Environmental Risk Factors for Autism Identified
by Gina Kolite in Health News on Jan 13, 2011
New research suggests that environmental risk factors are evident, especially in the rising prevalence of autism in United States. Further, this study gives new addition to the evidences that the risk is presented well before children who are affected show symptoms, including communication and social interaction impairments, during pregnancy period.
According to the study conducted, children who were conceived within one year of a sibling were found to be three times more likely to be diagnosed with autism compared to those who conceived after three years or more. Though variables such as parental age, preterm birth and low birth weight, which are considered as factors known to increase autism risk, the team who conducted the new study is standing firm on the report.
Peter Bearman, the director of Lazarsfeld Center for the Social Sciences at Columbia University, and also the senior author of the study shared, “We’ve identified a really robust association.” He further explained, “When you see something so robust and so stable, it provides an important clue as to what we should be looking at next.”
The study was conducted and focused only to a number of 660, 000 second-born sibling children born in California between the years 1992 and 2002. Within that period, according to researchers, the proportion of births that occurred within the 24 months of a previous birth increased to 18 percent from an 11 percent start.
Moreover, Bearman and his team concluded, “Closely spaced births occur in some part because of unintended pregnancies but also by choice, particularly among women who delay childbearing.” In addition, Bearmans shared, “The next step will be to decompose this and figure out which piece of the puzzle is explained by what.”
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