How Can I find out what Caused My Child’s Autism?
The cause of autism in a child still remains a mystery for all the parents as well as
medical professionals and many children fall under the spectrum in spite of
complete care during pregnancy and delivery.
As suggested by the recent research, parents say that autism spectrum
disorder affects 1 in 45 children through ages 3 to 17. This figure is considerably higher than the official
government estimate of 1 in 68 Indian children with autism as suggested by the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
It is still not known with clarity which genes are
responsible for autism spectrum disorder and heritability of autism is complex.
In rare cases, agents that cause birth
defects are also suspected to be responsible for autism. The needle of suspicion also points towards childhood
immunizations but numerous epidemiological studies have revealed that there is
no scientific evidence to prove any association between immunization and autism.
In a recent data by researchers, it is suspected
that autism is not caused by a single phenomenon but is instead a complex
disorder. The cause of autism is
attributed to a set of underlying brain dysfunctions which then lead to the common
symptoms of autism similar to the way different brain
problems result in intellectual incapacity. Even though heritability is considered as a
strong reason for ASD, most of the children falling under autism spectrum have
no family history of autism.
Below are some of the causes suspected
to be the main factors for Autism:
1. Prenatal Environment:
Children of mothers suffering with
type 1 diabetes and bleeding disorders are at greater risk of falling under
autism spectrum. Furthermore, use of
psychotropic drugs during pregnancy and advanced parental age are some of the
other risk factors of autism.
2. Infectious Processes:
If the mother has suffered a viral infection during
pregnancy, then children of these mothers are at greater risk of acquiring autism spectrum disorder. Exposure to rubella or cytomegalovirus triggers
an immune response in a mother and increases the risk of autism.
3. Environmental Agents:
Exposure of the embryo to environmental agents
like teratogens during pregnancy can disrupt the development of the fetus
thereby increasing the risk of autism. Some teratogens that are considered to be
culprits in causing birth defects are also suspected to cause autism; however,
these suspicions are baseless and without proof. A few of them are paracetamol, misoprostol, thalidomide, valproic acid, etc, but these cases are few and far
between.
4. Other maternal conditions:
Children of mothers suffering with
thyroid disorders, type 1 diabetes, maternal obesity are at greater risk of
developing autism, however, this is just a theory and need to be backed by more
scientific evidence. Stress or
psychological trauma during pregnancy has also been hypothesized to cause autism as part of a genetic and environmental
interaction.
5. Other in Utero:
Folic acid taken during pregnancy may be
instrumental in reducing the risk of autism, by altering the genetic makeup
through an epigenetic mechanism; however, this still remains a hypothesis supported
by multiple studies. On the other hand some
research propose that exposure during pregnancy to selective serotonin reuptake
inhibitors is related to a greater risk of autism, however, the relation
between SSRIs and autism is not yet proven.
6. Amygdala Neurons:
If the amygdala (a region in the brain
responsible for experiencing emotions) fails to develop, this can result in
under development of cerebral cortex which plays a key role in memory,
awareness, perception, etc. Children suffering with autism have
trouble in these areas.
7. Autoimmune disease:
Auto antibodies which affect the brain or component
of brain metabolism may result in autism.
8. Endogenous opiate precursor theory:
Children suffering from a congenital disorder
of the digestive tract in which gluten and casein are converted to opioid
peptides gliadorphin (gluteomorphin) and casomorphin are at greater risk of
developing autism.
9. Gastrointestinal Connection:
Gastrointestinal (GI) problems are common in children
suffering with autistic spectrum disorder and many
research studies have investigated the possible link between autism and the GI
tract but have not been able to prove this beyond doubt.
10. Lack of Vitamin D:
Deficiency of vitamin D is hypothesized to
play a role in autism. Although this
theory is biologically plausible, there is insufficient evidence to prove this.
11. Lead:
As levels of
lead in blood of autistic children are found to be significantly higher than
normal, lead poisoning has been proposed as a possible risk
factor for autism.
12. Locus
coeruleus–noradrenergic system:
It
is also theorized that autistic behaviors are at least in part due to an imbalance
during development that results in functionally impaired locus
coeruleus–noradrenergic (LC-NA) system.
13. Mercury:
Mercury poisoning is also theorized to be
linked with autism based on the level of mercury in the blood of autistic
children and similar symptoms, however, a meta-analysis published in 2007
rejects this theory.
14. Oxidative Stress:
This
theory proposes that toxicity and oxidative stress may play some role in cases of autism. This theory is based on genetic
effects on metabolic pathways, reduced antioxidant capacity, enzyme changes,
and enhanced biomarkers for oxidative stress; however, there is very little
evidence to link OS with autism.
15. Refrigerator Mother:
Child psychologist Bruno Bettelheim theorized the link between autism and early
childhood trauma and this theory was very popular for decades in the medical
sphere.
16. Vaccines:
Scientific
studies have concluded that there is no link between vaccinations and autism;
however, there are some parents who have accepted this theory that vaccinations
can cause autism and delay or avoid giving vaccines. They believe that giving too many vaccines
within a short period may over burden the child’s immune system and cause autism
even though research has shown this to be completely baseless. By doing this parents are exposing their
child to developing the diseases for which vaccines are given.
17. MMR vaccine:
Perhaps the most debated hypothesis is the
link between autism and MMR vaccine.
This link has been thoroughly investigated and the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, the UK National Health Service, and the Institute of
Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences are all in agreement that there is
no evidence that MMR vaccine has any role to play in the development of autism.
18. Viral infection:
Studies to establish a link between autism and
viral infection after birth again show conflicting reports arguing for and
against it. Tests conducted on
laboratory rats infected with Borna disease did develop some symptoms of autism,
but blood samples of children with autism spectrum disorder revealed no trace
of the virus. Studies so far have been
inconclusive in establishing any link between strains of herpes virus and
autism. Viruses have long been
considered as culprits for causing immune-mediated diseases like multiple
sclerosis, however, proving that there is any link between these two has been
difficult. Likewise, any link between
autism and viral infection still remains only in theory and further evidence is
required.
In spite of many theories floating around in the
medical world as to the causes of autism, the real cause of autism still
remains a mystery. We are thankful to
you for reading this blog. You can contact CAPAAR Best Centre for Autism in Bangalore if you have any queries or
visit our center in Hulimavu, Bangalore. You can also visit our website frequently as
we will be updating it from time to time and provide more informative articles.
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