UC M.I.N.D. Institute Study Shows California's Autism Increase Not Due To Better Counting, Diagnosis

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UC M.I.N.D. Institute Study Shows California's Autism Increase Not Due To

Better Counting, Diagnosis

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Jan. 7, 2009

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) - A study by researchers at the UC M.I.N.D. Institute

has found that the seven- to eight-fold increase in the number children born in

California with autism since 1990 cannot be explained by either changes in how

the condition is diagnosed or counted - and the trend shows no sign of abating.

Published in the January 2009 issue of the journal Epidemiology, results from

the study also suggest that research should shift from genetics to the host of

chemicals and infectious microbes in the environment that are likely at the root

of changes in the neurodevelopment of California's children.

" It's time to start looking for the environmental culprits responsible for the

remarkable increase in the rate of autism in California, " said UC M.I.N.D.

Institute researcher Irva Hertz-Picciotto, a professor of environmental and

occupational health and epidemiology and an internationally respected autism

researcher.

Hertz-Picciotto said that many researchers, state officials and advocacy

organizations have viewed the rise in autism's incidence in California with

skepticism.

The incidence of autism by age six in California has increased from fewer than

nine in 10,000 for children born in 1990 to more than 44 in 10,000 for children

born in 2000. Some have argued that this change could have been due to migration

into California of families with autistic children, inclusion of children with

milder forms of autism in the counting and earlier ages of diagnosis as

consequences of improved surveillance or greater awareness.

Hertz-Picciotto and her co-author, Lora Delwiche of the UC Department of

Public Health Sciences, initiated the study to address these beliefs, analyzing

data collected by the state of California Department of Developmental Services

(DDS) from 1990 to 2006, as well as the United States Census Bureau and state of

California Department of Public Health Office of Vital Records, which compiles

and maintains birth statistics.

Hertz-Picciotto and Delwiche correlated the number of cases of autism reported

between 1990 and 2006 with birth records and excluded children not born in

California. They used Census Bureau data to calculate the rate of incidence in

the population over time and examined the age at diagnosis of all children ages

two to 10 years old.

The methodology eliminated migration as a potential cause of the increase in the

number of autism cases. It also revealed that no more than 56 percent of the

estimated 600-to-700 percent increase, that is, less than one-tenth of the

increased number of reported autism cases, could be attributed to the inclusion

of milder cases of autism. Only 24 percent of the increase could be attributed

to earlier age at diagnosis.

" These are fairly small percentages compared to the size of the increase that

we've seen in the state, " Hertz-Picciotto said.

Hertz-Picciotto said that the study is a clarion call to researchers and policy

makers who have focused attention and money on understanding the genetic

components of autism. She said that the rise in cases of autism in California

cannot be attributed to the state's increasingly diverse population because the

disorder affects ethnic groups at fairly similar rates.

" Right now, about 10 to 20 times more research dollars are spent on studies of

the genetic causes of autism than on environmental ones. We need to even out the

funding, " Hertz-Picciotto said.

The study results are also a harbinger of things to come for public-health

officials, who should prepare to offer services to the increasing number of

children diagnosed with autism in the last decade who are now entering their

late teen years, Hertz-Picciotto said.

" These children are now moving toward adulthood, and a sizeable percentage of

them have not developed the life skills that would allow them to live

independently, " she said.

The question for the state of California, Hertz-Picciotto said, will become:

'What happens to them when their parents cannot take care of them?'

" These questions are not going to go away and they are only going to loom larger

in the future. Until we know the causes and can eliminate them, we as a society

need to provide those treatments and interventions that do seem to help these

children adapt. We as scientists need to improve available therapies and create

new ones, " Hertz-Picciotto said.

Hertz-Picciotto and her colleagues at the M.I.N.D Institute are currently

conducting two large studies aimed at discovering the causes of autism.

Hertz-Picciotto is the principal investigator on the CHARGE (Childhood Autism

Risk from Genetics and the Environment) and MARBLES (Markers of Autism Risk in

Babies-Learning Early Signs) studies.

CHARGE is the largest epidemiologic study of reliably confirmed cases of autism

to date, and the first major investigation of environmental factors and

gene-environment interactions in the disorder. MARBLES is a prospective

investigation that follows women who already have had one child with autism,

beginning early in or even before a subsequent pregnancy, to search for early

markers that predict autism in the younger sibling.

" We're looking at the possible effects of metals, pesticides and infectious

agents on neurodevelopment, " Hertz-Picciotto said. " If we're going to stop the

rise in autism in California, we need to keep these studies going and expand

them to the extent possible. "

The study was funded by grants from the National Institute of Environmental

Health Sciences (NIEHS) and by the M.I.N.D. Institute.

In 1998, dedicated families concerned about autism helped found the UC

M.I.N.D. (Medical Investigation of Neurodevelopmental Disorders) Institute.

Their vision? Experts from every discipline related to the brain working

together toward a common goal: curing neurodevelopmental disorders. Since that

time, collaborative research teams at the M.I.N.D. Institute have turned that

initial inspiration into significant contributions to the science of autism,

fragile X syndrome, Tourette's syndrome, learning disabilities and other

neurodevelopmental disorders that can limit a child's lifelong potential.

 

Love, Gabby. :0)

http://stemcellforautism.blogspot.com/

 

" I know of nobody who is purely Autistic or purely neurotypical. Even God had

some Autistic moments, which is why the planets all spin. " ~ Jerry Newport