Autism ... why are rates soaring?

B

Bevo Incognito

5,000+ Posts
Just heard that autism has soared from one iin 2500 children 25 years ago to one in 110 children today. Hundreds of thousands of children in the next 15 years will reach adulthood with some degree of autism. Most will be unable to ever care for themselves. Does anybody know why the rates are soaring?

So we're looking at a tsunami of retirees demanding more in the way of healthcare, a flood of autism victims who will need to be tended, and a shrinking ability to pay for all this.

I don't see this ending well.
 
There is an interesting theory out there that a relative vitamin D deficiency exists nationwide, and this may be the cause. Here is a link to a section of The Vitamin D Council's site that discusses this: The Link

Also, a coworker (I am an Ob-Gyn...though now retired) told me she had heard, at a continuing medical education conference, speculation that perhaps the high number of ultrasounds that pregnant women get nowadays might be the culprit. However, for that hypothesis I know of no published studies. The Vitamin D Council used to have a free newsletter (they now require a paid subscription), and in just about every issue they linked a paper discussing the Vitamin D-deficiency theory.
 
Expansion of what is part of "spectrum" by definition plus fewer missed/ alternate diagnoses. Kids who used to be stubborn, loners, aloof, or independent are now on "the spectrum."
 
Vitamin D deficiency is a hot topic right now. It has been linked to cancer, MS, etc. But I don't think the science is there yet.

Higher rates of autism are partly to be explained by the underdiagnosis in previous decades. It just wasn't something that was understood at the time and that clinicians were trained to look for or diagnose. Rates are certainly likely higher but I think they are skewed a bit by the underreporting that occurred previously.

What do we know is that rates have not gone down since they took the mercury out of the vaccines.
 
Listen to PharmD as pharmacists are key to our healthcare future. I believe this a pharmaceutical issue of some form, but not vaccines...
 
Well, darn, I was really hoping this was going to be Obama's fault.


Seriously, they talked about the fact that more cases are "falling under the umbrella" (this was on PBS) and that it's being reported more frequently as being one possible contributor but they also said that they actually do believe that the percentage of kids being born with some degree of autism is growing rapidly.
 
Yes diagnostic criteria has increased the recognized rates somewhat, but I think something within our lifestyle including pharmaceuticals is the culprit.
 
Good article on the Vitamin D deficiency theory, Bevo Barry. Thanks for linking it.

It could be as simple as expectant mothers not getting enough sunshine each day. Amazing.
 
Are we giving greater amounts of vaccine doses now than we did 50 years ago? This is just a general question. I really have no idea. Children with autism usually seem to have very concrete traits, so under the idea that many cases just werent diagnosed before, what were they being diagnosed with? Certainly there should be some data somewhere that explains the symptoms and the diagnosis over the last 50 or 100 years right?

I dont really believe that children before were simply misdiagnosed. I really think that something is causing more kids to become autistic. Then again, that is only my skeptical feeling.
 
The original small study which claimed to have shown a link between immunizations and autism turns out not only to be too small to be statistically meaningful, the data were also faked. The blind have led the blind into a frenzy of unfounded suspicion. Vaccines don't cause it. "It" isn't one disease. It is a broad group of presumably related behavior and learning issues. Definitions are changing faster than science can provide meaningful long-term answers. Vaccines don't cause it.
 
What was the faked data? Are you referring to the English gastroenterologist? I forget his name, but from what I understand his data is pretty accurate, and he isnt saying that vaccines are evil. He is saying that more research needs to be done and that vaccine dosage levels or the number of vaccines a child gets MAY contribute to autism.
 
I'm guessing that the problem is probably a combination of

a) better reporting/diagnoses

b) environment (women getting less vitamin D, impact of the accumulation of various toxins in their bodies etc...)

c) vaccines ---- perhaps

d) people having babies at later points in their lives


Nevertheless, growing up in the 70's, I didn't know anybody who was autistic. But those same friends with whom I grew up now have children who most definitely are autistic ---- one with a severe case, one not so bad, and one with aspergers.
 
I had some data on this, but can’t find it to back up my theory. Anyway, I will believe this to be true unless proven otherwise.

Other general classifications of Mental Retardation have declined to match the upward rate of Autism. I see Autism as a newer, more friendly way of classifying certain mental deficiencies. However, another reason why Autism is on the rise is it being used to classify “behavior”. A lot of the things we classify today as Autism would have just been considered eccentric or uniquely interesting personalities 30 years ago. I think the movie “Rain Man” has the most to do with Autism’s cultural growth as a diagnosis – more than any chemical or scientific cause.

There are real doctors on this thread, so they would know better.

BI's point about more women having babies at later stages is a very interesting idea, too. Perhaps it's not having the babies at an older age but having the first baby at an older age?
 
One reason that older people didn't know many if any people with autism when they were younger has to do with the way that these kids were warehoused in their own room at the end of the hall while at school. Parents were also more likely to keep their kids with autism at home and not allow interaction with peers. Now, most of these kids spend a significant portion of their day in the regular classroom and play on the same little league teams as other kids.
 
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