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Research into pre-natal causes of autism

scienceobservation

Hi. I'm a mum of three. We don't have autism in our family, but my third son showed many of the signs at aged 3: poor eye contact, lack of vocal recognition, biting, slow to learn and write. Luckily, with loving parents and teachers he developed wonderfully and made a loving group of friends. I have always been interested in autism as a mum in the community and have friends with children who have autism. I am also interested in scientific observation and thought - but definitely not speculation or unscientific causation. I understand autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder to do with brain systems and is spectral in range. I think that research should be directed to prenatal influences in the uterus - interesting research might be: raised CRP levels in mother are a sign that the body is undergoing response to inflammation due to virus/bacteria and increase CRP = autism in babies; Fifth disease B19 Paravovirus in mothers linked with prenatal fetal anaemia causing intercerebal hemorrhage. I also find interesting the link that austic children also have a higher prevalance of leaky gut syndrome and this is also connected to B19 virus and gut microbiota. There is also a link between PLEVA virus and B19 in older children, with PLEVA being more prevalant in boys. In summary, these are merely observations and things I have read up on in respected scientific jounals and papers as an interested mum with an active brain! Could our increasingly sterile modern environment coupled with the skewed increase in prescription of antibiotics have alters gut microbiota and decreased our resistance to B19 causing a rise in prenatal infection and brain damage shown in the rise in cases of autism worldwide? The brain-skin-gut connection has been thrown into the spotlight recently, particularly in relation to depression and mental health. I hope scientists can pull in funding to research properly these links thoroughly because somewhere in this lies the answer to the causes of autism. If we can develop a vaccine to protect mums-to-be against B19 and understand better prenatal brain damage which causes the brain to enlarge, then we could be on the right track.

Parents

  • Thanks for your valued response. Absolutetely, from what I have read up on so far, the austic spectrum has always been part of the human population and some of the achievements of more famous people with autism does make you want to weep with awe and wonder at their marvel. Fact: autism has always been in the human population and always will be. The more whole communities can come together and discuss openly and with respect then so much the better. I hear your point on the genetics side and there is a strong argument for genetics. However, for example, just as a person's sexuality (phenotype expression) is determined by their genotype (genetics) there are concrete scientific studies that show that genes can be manipulated by environmental factors such as pathogen or pollution to alter phenotypic expression. Maybe we should not waste research money and just accept the above. I don't agree.

    My post was concerned with research into the possible environmental factors that might cause prenatal damage such as inflammation and oxidative prenatal stress. These factors have always been around, e.g. epidemic cycles of pathogens, winter indoor air pollution, diet vitamin and mineral changes, increased traffic, lack of outdoor exposure in winter - the list goes on. Why would the risk of autism decrease in summer born babies? I think that if there are any observable environmental factors at play then they should be understood scientifically. Thank you for reading and discussing my post.

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  • Thanks for your valued response. Absolutetely, from what I have read up on so far, the austic spectrum has always been part of the human population and some of the achievements of more famous people with autism does make you want to weep with awe and wonder at their marvel. Fact: autism has always been in the human population and always will be. The more whole communities can come together and discuss openly and with respect then so much the better. I hear your point on the genetics side and there is a strong argument for genetics. However, for example, just as a person's sexuality (phenotype expression) is determined by their genotype (genetics) there are concrete scientific studies that show that genes can be manipulated by environmental factors such as pathogen or pollution to alter phenotypic expression. Maybe we should not waste research money and just accept the above. I don't agree.

    My post was concerned with research into the possible environmental factors that might cause prenatal damage such as inflammation and oxidative prenatal stress. These factors have always been around, e.g. epidemic cycles of pathogens, winter indoor air pollution, diet vitamin and mineral changes, increased traffic, lack of outdoor exposure in winter - the list goes on. Why would the risk of autism decrease in summer born babies? I think that if there are any observable environmental factors at play then they should be understood scientifically. Thank you for reading and discussing my post.

Children
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