New research is showing that the signs of autism appear in infants brains as young as six months of age leading to the question can autism be stopped or at least the symptoms improved with extremely early intervention? Perhaps, the impact of the disorder can lessened.
The research took scans of infant brains and found that there are certain connections that were not forming as swiftly in the babies who later developed autism as they were in infants who did not. The “normal” brains showed rapid organization.
The study was just published Friday in the American Journal of Psychiatry.
Previous studies support differences in the brain at such as young age, such as with brain volume.
Although there is no known cause of autism, most experts believe that it is a combination of a child’s genes and his or her experience in the world. Parents who have one child with autism have a one in twenty chance of having a second child with autism, a pretty high risk. In twins, the chances of one twin having it if the other does is about 90 percent.
Exposure to pesticides and certain pharmaceuticals has also been linked to autism.
Before you run out to request a brain scan of your baby, understand that the research is complex and there is no procedure out for determining autism in a six-month-old child by looking at the connections in the brain.
It is interesting to know that this study reinforces the idea that autism develops over time in a child. There is not sudden onset of the disorder. This research is taking us one step closer to figuring out the complexity of autism and how to treat and perhaps even one day prevent it.
Autism is not one disorder, but a range or a spectrum of disorders from mild to severe.
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