What Is Joint Attention
Problems with joint attention are one of the most early and common signs of ASD. Joint attention is when your child looks back and forth between an object and a person. When a child does this to share interest and interact with another person, he develops skills that help him connect with other people. Most children with ASD have delays in joint attention skills, or they dont have any joint attention skills.
These are examples of how children with ASD may show different joint attention skills:
What Types Of Tests Do Doctors Perform To Detect Dwarfism
There are several tests that doctors will do to try and detect dwarfism in an unborn child. Here are a few of those tests:
Measurements A physician can measure a babys legs, arms and head during an ultrasound. During pregnancy, there are normal gestational milestones that a baby should be reaching. If the child is not reaching those gestational milestones, dwarfism could potentially be the cause.
Amniotic fluid check A physician will measure amniotic fluid to determine whether or not dwarfism is present. If a mother has too much amniotic fluid, that can be an indication of dwarfism.
Chorionic villus sampling Chorionic villus sampling at 11 weeks can help a doctor confirm dwarfism. Learn about chorionic villus sampling at .
Amniocentesis testing This type of test is done around 15 weeks and can help a doctor know if a child will be affected by dwarfism. Read about amniocentesis testing at .
Do Vaccinations Cause Autism Spectrum Disorder
No. Vaccines your baby gets do not cause autism. You may have heard about vaccines that contain thimerosal, a chemical that has mercury in it. Research shows that thimerosal in vaccines does not cause autism. Thimerosal is no longer used in vaccines, except in some flu shots. But you can get a thimerosal-free flu vaccine for your child if you want. If you need more information, talk to your babys provider.
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Routine Ultrasound Scans May Detect Autism In Utero
Deborah Brauser
LONDON Children with autism spectrum disorder may have more rapidly growing brains and bodies at the beginning of the second trimester than children without the disorder, new research suggests.
A small retrospective study examining fetal anomaly ultrasound scans showed that the children who went on to develop ASD had significantly greater head and abdominal circumference and cerebellar diameter at around 20 weeks’ gestation than did their healthy peers.
“This gave us a small window into the fetal development of these children, and it looked like something about autism was happening at that 20-week mark,” lead author Lois Salter, a medical student at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, told Medscape Medical News.
“If we could explore this further, it might help with diagnosing earlier and treating earlier. It just opens a whole range of possibilities if autism is detectable this early on,” said Salter.
The results were presented here at the International Congress of the Royal College of Psychiatrists 2014.
Early Detection
“Previous research suggests that autism may be detectable from infancy,” write the investigators, adding that they wanted to evaluate whether it could be detectable even earlier.
Lois Salter
Fetal anomaly scans have been routinely performed since December 2008 in the Lothians, a region of the Scottish Lowlands.
In addition, researchers controlled for maternal age and other demographic factors.
“Furthers Our Understanding”
Can Reducing Your Exposure To Air Pollution Help
Perhaps the most convincing and consistent environmental association with autism risk to date is pregnancy exposure to air pollution, says Dr. Fallin. Multiple studies have shown this connection: One by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health found that the risk doubled for children born to women exposed to high levels of pollution, particularly in the third trimester. The higher the levels of exposure, the greater the risk.
However, thats just part of the story.
The challenge has become understanding what component of air pollution may be relevant, as this implicates hundreds of chemicals from multiple sources, explains Dr. Fallin. In general, the American Lung Association recommends several ways to protect yourself from air pollution: for instance, fill your gas tank up after dark, exercise away from highly-trafficked areas and, when pollution levels are high, take your workout indoors. You can check out your daily air quality levels at www.airnow.gov.
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Being Able To Screen For Autism Is Problematic For A Number Of Reasons
Firstly, autism is a spectrum, and the question arises, at what point on the spectrum is considered the point where you would terminate the pregnancy? If testing only showed that your child was likely to be on the autistic spectrum, but if later you found out it was at the very high functioning end, would or should you not terminate?
What happens when we remove autistic people from the world? While parents and teachers raising children with autism might see some relief in the daily difficulties of this, people with autism are individuals with worth, personality and love who have a place to play in the world.
Some people with autism may have had the most incredible impact on science, art and society, including possibly Einstein, Mozart, Michelangelo, Darwin, Isaac Newton, Thomas Jefferson, Andy Warhol and Stanley Kubrick.
More significant in recent times, it is speculated that both Steve Jobs and Bill Gates could be identified as on the autism spectrum. While these are speculative guesses only, it is without a doubt that autistic people have lived and positively affected others lives throughout time.
Is There A Link Between Gestational Diabetes And Autism
An April 2015 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that mothers-to-be who are diagnosed with gestational diabetes by their 26th week of pregnancy are 63 percent more likely to have a child with autism. That means for every 1,000 women with gestational diabetes, seven of them may have a child with autism. Researchers speculate that in utero exposure to high blood sugar may affect a babys brain development and heighten the risk for developmental disorders.
Earlier studies also have shown a possible connection between high blood sugar during pregnancy and autism risk. The key factor may be how high blood sugar levels get. Interestingly, the JAMA study found that babies born to mothers who had type 2 diabetes before getting pregnant didnt have a higher risk of autism, perhaps because the women were taking medication to control their blood sugar levels.
Gestational diabetes poses a number of problems for infants, including preterm labor, large birth-weight and an increased risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes later in life. Moms-to-be have a higher risk of developing high blood pressure, preeclampsia and type 2 diabetes, as well. All expectant women should strive to keep their blood sugar under control, regardless of these study findings, says Dr. Wilms Floet.
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What Early Signs Of Autism Should I Watch For In My Child
While the causes of autism remain mysterious, the early signs of autism dont come out of nowhere. Most parents of autistic children recognize language delays at around 18 months of age. In fact, there are a few red flags that parents can look out for in their child much earlier than that. The American Academy of Pediatrics says some subtle, early signs of autism to look for before baby is 12 to 18 months old include:
- Your child doesnt turn when you say his or her name by 12 months
- Your child doesnt turn to look when you point and say, Look at
- Your child doesnt point to show you interesting objects or events
- Your child doesnt engage in back-and-forth baby babbling
- Delay in smiling and laughing
- Your child doesnt make and keep eye contact with people
Other early signs of autism that warrant evaluation by your pediatrician include the following :
- No babbling, pointing or other gestures by 12 months
- No single words by 16 months
- No two-word spontaneous phrases by 24 months
- Loss of language or social skills at any age
Can Dwarfism Be Diagnosed During Pregnancy
This week the Disability Living blog is writing about dwarfism, also known as short stature or skeletal dysplasia. Disability Living routinely blogs about issues that are relevant to Canadas disability community, and dwarfism is one such subject. Are you curious about dwarfism? Read on to discover whether or not dwarfism can be diagnosed during pregnancy.
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Design Setting And Participants
This retrospective pregnancy cohort study included 314,391 motherchild pairs of singletons born between 2001 and 2014 at Kaiser Permanente Southern California hospitals. Maternal and child data were extracted from KPSC electronic medical records. Children were followed until: clinical diagnosis of ASD, non-KPSC membership, death, or December 31, 2019, whichever came first. Exposure to the complex NRAP mixture during pregnancy was assessed using line-source dispersion models to estimate fresh vehicle emissions from freeway and non-freeway sources at maternal addresses during pregnancy. Vehicular traffic load exposure was characterized using advanced telematic models combining traditional traffic counts and travel-demand models with cell phone and vehicle GPS data. Cox proportional-hazard models estimated hazard ratios of ASD associated with near-roadway traffic load and dispersion-modeled NRAP during pregnancy, adjusted for covariates. Non-freeway NRAP was analyzed using quintile distribution due to nonlinear associations with ASD.
Is It Time To Begin Prenatal/neonatal Screening Forautism Risk
Sarah Adelaide Crawford*
Sarah Adelaide Crawford, Professor, Department ofBiology, Southern Connecticut State University, USA.
Received Date: August 13, 2019 August 26, 2019
Epidemiological data showing an alarming increase in theincidence of autism in North America, Europe and many other partsof the world are no longer news. Fortunately, these distressingstatistics have prompted new research on the causes of autismand the implementation of community programs that offer earlydiagnosis and intervention tools. Yet another critical approach, thatmay not get the attention it deserves, is autism prevention. Theability to mitigate autism risk factors based on an understanding ofthe cause and effect basis of this disorder would have the potentialto dramatically impact its incidence. Ultimately, this is the onlyway in which the rising statistical tide of autism incidence can bethwarted.
Genetic biomarkers for autism spectrum disorder
Examples of candidate genetic biomarkers for ASD riskfactor assessment screens
Genome-wide association studies have identified genevariations statistically associated with ASD. Among the mostcommon are deletions and duplications at the Neurexin 1 locus . Whole exome sequencing has identified genetic mutationsassociated with autism including SNC2A, CHD8, DYRKIA, POG2,GRIN2B, and KATNAL2, cadherin , cadherin 10 ,semaphorin 5A , and taste receptor, type 2, member 1 .
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Changing Lifestyle To Prevent Autism
A healthcare professional will not be able to tell whether your child will be autistic or not. So, is there nothing to prevent Autism? Well, its true that you couldnt stop autism but can try adopting healthy habits to reduce its chances to occur. You can adopt a healthy lifestyle to prevent autism and some of them are,
1) Eat healthily, live healthily
Schedule your diet with well-balanced meals with lots of protein, vitamins, and fiber during pregnancy. Have regular check-ups and exercise along with prescribed supplements. This will help you to keep track of your own body as well as the child body. Each and every healthy habit adopted by the mother during pregnancy will eventually result in the childs brain development.
2) Reduce exposure to Air pollution
Air pollution doubles the risk of Autism in the child within the trimester of pregnancy which is concluded by the Harvard school of public health. So, the less exposure to air pollution or staying at home in the polluted area will help to prevent Autism.
3) Regular intake of Folic acid
Every pregnant woman is recommended to consume 400 to 800 mcg of folic acid per day with the doctors prescription. The researchers believe that women consuming less folic acid can lead their child developing Autism symptoms when born.
4) Follow family planning
5) Avoid Alcohol During Pregnancy
6) Stress and anxiety involve the potential risk of Autism
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New Study Suggests Autism Starts In The Womb
Children with autism have many more brain cells than typically developing children, researchers have found, supporting previous research that suggests that autism may be caused by something going awry before a baby is born as opposed to something triggering autism in a toddler.
Scientists studied the brains of 13 boys and found those with autism had 67% more brain cells than typically developing boys. They specifically looked at the part of the brain called the prefrontal cortexbecause its the part thats responsible for social, emotional, communication and language development. Having too many neurons or nerve cells in the part of the brain that controls the very features that children with autism struggle with may explain the origin of autism, the study suggests.
In autism something is going terribly wrong with mechanisms that control the number of neurons beginning in prenatal life and may extend to perinatal and early post-natal life, says lead author Eric Courchesne, Ph.D. When there are too many brain cells, the brain cant wire itself up correctly. If theres too much wiring in the prefrontal cortex, it could help explain why children with autism have poor social skills, difficulty communicating and why some may never learn to speak at all.
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Demographic Characteristics Of Nvp Groups
Table provides descriptive statistics for the five groups defined by frequency and severity of the mothers NVP. The distribution of cases across the NVP groups differed for males and females, 2=12.24, p< .05 . In particular, the most severe form of NVP was experienced by 31.67% of the mothers of females but by only 17.62% of the mothers of males, with 2=5.73, p< .05, for this comparison. In the current sample, the distribution of cases across the NVP categories did not depend on whether the mother had preeclampsia during pregnancy, 2=4.58, p=.33, or whether, at birth, the child was assisted in breathing, 2=2.57, p=.63, or required special nursery care, 2=4.07, p=.40. The NVP group was also unrelated to fetal growth restriction in males, 2=2.15, p=.71, or females, 2=.52, df=4, p=.97. Comparisons using one-way ANOVA also showed that the NVP groups did not differ on age at time of data collection, F=1.14, p=.34, \=.016, age when ASD was diagnosed, F=1.55, p=.19, \=.022, and gestational age at birth, F=0.76, p=.56, \=.011. However, the NVP groups did differ significantly on paternal age at conception of the child, F=2.91, p< .05, \=.040, and the analysis comparing the groups on maternal age at conception yielded a marginally significant result, F=2.02, p=.09, \=.028 .
Endogenous Opiate Precursor Theory
In 1979, Jaak Panksepp proposed a connection between autism and opiates, noting that injections of minute quantities of opiates in young laboratory animals induce symptoms similar to those observed among autistic children. The possibility of a relationship between autism and the consumption of gluten and casein was first articulated by Kalle Reichelt in 1991.
Opiate theory hypothesizes that autism is the result of a metabolic disorder in which opioid peptides gliadorphin and casomorphin, produced through metabolism of gluten and casein , pass through an abnormally permeable intestinal wall and then proceed to exert an effect on neurotransmission through binding with opioid receptors. It has been postulated that the resulting excess of opioids affects brain maturation, and causes autistic symptoms, including behavioural difficulties, attention problems, and alterations in communicative capacity and social and cognitive functioning.
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The Problems With Prenatal Testing For Autism
As prenatal testing improves, it presents a host of thorny issues including what to test, how to interpret the results and what to do about them.
When Maureen Bennies son, Marc, was 10 months old, he started missing developmental milestones. He had had feeding problems since birth and developed a sleep disorder and Bennie quickly grew concerned. I had friends who had children around the same time, she says. He really was a very, very different baby in all regards.
Bennie took Marc to see a doctor but did not come home with a clear diagnosis. And when she got pregnant again when Marc was 17 months old, it didnt cross her mind that the child she was carrying might face similar challenges. Marcs autism diagnosis was confirmed when he was almost 3. His baby sister, Julia, was diagnosed about a year later at 23 months. You just cant believe its happening the second time around. You think: what are the chances? says Bennie, who later founded the Autism Awareness Centre Inc, a company based in Canada.
Bennie wasnt aware then that autism frequently recurs in families: Baby siblings of autistic children are about 20 times more likely than the general population to be diagnosed with the condition. Bennies children were born in the 1990s, and it wasnt until the following decade that scientists learned about baby siblings high odds. Had Bennie known that Marc has autism before her second pregnancy, she says, she might have avoided getting pregnant again.
Accuracy Of Prenatal Genetic Testing For Asd
Genetic testing for autism is becoming more accurate and advanced, but currently there are still restrictions. According to a study chromosomal microarray to detect autism had an overall detection rate of 24.4%. Improvement in testing with exome sequencingwhich looks at more of the genetic code than standard genetic testswill probably improve genetic counseling, meaning autism will be detected with increasing accuracy in fetuses.
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Avoid Any Chemical Exposure During Pregnancy
Chemicals like drugs, serotonin, alcohols and seizure medicines like valproic acid contain the potential cause of Autism. So, try avoiding the use of these chemicals during pregnancy unless your doctor specially prescribes them. The valproic acid is for the treatment of convulsions, seizures, migraine headache, and bipolar disorder so, avoid these drugs during pregnancy if you have any of the above disorder.
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