1 out of 150 born in the US develope autism. This scares me. This is a recent disease. is it the food we eat?

Question

these are scary statistics. In the 80's you hardly heard of it. Now its growing and growing rapid. What do you think causes this disease. My 10 yr old nephew has it and it feel so bad for him and his father. Its tough. HE acts like a 3 year old though hes smart.

Answer 1

I'm not an expert but I heard a theory a long time ago that kind of stuck with me. I believe it was on a news report about high numbers of children with autism in "Silicon Valley".



The theory was that many people can lead fairly productive lives with mild autism spectrum disorders (mild forms of autism). These people were probably very smart through high school and college but lacked many social skills (i.e. the nerds/geeks). Autism spectrum disorders are a fairly new family of diagnoses (I think) and a lot of people don't have symptoms severe enough to ever be diagnosed.



After college, these people found successes in computer sciences and met and married people who were very similar and may have had their own autism spectrum disorder. Because both parents of the children already had a mild autism, their children were more likely to have autism...



This particular theory has always been very interesting to me. I have had a few "trainings" in which they discuss autism because I work with people with other forms of developmental disabilities. This theory was not a part of any of those trainings, but I saw some evidence (like spectrum disorders not being found until much later in life, higher rates of autism in families with histories of other developmental/learning disabilities, etc). Just another thought to add to the pile for you. :o)

Answer 2

This is not a recent illness. My daughter was born in the 60's and functions as an 8 year old. Her speech is limited, 1-2 word sentences. She can follow 1-2 step verbal commands.

Her father & I are both in the medical field and we felt very helpless that we could not help our own daughter diagnoised with moderate to severe autism.

At one time, it was thought that the mother's personality type was the cause of this illness(that she was rigid & antisocial).

Today, with less negative stigima attachment and the medical profession more sensitive to the symptoms there are more reported cases.

We tried the patterning method develped by Deamon Delagatto used in Philadelphia, PA. It was popular at that time. It was thought that the child may have skipped the creeping stage and the patterning would reverse the brain and get the development back on track.

There have been many theories thru the years as to what causes autism but no definitive theory yet.

There is an interesting web site www. defeat autism now.com

Our daughter has her own special personality and is a delight in many ways. We were told that after our daughter passed thru puberty that many of the uncontrollable behavior issues that we dealt with would resolve. We found this to be true.

Watch the Oprah Winfrey show on Sept. 18. There may be something about autism.

Answer 3

Many people believe that it is caused by a bad reaction to the ever growing number of vaccinations children are given in the early years of their life.



I have heard many anecdotal accounts of children being "perfectly normal" one day, and being given a round of vaccines, and then becoming withdrawn, forgetting verbal and social skills, and being diagnosed with autism shortly thereafter.



However, the American Medical Association, the pharmaceutical industry and most researchers state that there is no linkage between vaccinations and autism.



What are the facts? Who knows?



As the number and variety of vaccinates in use increase, so do reports of autism, but the correlation does not prove causality. Maybe autism was always as common as it is today, but was generally left undiagnosed? Maybe its the water?



I wish someone not linked to the production or distribution of vaccines would conduct some research, but an objective third party really has no incentive to expend the sort of resources necessary to conduct unbiased research on the topic.

Answer 4

Could be...Afterall they nonetheless use paint with lead in toys and who is aware of what else. Imports from China are detrimental and no longer monitored and i attempt to preclude "made in China" as a lot as viable - nevertheless it's unimaginable to prevent them a hundred% because many merchandise are not marked (particularly meals). It's reasonable responsible China for cheap products as well as American organizations and even our govt who do trade with them. There is zero evidence that there is a hyperlink between vaccination shots and autism. Now that so many dad and mom are opting out of vaccinations, illnesses we've not obvious in decades are coming again in some communities (measles, whooping cough, and many others). There is lots theories about why there's an broaden in autism, certainly one of them being that doctors are diagnosing "autism" extra alternatively of "mentally disabled" or "emotionally challenged" or "intricate habits". An extra theory is that the older the father, the more more likely to have autistic youngsters which is sensible. Also, in the contemporary years, cell phone usage has end up part of our lives - possibly that could be part of it. Additionally one other new thing I learn is that people are napping much less hours (15% less than in 1960) and shortage of sleep reasons many issues like diabetes, weight problems, and many others - so perhaps there might be something stated a couple of pregnant mother who will get much less sleep than required? But there is a genetic component so not all people is vulnerable.

Answer 5

This is about the tenth time I have posted the following link:



http://www.wombecology.com/caesareans.html



The link between caesarean birth is both demonstrable and logical according to psychoanalytic theory. C-section has become easier and safer than natural childbirth. Nowadays if there is even the slightest risk involved in a delivery, obstetricians do not hesitate to perform C-sections. A study should be done between autism among children born in alternate birth centers and those born by caesarean. The studies that have already been done between general normal births and caesarean birth are dramatic enough.



Incidentally; all C-sections do not result in autism. It's just that the increase in autism can be linked to the rise in autism. Of course if the mother's life is in danger, C-sections should be done. Nobody is suggesting otherwise. I do not take political considerations into account when discussing theory. To do that in matters of medicine is indeed irresponsible.



Uh oh. I just noticed somebody gave me a thumbs down, and I think I know who did it: An alien from the planet *Mercury!* Well, I was just recently promoted to level 2, so...

Answer 6

C-sections are used to save the mother and the baby's life. Scheduled C-sections are done because of preexisting medical conditions. Placenta previa is a good example. Placenta previa is when the placenta lies on or too close to the cervix. A vaginal delivery will result in hemorrhaging- diaster for mother and child. There is no credible evidence linking a scheduled c-section to autism. An emergency C- section is totally different. Saying all C-sections cause autism is very irresponsible.

The overuse of pitocin is more likely to contribute to autism. Pitocin induces contractions and makes them more regular. This disrupts the natural birthing process. Hospitals and doctors use it to reduce the number of lawsuits from complications . Read about cranial sacral therapy for autism. The bones of the skull are misaligned and causes symptoms of autism. This condition is increasing as a result of pitocin.

Autism is increasing because we live in a toxic world. Pollution is all around us. China and other countries are not following safe industrial practices. Their toxic waste are being spread all of the world. It has already been shown that mercury, PCB's, etc. are causing birth defects and developmental delays. Vaccines are another source because they do contain aluminum, formaldehyde, etc. The total effects of toxins is clearly damaging our children. The autism now being seen is different because kids who are normal are developing symptoms. This is due to diet and environmental issues.

I did not see so many damaged kids when I was growing up. The theory that autism rates are increasing because of better diagnosis is not totally true. If you do the math, it would mean there would be public schools dedicated to just autism all over the country. There is not enough special schools around to handle disabled kids, not to mention autistic kids.

If we do not clean up the toxic waste, the severity of autism will certainly increase. The rise in rates of ADHD was a warning. Thimersol was removed but they added more vaccines and autism rates went up. Lead in children's toys as far back as 2002 have been discovered and developmental delays increased. See the connection?

Answer 7

There is a correlation between the addition of several vaccines into our kids' vaccination schedule in the 90's and the epidemic rise in autism diagnoses during that same time period. Those vaccines contained a preservative called thimerasol which is comprised of 50% mercury. The cumulative dose of mercury was never compiled by the CDC. Thus, autism used to be present in 1:10,000 children, now it is being diagnosed in 1:150. Mercury/thimerasol is slowly being phased out of childhood vaccines, but it is still present as trace amounts in some, including the flu vaccine. For the best information including citations and independent studies of the autism-vaccine connection, go to this website: www.generationrescue.org



A lot of autistic children have high levels of mercury, lead and other metals/toxins in their bodies. My son has recovered from autism using biomedical interventions including "chelation." We test his progress by urine and stool samples which prove his body was dumping mercury, btw.



Source(s):



www.generationrescue.org

www.putchildrenfirst.org

Answer 8

I know, it seems to be getting worse and worse. And yes, I do

think it's at least partly the food we eat. So much preservatives, additives, artificial colours and flavourings,

and they don't know what this does, either to the pregnant

mother or the growing child.

Other factors may be the chemicals and pollutants in the air

we breathe and the water we drink; genetic troubles in parents (scientists are seeing more and more damaged

sperm and eggs, in testing); the fact that people in the USA

are waiting until they are older, as a general rule, than they used to be when they have babies; and some blame the

innoculations and vaccines that the Government makes

you give your babies all the time now.

Answer 9

My younger brother has autism. He is 21 now.



http://osiris.sunderland.ac.uk/autism/vaccine.htm

There are many debates as to whether autism is caused by something (such as vaccinations) or it just takes time to show the developmental signs. (Most children don't begin showing signs till a few years old.)



There is no reason to feel sorry for children or families with children with autism. It's something we deal with everyday. You become accustomed to it and you move on. Although, it may seem scary it is not degenerative. My brother, although he cannot really talk, is very expressive and a beautiful person. Autism awareness is key.

Answer 10

How come autism was discovered During WW2.



Did Leo Kanner and Hans Asperger worked for the Nazi Party.



Nazi's were very intrested in Psychiatry you know



Hitler hated people who were different and wanted to get rid them.



Eye contact is a western world thing and some countries don't care about it.



Who cares when someone doesn't make eye contact when talking when talking to you.

Answer 11

The disease is ancient. It is the diagnosis that is recent.



Autism isn't a disease that developes in the classic sense. It is more in the "birth defect" category in most cases.



An increase in the numbers of cases may point to environmental issues or it could also point out that our diagostic methods have changed and cases that were nor recognized as autism before are now placed into that group.