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Factors causing Autism Disease
The condition called autism is related to abnormal development of the brain and behavior. This condition gets apparent before the child is three years old. The child is seen to be socially withdrawn and not interacting with the world. The level of communication is low and the child visibly shows very limited interest and is repetitive in speech, word and action. It is not really related to any kind of neurological setback. Autism comes under the group Autism Spectrum Disorders also known as ASD or pervasive developmental disorders or PDD. Closely connected syndromes include Asperger syndrome and PDD-NOS. Let us now know why exactly autism is caused.
Why is Autism caused?
The theory of causation is still not sure and complete. It has been presumed that there is a genetic, cognitive and neural connection for the autism traits to be seen. It is being said by researchers that it does not have a single reason but is caused due to a set of main points that have very clear causes. On a broader purview, autism is said to be caused due to malfunctioning of the brain which also results in a level of retardation. There is an increase in autism of late and we should attribute these more too environmental factors and not towards genetic factors again.
Environmental Factors
Though the main reason is found to be genetics, yet the common environmental factors which could affect autism are
- Certain foods
- Certain infectious disease
- Heavy metals
- Solvents
- Diesel exhaust
- Phenols in plastic products
- Pesticides
- Brominated flame retardants
- Alcohol
- Smoking
- Vaccines
Amongst these, vaccines are most feared as it is seen that parents realize that the child is autistic during the immunization periods. Thus many parents are seen withdrawing from immunization schedules out of fear. This in result has led to more problems. Absence of immunization leads to more outbreaks of illnesses like measles. The sudden decrease in immunization programmes has caused concern to many and care is being taken to spread the awareness of the actual causes of autism.
It has also been seen that the genetic component that contribute to the increase in the incidences of ASD or Autism Spectrum Disorders could be due to the toxins found in the environment. These include:
Heavy metals like mercury: These are more found in the current environment than it was earlier. Earlier the air was devoid of such heavy metals. Now with the progress of science, this percentage has been on the steady rise.
Such heavy metals tend to lessen the metabolism and compromise on the ability to detoxify the effect of these chemicals in autism prone individuals.
Research indicates that other factors besides the genetic component are contributing to the rise in the occurrences of ASD. These include environmental toxins (e.g., heavy metals such as mercury), which are more prevalent in our current environment than in the past. Those with ASD (or those who are at a risk) may be especially vulnerable, as their ability to metabolize and detoxify these exposures can be compromised. Read more about environmental health and autism.
The main conclusion is such that no one is still very certain about the autism causes. Most experts believe that the autism causes lie in the combination of genetic and environmental factors. But even then, they are not able to pin point particular causes of autism. This has proven frustrating for many experts. But the positive outcome out of this is that more research is being done on the causes of autism and so we can expect better and more productive reasons and valuable information regarding this.
Autism and Brain Abnormalities
The other cause for autism is because of abnormalities in the brain structure and the functioning of the brain. Brain scans have revealed differences in the brain structure of autistic children as compared to those of normal children. Links between the brain functioning, heredity, genetic and medical aspects are being researched upon.
There are cases where autism disabilities are seen to occur because there has been a similar trend in the family. Researchers are also researching on one particular gene that could be the underlying cause for this ailment and the idea is to decode the irregular segment if any, in the said gene.
There is a research on a single “trigger” that could be the cause for autism. It has been observed that some children are born with considerable vulnerability towards autism. This is also being discussed and viewed.
