AP
Chicago – Diabetes that develops early in pregnancy may increase women’s chances of having a child with autism, according to a new study.
The risk was seen in young children whose mothers were diagnosed with diabetes during the most crucial period of fetal brain development. Reasons for the potential link are uncertain but it’s possible that exposure to high levels of blood sugar from the mother disrupt fetal brain growth, especially in brain regions important for communication and social behavior, said study co-author Dr. Edward Curry, a learning and behavior specialist for Kaiser Permanente in Fontana, California.
Here are five things to know about diabetes in pregnancy, autism and the study, published in Tuesday’s Journal of the American Medical Association.
THE STUDY
The researchers looked at medical records for more than 322,000 children born at Kaiser Permanente hospitals in Southern California between 1995 and 2010. Those whose mothers developed gestational diabetes by the 26th week of pregnancy were 40 percent more likely to be diagnosed with autism than those whose moms didn’t have diabetes. Of about 3,400 autistic children, 130 were exposed to diabetes early in pregnancy.
Autism affects about 1 in 68 U.S. children. In the study, youngsters whose mothers had pre-existing diabetes or developed it later in pregnancy faced no extra autism risk.
AUTISM
Autism refers to a spectrum of developmental disorders that typically involve problems communicating, limited social skills and sometimes intellectual difficulties or quirky, repetitious behaviors. Definitive causes aren’t known but it is thought to occur when genetic differences interact with many other factors. Previous studies have suggested these may include prenatal infections, preterm birth and parents’ age
DIABETES
Diabetes prevents the body from making or properly using insulin, which causes sugar to build up in the blood. The study looked specifically at gestational diabetes, which develops during pregnancy and puts women at risk for future diabetes. It can be dangerous for women, and can cause preterm birth or large newborns who are at risk for diabetes later in life. Gestational diabetes is thought to affect up to about 14 percent of U.S. pregnancies.
STUDY LIMITATIONS
Some previous studies linked diabetes in mothers with autism but lacked details on gestational versus pre-existing diabetes.
The authors of the new study, led by Kaiser Permanente researcher Anny Xiang, looked back at medical records that included gestational diabetes information — a research method that can only show potential links, not proof. They couldn’t rule out different factors that may have contributed to autism including other prenatal problems and genetics.
THE ADVICE
The findings underscore the importance of prenatal care, including diabetes screening and treatment early in pregnancy. But the authors note that more research is needed to determine if early treatment of gestational diabetes can reduce autism risks.
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Online:
JAMA: http://www.jama.com
Diabetes: http://tinyurl.com/crtlqkg
Autism: http://tinyurl.com/yg7otz5
And here I thought that it was the vaccines that causes autism. Maybe the non vaccine believers will start boycotting sugar in order to avoid gestational diabetes, and will start using vaccines instead.
This is a whole bunch of garbage. Same ppl who claim vaccines and other nonsense cause autism.
Research is frequently presented in the manner of this article and it is very misleading. Consider this statement: “Gestational diabetes increases the risk of autism by 40%”. Sounds scary! Like OMG if someone has gestational diabetes, the kid has a high chance of being autistic. Consider the next statement: “Two out of 100 children born to moms that had gestational diabetes were autistic.” Pretty high for comfort but still far less frightening than the previous statement. Well, those two statements are consistent with each other. The overall rate of autism is 1/68=1.5%. Gestational diabetes is 40% more likely than overall… Read more »
The scientists (the egalim of our “modern” culture along with celebrities) have also found a link between Ashkanazi Jews and many diseases such as colitis and tay-sachs.
So nu, we should allow life and our shlichus (mission) to be like paroah over us – dictating/governing/influencing over our choices and keeping us down in fear?
Don’t forget about Hakadosh Baruch Hu, life, yiras Hashem, doing mitzvos, and bringing Moshiach b’simcha, let’s go! 🙂
Did they also look into genetic factors? autism has a high genetic factor. It’s highly possible that those subjects with gestational diabetes also had autism in their families. Don’t panic yet!
As a mother of a severely autistic child I can tell you this: I took my vitamins every day, exercised, gained 32 pounds which is within average. Definitely no diabetes. Oh Yeah. I was 23 years old when delivered…
this hurts me to read.. having had gestational diabetes it scares me for the future……