Interesting: autism may begin in the womb

[vanillacourage]

www.nytimes.com/2012/08/26/opinion/sunday/immune-disorders-and-autism.html?_r=1&src=me&ref=general

But how to address it, and where to begin? That question has led scientists to the womb. A population-wide study from Denmark spanning two decades of births indicates that infection during pregnancy increases the risk of autism in the child. Hospitalization for a viral infection, like the flu, during the first trimester of pregnancy triples the odds. Bacterial infection, including of the urinary tract, during the second trimester increases chances by 40 percent.

The lesson here isn’t necessarily that viruses and bacteria directly damage the fetus. Rather, the mother’s attempt to repel invaders — her inflammatory response — seems at fault. Research by Paul Patterson, an expert in neuroimmunity at Caltech, demonstrates this important principle. Inflaming pregnant mice artificially — without a living infective agent — prompts behavioral problems in the young. In this model, autism results from collateral damage. It’s an unintended consequence of self-defense during pregnancy.

Yet to blame infections for the autism epidemic is folly. First, in the broadest sense, the epidemiology doesn’t jibe. Leo Kanner first described infantile autism in 1943. Diagnoses have increased tenfold, although a careful assessment suggests that the true increase in incidences is less than half that. But in that same period, viral and bacterial infections have generally declined. By many measures, we’re more infection-free than ever before in human history.

Better clues to the causes of the autism phenomenon come from parallel “epidemics.” The prevalence of inflammatory diseases in general has increased significantly in the past 60 years. As a group, they include asthma, now estimated to affect 1 in 10 children — at least double the prevalence of 1980 — and autoimmune disorders, which afflict 1 in 20.

Both are linked to autism, especially in the mother. One large Danish study, which included nearly 700,000 births over a decade, found that a mother’s rheumatoid arthritis, a degenerative disease of the joints, elevated a child’s risk of autism by 80 percent. Her celiac disease, an inflammatory disease prompted by proteins in wheat and other grains, increased it 350 percent. Genetic studies tell a similar tale. Gene variants associated with autoimmune disease — genes of the immune system — also increase the risk of autism, especially when they occur in the mother.

[vanillacourage]

I did not mean to worry anyone unnecessarily, sorry. But, if I were pregnant and trying to decide whether to get a flu shot, this could definitely sway my decision.

[vanillacourage]

Aug 29, 2012 14:09:36 GMT -5 @msstarry said:

Aug 29, 2012 14:07:59 GMT -5 vanillacourage said:

I did not mean to worry anyone unnecessarily, sorry. But, if I were pregnant and trying to decide whether to get a flu shot, this could definitely sway my decision.

Wait I am getting one today! Would it sway you TO get one or NOT to get one?

It would sway me TO get one.

[kangaroo11]

Awesome... I had a terrible cold in first trimester and a small UTI, and now I have another cold.

[Deleted]

So interesting! I had a UTI with DD3 & she has issues (not autism) the root of which are still not known (had genetic tests, testing for muscular dystrophy, etc). I feel bad for my Sis as she'll be older (when/if she has kids) & has celiac. I have an autoimmune disease but have all girls.

[Jem]

This was really interesting to me because I have rheumatoid arthritis and as I started to read the pasted text I thought "uh oh" and then they actually mention it 2 paragraphs later. For those who are worried, I will tell you that I have many risk factors apparently (RA, live in NYC, and have a boy) and while DS is only 2, he shows no signs of autism. Still a mystery I guess, but interesting to see what they are looking at now.

Also makes me think twice about number 2. I don't care for the percentage they are attaching to the RA risk factor - 80% is REALLY high!

[jenn248]

Of course, I read this the same day I am coming down with a cold. Thanks, vanillacourage! Just kidding, it's an interesting theory and article.

[hannamaren]

I wonder if it matters if you are taking an immunosuppressant? Although, you still have the gene

[rubytuesday]

This is very interesting. I have read recently that some limited studies indicated that living close to a highway & living close to field that spray certain pesticides during pregnancy (two separate studies) dramatically increase autism rates in those children.

My boys have asthma and allergies. So does my DH. I would not be surprised if they ultimately discover that the same factors are contributing to the rise in both. I wonder if it has to do with the chemicals and GMOs and other artifical food that we consume now. Is that leading to inflamation just like the viruses and infections cited in this article which is in turn leading to autism?

I'm glad that research is being done.

[jinnifah]

Interesting research, especially the reaction in mice.
although I find myself annoyed that the wording of the article is "blame the mother."

[Deleted]

there have been other studies that have shown kids with neurological issues like epilepsy mothers had the flu/high fevers during pg.

I was sick with pneumonia for most of my 2nd trimester with DS2 and he has ASD. I feel fortunate he is quirky and not to the extreme where he is non-verbal, etc. ASD has a huge spectrum.

My mother had pneumomnia with my sister that was never diagnosed but is probably ASD. That sister also has tourettes. It is hard to say if my sisters issues came from my mother's pneumonia, Menigitis (Hib) she had at 6 mos or something else.

[SusanBAnthony]

Ds is maybe on the spectrum (in the middle of an eval right now) and I had nothing my whole pregnancy. He is a firstborn male, and DH and I are both nerdy engineers, which increases the odds. But even thought his wouldn't apply to my kid, I a, very interested in the research. The ASD diagnosis rates have exploded, and a lot is definitely awareness and education on what ASD is. IMO there is other stuff going on as well, though. The diet/exercise/pesticide/highway theories that people have mentioned make sense to me, ingesting and being environmentally exposed to all that crap cannot be good for us, and I imagine we haven't even reached the tip of the iceberg in terms of figuring out how it is damaging to our bodies.