RE: Article: Autism May Be Linked to Mom's Autoimmune Disease

[Guest guest]

I looked up the scientific article upon which

this news article was based and thought I’d share some details with you

all. Below is the article name and authors, and one excerpt which pertains to

celiac disease from the discussion section of the study. The study design looks

solid, but as the authors say, this study needs replication in other

populations. They tested quite a few relationships between different autoimmune

diseases and autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), which means that statistically

it’s possible that the positive relationship they found between celiac

disease and autism may be by chance. However, it’s still nice to note

that when celiac disease in the mother is treated, the autism risk seems to revert

to the population risk (3rd sentence below). This study really doesn’t

shine any scientific light on the anecdotal tales about autism behavior improvement

and gluten-free diets. It’s about reproductive risks.

Thanks for bring this study to our attention!

Hope this helps --

Association of Family History

of Autoimmune Diseases and Autism Spectrum Disorders

Hjördís Ó. Atladóttir, nne

G. Pedersen, Poul Thorsen, Preben Bo Mortensen, Bent Deleuran, W. Eaton

and T. Parner

Pediatrics published

online Jul 5, 2009; DOI: 10.1542/peds.2008-2445; http://www.pediatrics.org           

Study excerpt:

“Maternal diagnosis of celiac disease was found

to be associated with ASDs. Previous studies have found associations between

undiagnosed celiac disease in pregnancy and intrauterine growth reduction of

the fetus,33,34 low birth weight,33,34 and early gestational age,34 which also are risk factors for

ASDs.35 However, celiac disease

diagnosed before pregnancy does not seem to constitute a risk of adverse fetal

outcome, indicating the importance of treatment of pregnant women with celiac

disease.33,34 Previous studies have suggested

an association between celiac disease and psychiatric diseases. Eaton et al36 found an increased risk of

schizophrenia for individuals with a parental history of celiac disease.

Previous studies investigating celiac disease in the child itself and autism

have not found a significant association.37,38 The present study is the first to investigate the association between

family history of celiac disease and autism, and this finding needs replication

in other study populations.”

abstract

OBJECTIVES: Recent studies

suggest that familial autoimmunity plays

a part in the pathogenesis of ASDs. In this

study we investigated the

association between family history of

autoimmune diseases (ADs) and

ASDs/infantile autism. We perform

confirmatory analyses based on

results from previous studies, as well as

various explorative analyses.

METHODS: The study cohort

consisted of all of the children born in

Denmark from 1993 through 2004 (689 196

children). Outcome data

consisted of both inpatient and outpatient

diagnoses reported to the

Danish National Psychiatric Registry.

Information on ADs in parents

and siblings of the cohort members was

obtained from the Danish

National Hospital Register. The incidence

rate ratio of autism was estimated

by using log-linear Poisson regression.

RESULTS: A total of 3325

children were diagnosed with ASDs, of which

1089 had an infantile autism diagnosis.

Increased risk of ASDs was

observed for children with a maternal

history of rheumatoid arthritis

and celiac disease. Also, increased risk of

infantile autism was observed

for children with a family history of type

1 diabetes.

CONCLUSIONS: Associations

regarding family history of type 1 diabetes

and infantile autism and maternal history

of rheumatoid arthritis

and ASDs were confirmed from previous

studies. A significant association

between maternal history of celiac disease

and ASDs was observed

for the first time. The observed

associations between familial

autoimmunity and ASDs/infantile autism are

probably attributable to a

combination of a common genetic background

and a possible prenatal

antibody exposure or alteration in fetal

environment during pregnancy.

Pediatrics 2009;124:687–694

From:

[mailto: ] On

Behalf Of homekew@...

Sent: Saturday, July 11, 2009 11:38 AM

Subject: [ ] Article: Autism May Be Linked to Mom’s

Autoimmune Disease

Just read this interesting article on a new found link between Celiac

Disease in parents, and autism in their offspring...

http://news.health.com/2009/07/07/autism-may-be-linked-moms-autoimmune-disease/

[Guest guest]

True enough, but what I was trying to get at is that if they prove a genetic link between autism and celiac disease, it might point a way for scientists to study how & why (if) a gluten free diet affects a child with autism.

This study really doesn’t

shine any scientific light on the anecdotal tales about autism behavior improvement

and gluten-free diets. It’s about reproductive risks.

[Guest guest]

I find this article fascinating, and it correlates with something

similar I heard via another patient at my Reproductive Immunologist's

(RI) office. Despite finally figuring out I needed to be GF (after 5

first trimester losses) and am most likely celiac, even though I've been

GF for 1 1/2 years now my immune system is still overactive and tries to

attack my pregnancy. Fortunately, my RI tests my natural killer cells

regularly, which basically reflects whether of not my immune system is

flaring -and if it is, I do an infusion of IVIG (Gammagard brand). I've

had 5 such infusions with my current pregnancy and it's allowed me for

the first time ever to make it into the 2nd trimester (I'm 24 weeks now)

- going GF is clearly a huge positive factor for me as all pregnnacies

before going GF showed slow/retarded growth which has been remedied by

going GF.

At any rate, when I was getting an infusion a few months ago, I recall a

woman there telling me about a friend of hers who had gotten through a

pregnancy through this RI office, but decided not to do the IVIG when

her immune system flared at around 26 weeks - IVIG is expensive and

often insurance will not cover it. She had done the IVIG regularly

through the first 20 weeks. The center had told her that while they did

not have a clinical trial to prove it, they were starting to see a trend

that women who had flares late in their 2nd trimester who failed to

suppress their immune systems with IVIG were more likely to have

autistic children. The woman decided she was not at risk and did not do

the IVIG - and now has an autistic child. She doesn't know for certain

that her immune system was the reason, but this article seems to back up

that possibility.