Scientists in Australia have developed a genetic test to predict autism spectrum disorder in children. This might sound like the “breakthrough” that some parents are looking for. Personally, I’ve heard so many different things that are said to be the cause of autism that I have grown jaded. Here is a quick round-up of a few of them.
Let’s start with the most recent story. Scientists in Australia used United States data from more than 3,000 people who have autism in a recent study. The scientists identified 237 genetic markers and 146 genes and related cellular pathways. The scientists say that measuring these markers could enable a scientist to assess the risk an individual has of developing autism.
The test correctly predicted autism with more than 70% accuracy in people who are of European decent. The idea is that the earlier we can identify that a child has autism, the better, because early intervention and treatment produces the best results.
While I hope that this new test is “the real deal”, so to speak, I hesitate to have faith in it. I’ve been writing for the Special Needs blog for quite some time now, and I’ve seen all kinds of things attributed to being a cause of autism. I no longer know what to believe when I see yet another study that seems to have identified a cause.
In April of 2012, a study published in “Pediatrics” said that mothers who were obese were more likely to have a child with autism than were mothers who were not obese. Moms who had diabetes or high blood pressure also had a higher risk of having a child with an autism spectrum disorder, (but not as high a risk as the moms who were obese did).
A study revealed a few weeks ago, that was done by scientists at deCode Genetics, Inc., found that the age of the father affected the chance that their child would have autism. The older the father, the more likely their child would have autism. In August of 2011, researchers at the UC Davis MIND Institute released the results of a study that found that an infant who has an older sibling who has autism has an increased risk of developing autism as well.
There has been a study that concluded that television causes autism. Another study said that a unique airway shape was a sign that a child had autism. Low birth weight has also been linked to a risk of autism.
Of course, this list would be incomplete if I didn’t mention the (mistaken) belief that the MMR vaccine causes autism. It doesn’t. The majority of the authors of the study that came to that conclusion have renounced it, (to make a long story short).
Image by Håkan Dahlström on Flickr