A new study suggests getting flu during pregnancy raises risk of autism twofold.
Interesting to me that getting a vaccine might actually *lower* your risk of autism, not the other way around!
And...discuss.
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I saw that this morning. It's nice to see some positive information come out about vaccines!
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Yay for vaccines! But I have a feeling most people who are anti-vaccine will sadly ignore this study.
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@MamaMoose: Yes, the anti-vaxers will find a rebuttal.
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Very interesting! I'll be getting the flu shot at my doctor's office next week.
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In the first Psych class I ever took, the textbook mentioned a study that found a link between maternal flu and their babies developing schizophrenia in adulthood. I don't know if it's ever been studied further (I believe it was just a study that found correlation), but it's interesting. Flu shots seem well worth it!
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There was also a study that suggested that excessive rainfall contributes to autism. I'm not buying any theories until they prove something.
Correlation does not equal causation.
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The growing link between autism and inflammation is one of the most intriguing out there, I think:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/26/opinion/sunday/immune-disorders-and-autism.html?_r=0&pagewanted=all -
@mrbee: I knew I remembered reading about inflammation and autism risk someplace - thanks for posting the link. It's another plus in the paleo column in my opinion, because it is a low-inflammation diet.
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@mrbee: Yes, the inflammation theory is just fascinating. I read some of the papers referenced in that NYtimes article, and they are just so promising. It fits in so neatly with the entire hygiene hypothesis.
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@zippylef: This is important to point out - the correlation doesn't actually mean that maternal flu actually causes autism. There are a LOT of "____ has been linked to autism" articles out there and it's best to take each with a grain of salt.
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@mrbee: The whipworm thing sounds very questionable. I could never be okay with whipworm as an autism treatment.
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@spaniellove: questionable in what sense?
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@mrbee: Both in terms of the ethics and in terms of how it "treats" autistic children. You can't cure autism with a parasite.
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@spaniellove: Several worms have shown therapeutic value for various health issues... my friend has MS and is exploring something similar:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304314404576413303666083390.htmlNot sure why the word "treat" was in quotes above... but now I'm kind of scared to hit reply here!
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@spaniellove: io9 is the science fiction blog run by Gawker?
In any case, treating diseases with parasitic worms is a well established path and it sounds like there have been studies showing relief to a good number of people. I hadn't realized that it was considered controversial...
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@mrbee: I can vouch for the site they are linking to - they try to debunk the anti-vax movement. The issue with trying treatments on autistic kids, often non-speaking, is that they don't get a say and can't express their discomfort at all.
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@spaniellove: Got it.
For the record, I was just posting a link to an interesting NYTimes article. Didn't mean to weigh in on ethical issues of treatments of non-speaking autistic minors!!
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@mrbee: It is a tempting connection to make, especially if done well! I mean, I do have both immune issues and ASD...and know many people who do too. There's actually more on it here:
http://www.thinkingautismguide.com/2012/08/proceed-with-caution-stem-cell-clinical.html
BTW I enjoy our debates. No hard feelings
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I gotta be honest...I kind of tire of the "correlation doesn't equal causation" line. It is true, yes. But the phrases really means that you can't say "Flu causes autism!," which no one is. It doesn't mean "complete coincidence!" It is more a reminder for how studies are worded rather than pointing out that no study can ever be right.
FWIW, scientifically the only way you can *really* prove a connection is through a randomized controlled trial. You will never see funding for a trial that injects pregnant women with the flu virus and then sees how many of their kids get autism. There are just wayyyyy to many ethical and legal problems with that. So it'd be a pretty small chance that using that standard anything will ever be "proven." If done properly, studies that assess correlation are still very valuable scientifically.
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@mrbee: my husband really wants to do a similar worm therapy for my daugther's peanut allergy. I told him I dunno, we'll see if it becomes more accepted and researched since the thought of giving her worms is frankly, gross!
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@jedeve: well put.
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