are other countries having an epidemic of autism too?

[donsu]

or is it just the US?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

1. Here's an article on rising rates of autism in Japan

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7076

[havocmom]

2. Want to read that one when I have a bit more time, thanks for link

Any numbers on ultrasounds during pregnancies there as opposed to autism rates in places that don't do ultrasound as a matter of course?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

3. I didn't do THAT Google search

:-)

[havocmom]

6. just a question I have had tumbling in my brain for several years now

What are the effects of ultrasound on developing central nervous systems?

Haven't seen any answers and the HONEST MDs I have asked have responded that there is no solid proof that ultrasounds ARE harmless to developing fetuses. THAT worries me some.

[KamaAina]

4. Ultrasound? That I hadn't heard before.

Are there any publications, journal articles or what have you, regarding an ultrasound-autism link?

[havocmom]

7. That's what I would like to know. Seems the jump in one and jump in other

happened about the same time. I am no scientist, but have yet to see the issue addressed. As I posted above, the HONEST doctors I have asked about it admit they don't have proof ultrasounds are absolutely benign.

If there is any connection at all, it wouldn't be the first time an unintended consequence bit us on the ass. I would like to know if/how the issue has been addressed. So far, haven't found anything.

[TechBear_Seattle]

10. Correlation is not the same as causation

But with the lack of meaningful studies, there is no way of knowing if there is a causal link between ultrasounds and autism.

[havocmom]

28. Didn't say there was evidence of cause

just wanted to know if there have even been any studies, because it seems a good thing to look into, seems as how it sorta hit all at the same time.

Studies would be good. Wanted to know if there were any and if not, why not. Sorta odd. Lots of pro and con studies about metals as preservatives in vaccines being a possible cause. Seems sorta short sighted to not look at other possibilities.

Also think since we have more and more electrical gadgets and each of them having magnetic fields of varying intensity, THAT might be looked into also. Kids are not affected the same as adults by many environmental toxins. Seems dangerous to think they couldn't be affected more by magnetic fields and background stuff.

[BadgerKid]

17. .

Seems the jump in one and jump in other happened about the same time. I am no scientist ... the HONEST doctors I have asked about it ...

On the contrary, making observations and gathering data are part of scientifc method. :)

[havocmom]

29. I know that and you know that. Most discoveries were made....

observation and intuitive leaps are big for starting discoveries. But, keep it under your hat. There are Fundy Scientists about the woods who will tie you to a post and set fire to you if you insist something COULD be when they KNOW it can't be proved consistently in a lab and measured the same each time ;) There are Fundamentalist Scientists who are just as convinced their dogma is absolute truth, not so unlike the folks that play with snakes in church. They dismiss too much observation and intuitive insights as just 'anecdotal' and patronize the natural observer.

I get so tired of asking them if germs, viruses and bacteria did not exist prior to the development of tools we use to see them. ;) They get testy with me sometimes. Oh, well, I hear Einstein was unpopular in some of his classes.

Thanks for the encouragement. I shall continue to observe, and consider that more is connected than your or I could yet conceive in our limited labs :thumbsup:

[donsu]

9. thanks for the link - somebody better find out soon what is causing it

is there enough research money out there?

[SmokingJacket]

5. I believe it's all over. nt

[Lydia Leftcoast]

8. Here's a website for parents of autistic children in India

http://www.autism-india.org/afa_autisminindia.html

Some of them seem to think that a gluten-free, dairy-free diet has caused their children to improve.

[donsu]

12. thanks for link - looks like it is world wide - they better find the source

soon.

less military money so research can go forward faster.

[proud2BlibKansan]

11. Yes it is worldwide

[savemefromdumbya]

13. Isn't autism due to the vaccines?

thought I read that somewhere?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

That's one theory, but Japan hasn't used the vaccines in question

since 1993, according to the link in my post above, and autism is still increasing.

[LunaC]

24. Could mercury be the link?

Mercury in U.S. vaccines and mercury in the mainly-fish diet the Japanese consume?????

[elehhhhna]

27. The med pros I know say that toddlers who are diagnosed w/

autism show signs long before they're officially diagnosed...but nobody wants to suggest to a parent that their 6 month old has this type of problem, so they wait until the child is older to make a definitive diagnosis.

[raccoon]

14. Could it be that it's diagnosed more nowadays? nt

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

15. Are we?

Or is it just better diagnosis?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

16. I wonder if the real cause is something that people wouldn't want to give up

For example, the rise in childhood asthma seems to correlate pretty while with the rise of air pollution, specifically air pollution due to cars. (I'm not going to rerun my line of reasoning here, or why I reject the "no exposure to animals" or "excessive cleanliness" hypotheses, but the cars-asthma link seems to hold up.)

What if autism is due to something like (and I'm just pulling ideas out of thin air) consumption of artificial sweeteners during pregnancy or chemical residues in breast milk or something that we'd never expect?

[Robbien]

20. I believe all the pesticides, mercury and hormone enhancers

found in our foods have to have a contributing factor to not only autism but the increased number of people who have asthma and/or allergies.

[Hekate]

30. I've come to believe our sick kids are the canaries in the coalmine of our lives

I used to believe the received wisdom that "we are diagnosing more of disease X, that's why it looks like there's more people sick" and "we are getting more cancers because we are living longer."

I no longer really believe those comforting thoughts: I think we humans have poisoned our environment and our children are paying heavily for it. There have always been various anomalies and illnesses, but things like asthma and autism that used to be rare are now epidemic.

I don't think there's any overarching conspiracy afoot -- but greed for profits, carelessness, blindness to consequences, and lack of concern for the Earth and her creatures go a long way toward explaining the mess we find ourselves in. These are the things we must remedy or we will never be able to prevent the maladies we are frantically trying to "cure."

Hekate

[donsu]

31. I agree

nt

[AndyTiedye]

18. Mostly It's Just More Awareness of Autism

[Lydia Leftcoast]

19. I don't know about that

To a certain extent, I think Asperger's Syndrome was massively under-diagnosed--we just thought of them as nerds-- but I don't recall seeing any outright autistic kids when I was growing up. Now they seem to be everywhere.

[RaleighNCDUer]

21. OTOH, back in the day the severely autistic were hidden away.

Institutionalized. We were less aware of them because, like many illnesses in history, it was seen as shameful to have imperfect children.

[China_cat]

22. That's because, until recently, they were shuttled off

to 'special' schools and not seen in public.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

23. But even if such children were sent away, you knew that people had them

During my childhood, Down's Syndrome children were routinely institutionalized, but you were aware that such-and-such a family had one.

[intaglio]

25. That Autisms are better diagnosed now

I think has been largely disproven.

There used to be a very useful collection of work "The Age of Autism" by Donald and Fritz, archived on Science Daily - it has vanished

[Crim_n al]

26. I have hereditary aspergers, as do many others in my family.

20 years ago Aspergers, (a type of autism,) was not being diagnosed, and I was just thought to be
an aloof bookworm who was too up-herself to co-operate with people. Locals would say,
"oh, the M...s are all like that."

Now half the younger generation (in my extended family) are diagnosed with Aspergers, and have
been very relieved to learn it's a particular condition, and that they are not just guilty of
being different on purpose.

I'm sure cases like this have added greatly to the statistics.

[Kelly Rupert]

32. As do I, and I agree that the cause is most likely increased detection.

[Marrah_G]

33. Is this strange?

My cousin's wife had Quadruplets, a set of Paternal Girls and a set of Identical Boys. One of the boys is a savant-like Autistic.

My best friend has Identical Twin girls. One of the girls is an Autistic, although a little higher functioning then my cousins child. She speaks a little bit now at 6 years old, albeit in her own special way.

Both times one twin out of an identical set has it.

They are the only ones I know.

[LeftishBrit]

34. There have been a number of twin studies

And the evidence is that if you have an identical twin who is autistic, then you have a very high risk of also being autistic, but it's not 100%. Averaging across studies, it seems that about 60% of identical twins of autistic individuals are also autistic, and another 30% have language or cognitive disorders that don't meet the full criteria for autism. About 10% seem unaffected. In most cases where only one of a pair of identical twins is autistic, the autistic twin has had more complications prenatally or at birth or was of lower birthweight; so it looks as though genetics play a large role, but prenatal and birth complications also contribute.

It's hard to tell whether the increase in diagnosed autism is solely the result of better diagnosis; but certainly that plays a part. 40 years ago, severely autistic children tended to be classed as just 'mentally handicapped' or sometimes 'psychotic'; and those with high functioning autism or Asperger syndrome tended to be regarded as 'odd', 'unco-operative', or 'emotionally disturbed'.

I think that another factor may be that severe prematurity or illness at birth is less likely to be fatal nowadays than in the past; and, given the association between autism and prenatal/birth complications, there may be a higher proportion of children who survive with conditions such as autism, whereas in the past they might sadly have died.