Early births linked to Autism and learning disorders?

With Caesarean sections becoming more and more popular globally, many women now have the ability to choose their delivery dates. While this may make things easier, scientist in a recent study found that babies born at 39 weeks, which is a common delivery point for many women, have an increased risk of developing a learning disability. 

In Scotland, scientists have been studying the birth histories of  more than 400,000 schoolchildren. They concluded that while babies born at 40 weeks have a 4% risk of learning difficulties, those born at 37 to 39 weeks of gestation have a 5.1% percent risk, a significant increase. 


 The medical community has already developed a consensus regarding the link between premature babies and learning/developmental disabilities, but this study highlights possible risks for babies born in the 24 to 40 week range which was not commonly thought to have been an issue. 

Research is still being done on this subject and much evaluation still needs to be done. If you are pregnant or planning on starting/continuing a family, please consult your physician regarding your best options for a healthy pregnancy and safe delivery. Find useful information here.
  

A "chemical fingerprint" for Autism?

There has been recent talk of a possible simple, definitive test for autism done through testing urine.While this would be a huge breakthrough in autism research, some professionals are still skeptical.
The research was done at the Imperial College in London and a researcher involved in the project says he may have found a "chemical fingerprint" in the urine of children with autism that can determine whether or not autism is truly present.  These findings are based on the premise that people with autism have gastrointestinal issues which change their digestive chemistry, a topic that has also been debated.

Interesting thing to think about, you can read more from the ICL press release here.

Alternative Approaches to Autism

According to the CDC's December, 2009 ADDM autism prevalence report, 1 in every 110 American children is diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder; for boys, the odds increase to 1 in 70. The Autism Society estimates that the lifetime cost of caring for a child with autism ranges from $3.5 million to $5 million; and the United States spends almost $90 billion annually on ASD related costs for research, educational spending, housing, transportation, insurance costs and non-covered expenses and Medicaid waivers for autism, not to mention related therapeutic services and caregiver costs (CDC, 2010).

Although many resources are available for parents of children with Autism, many are still desperate to find alternative techniques and therapies that could help their child move even further. In fact, 1 in 5 parents of children with autism are currently relying on some sort of non-conventional therapy for autism, according to research presented at the annual Pediatric Academic Societies meeting in Vancouver this weekend (Thornton, 2010).

The most common alternative treatments for autism involve placing affected children on a special diet, with quite a bit of anecdotal evidence, at least, showing that special diets help improve the behavior and quality of life among those with ASD. The most common special diets among children with autism are gluten free, dairy free or both (Thornton, 2010).

Diets, picky eating, trouble in digestion and food intake are hot topics in ASD community and this subject has been discussed previously on this ; refer to: this post.


To read more about alternative approaches to autism, you can find this article by the Dallas Healthy Trends Examiner.