The risk of developing autism is significantly higher among children born to men who are 40 and older than it is among children with fathers under 30, researchers report. The reason appears to be genetic, researchers suggest.
Placental abnormality may hold the key for early detection of autism, a study finds.
A new research has shown that the difficulties people with autism have in relating to others could be due to poor communication between brain areas.
Home videos of first and second year birthday parties provide support for parents’ reports of children whose behavior seemed normal when they were one-year-olds but then display symptoms of autism at the age of two years, according to a study in the August issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
In the 1990s reported autism cases among American children began spiking, from about 1 in 10,000 in 1987 to a shocking 1 in 166 today. This trend coincided with the addition of several new shots to the nation’s already crowded vaccination schedule, grouped together and given soon after birth or in the early months of infancy. Most of these shots contained a little-known preservative called thimerosal, which includes a quantity of the toxin mercury.
There is no known single cause for autism, but it is generally accepted that it is caused by abnormalities in brain structure or function. Brain scans show differences in the shape and structure of the brain in autistic versus non-autistic children.
Autism is a complex developmental disability that typically appears during the first three years of life. The result of a neurological disorder that affects the functioning of the brain, autism and its associated behaviors have been estimated to occur in as many as 2 to 6 in 1,000 individuals.
Professor David Skuse, of Britain’s Institute of Child Health, says a part of the brain that is key to reading expressions in people’s faces – and which is affected by the X chromosome – could give a new insight into the causes of the disease.
A study of mercury levels in the baby hair of children who were later diagnosed with autism has produced startling results. The babies had far lower levels of mercury in their hair than other infants, leading to speculation that autistic children either do not absorb mercury or, more likely, cannot excrete it.
Autism, the devastating mental illness that affects thousands of children every year, is not a single psychological condition, scientists have discovered.