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2011-01-10 -Short Attention Span Theater-
Closely spaced pregnancies may increase autism risk
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Posted by gorb 2011-01-10 02:25|| || Front Page|| [11125 views ]  Top

#1 Gorb, I suspect 40-50 years ago they called it something else like retardation. When you change the charts for diagnosis you change the stats. I also suspect that is the case with with some of the the obesity diagnosis.
Posted by tipover 2011-01-10 03:19||   2011-01-10 03:19|| Front Page Top

#2 Concur with Tipover.

As the psychiatry industry and parents become able to obtain funding for certain diagnoses, the incidence of the "disease" will increase over time. To the point where some docs are now referring to "autism spectrum disorder". Leaving this open like that allows them to define down the diagnosis at will. Thikn "global warming" becoming "climate change" and finally "climate chaos". The definition changes as the need for income and grants increases.

The real losers are the kids who actually ARE autistic in the classic sense.

In a similar way, much of what used to be called lazy and stupid is now attributed to ADD, ADHD, and other acronyms. Not saying those conditions don't exist, but sometimes kids really are just lazy or stupid.
Posted by no mo uro 2011-01-10 06:46||   2011-01-10 06:46|| Front Page Top

#3 So they are basically saying, in effect, that a deficency in Folic and Iron are the cause for Autism?

As simple as that?

Posted by CrazyFool 2011-01-10 07:55||   2011-01-10 07:55|| Front Page Top

#4 Sounds like it, CF. But it's a developmental disorder, like Down syndrome, only with no visibly apparent features. Unlikely that a deficiency in this or that would account for it. I agree - quacks who conflate correlation with causation are just vacuuming up research money. Real researchers are looking at improper neural cell migration during fetal development, caused by faulty gene switches. Structural and functional MRI data reinforces that, as the area of the brain responsible for emotional and social cognition is basically fried.

About half of those with ASD also have a parent on the spectrum - but the other half do not. But then, Down syndrome parents generally don't have it either. So sometimes it's just a spontaneous glitch, and finding the reason for that would be interesting. Down syndrome is easy: three copies of chromosome 21 instead of two. Autism a tougher nut to crack. But molecular biology is hard. Why bother, when you can just crank out some random crap like this, get it published, and call yourself a scientist?
Posted by RandomJD 2011-01-10 08:38||   2011-01-10 08:38|| Front Page Top

#5 Actually, it's not so unlikely as you might think.

The last 10 years have produced substantial evidence that epigenetics - the interaction of gene expression with environmental conditions - significantly influences development of the fetus. Iron and folate uptake is mediated by other metabolic processes in the mother, then made available to the fetus through the placenta.

'Faulty gene switches' don't act alone - they *interact* with the metabolic environment in the womb.
Posted by lotp 2011-01-10 08:47||   2011-01-10 08:47|| Front Page Top

#6 I saw something not long ago that, as I recall, claimed as many as 100 different genes could possibly be involved in autism, not one chromosome... and not necessarily all of the 100, but any combination that in combination with the environment to push the brain over the edge.

I'm not sure that the number was 100, though. Like 40 in the Arab world, that may be my mental equivalent of many.
Posted by trailing wife 2011-01-10 09:23||   2011-01-10 09:23|| Front Page Top

#7 Of course, lotp - DNA methylation is one way gene expression is regulated, and whether that occurs with the correct timing and sequence is in turn dependent on many other factors. I'm skeptical because folate and iron are just enzyme cofactors, not directly implicated in DNA methylation or cell signaling. Just about any randomly selected mother is going to be deficient in something, yet homeostasis compensates and healthy births happen all the time.

Bottom line, no one really knows the underlying cause of autism at this point, so I'm skeptical of claims that this or that may increase the risk. I haven't read the original research article either, but if they can't link up iron/folate deficiency to what IS known, it remains just another untested hypotheses. Not worthless, but file under "wait and see."
Posted by RandomJD 2011-01-10 09:25||   2011-01-10 09:25|| Front Page Top

#8 Agreed. But the article makes it clear that the PIs didn't assert a folate/iron mechanism, merely speculated one might be at work.
Posted by lotp 2011-01-10 09:26||   2011-01-10 09:26|| Front Page Top

#9 Bingo, lotp. Speculation and a buck fifty will get me a cup of coffee. Perhaps the real nit to pick here is breathless "science" reporting every time some researcher maybe might've possibly spotted kinda sort of a pattern.

TW, I was going to mention the multifactorial angle too, but I can't remember if it was 40 or 100 genes either. Too complex, as of yet, to reach any firm conclusions. Interesting, though.
Posted by RandomJD 2011-01-10 09:43||   2011-01-10 09:43|| Front Page Top

#10 Multi-bingo for #8 & 9.

...she and her fellow researchers did not investigate this specifically...

This is the shoddiest, most dishonest of pseudo-science going. This kind of observation MAY point you in a direction for real research and targeted studies but providing anything worthy of publishing???!!?!?!!???????

The journal "Pediatrics" should be given the publishing equivalent of expulsion for this.
Posted by Alan Cramer 2011-01-10 10:14||   2011-01-10 10:14|| Front Page Top

#11 No they shouldn't.

The breathless reporting is from a CNN site, which has the article linked above.

The journal has the science paper, which is not breathless at all. It's quite appropriate for a research paper to discuss potential future research directions that result from a given investigation.
Posted by lotp 2011-01-10 10:52||   2011-01-10 10:52|| Front Page Top

#12 The further research is not right.
The first thing to do is obviosuly look at differences between
spaced birth autistics and non-autistics
spaced birth autistics and closely spaced autistics
closely spaced autistics and closely spaced non-autistics.
Posted by Bright Pebbles 2011-01-10 12:58||   2011-01-10 12:58|| Front Page Top

23:52 remoteman
23:16 JosephMendiola
23:07 JosephMendiola
23:01 Scooter McGruder
22:57 SteveS
22:55 trailing wife
22:54 JosephMendiola
22:51 Secret Master
22:46 Scooter McGruder
22:38 JosephMendiola
22:37 Fire and Ice
22:33 Frank G
22:27 tipper
22:26 JosephMendiola
22:22 Fire and Ice
22:18 RandomJD
22:12 JosephMendiola
21:50 Procopius2k
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21:32 Frank G
21:21 Oztralian
21:19 gorb
21:18 Dale
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