhoods across many measurable domains.

Controlling all the many variables that lead to spurious relationships is really very important in epidemiological studies...and sometimes the target populations for the studies have difficulty being matched across all the criteria so that noise can be eliminated. Meta-analyses try to cope with this by increasing n but many of the difficulties remain.

I expect autism is rising for multiple factors, and because it's multiple factors it's quite difficult to tease out very clean indicators of what effectors are involved.

[belcffub]

23. I wish I knew the cause

My youngest is on the spectrum... we meet none of the things above... my wife was 27, she was on no medications other the pre-natal vitamins, we are miles from a freeway, and I earn in the top 20%

We identified it early and had in home speech, pt and ot starting at around 2...

She is in 6th grade now... I have no idea what the future holds for her... I have fully funded her college fund but have no idea if she will use it...

I wish we knew the cause... but really do not hold out hope that they will find one in my lifetime... but I would give anything for her to be off the spectrum...

My older daughter (by 18 months) is a honors student who will be starting a IB program next year for her high school degree... Other then a lack of motivation and a need for a kick in the butt from time to time to keep her on track has no issues...

[LeftishBrit]

5. Mostly it's diagnostic changes, and greater awareness of autism

30 years ago, higher-functioning autistic people might have been regarded as 'maladjusted' or just 'odd', while lower-functioning autistic people might have been regarded as 'mentally handicapped' without further explanation, or as 'childhood psychotics/schizophrenics' (a diagnosis almost never given nowadays).

In 2009, Simon Baron-Cohen and colleagues did a large-scale study in the UK where they assessed people of different ages according to current diagnostic criteria for autism. The proportion who met the current criteria was the same in all age groups (about 1 per cent), suggesting that there was no actual recent rise in incidence. The only difference was that younger people were more likely to have already been diagnosed on the autistic spectrum, whereas older people were more likely to have other diagnoses or none.

Though there is thus no real evidence of a rise, I would suggest that there may be slight influence from another factor. Children, who are extremely premature or ill at birth, have an increased risk of autism. 30 years ago, most such infants did not live long enough to be diagnosed as autistic; nowadays a high proportion do survive and may receive this diagnosis.

[Archae]

7. Autism is a mental illness, like schizophrenia or bipolar.

Trying to locate an actual cause is like trying to nail Jell-O to the wall.

In a few, (all too few) cases mental illness can be traced to brain damage, like in veterans or car accident victims.

But otherwise, the brain chemistry gets mixed up, and things go haywire.

Vaccines have been ruled out as causes, simply due to the fact (oops, there's that four-letter word again,) in Denmark they looked at kids who were vaccinated, and those who were not.
The autism rates are the same.

The anti-vaxxers claim mercury in the vaccines cause autism, they took mercury out, autism rates stayed the same.

[yellowcanine]

12. It is a developmental disorder, not a mental illness.

Autism spectrum disorder includes conditions previously called autism, pervasive developmental disorder, and Asperger's syndrome. The causes are not known.

http://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/

[KamaAina]

14. Mahalo (thank you)!

The confusion comes from the fact that we have our own number in DSM-V, the manual of mental illness. Then again, at one time, so did homosexuality. Srsly.

And one of the leading researchers in the field once told me that autism is "a behaviorally defined syndrome of multiple etiology." In English, that means it isn't a disease at all but a set of behaviors which can have many different causes. That imples that Autism $peaks' search for The Cure will prove fruitless.

[HuckleB]

8. Most research shows that it's due to diagnostic changes and awareness.

http://time.com/3652619/autism-diagnosis/

[YarnAddict]

9. When I was in college,

back in the mid-70's, a friend of mine was intrigued by autism, and actually wanted to specifically teach autistic kids, but was told it was so rare, that he should just do a Spec. Ed. certification. Obviously, occurrance has increased astronomically.

Part of it is the discovery of "the spectrum." There have always been people who have just been a bit odd; well, now they are on the spectrum, and schools get more $$ and sometimes families can get $$, too. So, what's the downside to labeling a kid?

There is obviously much more involved, but who knows what? It is tempting to blame it on all the crap in the air, and water, and food. But, there is actually a lot less of that than there used to be.

[YarnAddict]

20. My opinion

is that you can't pump that much crap into a small child's immune system, and not have some serious consequences. I think there are some two dozen vaccines suggested by the CDC by the time a child is two years old. Some of those are given in multiples. Since the way they work is by "tricking" the immune system into producing antibodies, it would be like being exposed to three or more diseases at once.

That said, my son is a biologist (and soon-to-be father) and he claims that any such fears about vaccines are unfounded, studies have been thoroughly debunked, and only crazy people have any qualms about immunizations.

When I look at the history of what has been considered acceptable and good medical practice in one decade can change drastically in another. As an example, consider DES, diethylstilbesterol. It was prescribed for some thirty years to prevent miscarriage and pregnancy complications. Then, in 1971 it was discovered that the daughters of the pregnant women who took it were developing vaginal cancers. It is now being studied for risks to the grandchildren of the women who took it.

Vaccines have been around for a relatively long time, so you would think everything that is to be known about them would be known by now, but, who knows?''

Anyway, I sure hope they are safe, since my granddaughter-to-be is going to be vaccinated for everything under the sun.

I do feel that there is a social responsibility to vaccinate, since babies, and immunocompromised children can't be vaccinate, and some of those infections could have dire consequences for them.

(BTW, please be careful about any anti-vax talk on this board. There are people who will be brutal about opinions that differ from their own.)

[NCTraveler]

11. Not a hit and run.

Reading the replies and links. Really great responses and I appreciate it. Most are more educational and not "reply to" post except for the appreciation of taking the time to post them. Lots of information to go through. Thanks.

[Starry Messenger]

21. People having children later in life

Plus better recognition.

[LoveIsNow]

22. More Awareness.

Both on the part of doctors and parents.