Exposure to specific toxins and nutrients during late pregnancy & early life correlates with autism

[antares4141]

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2017-06-exposure-specific-toxins-nutrients-late.html

 

[taniaaust1]

Additional studies are needed to determine whether the discrepancies in the amount of certain metals and nutrients are due to differences in how much a fetus or child is exposed to them or because of a genetic difference in how a child takes in, processes, and breaks down these metals and nutrient

Read more at: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2017-06-exposure-specific-toxins-nutrients-late.html#jCp

I bet its to do with the genetics. I have my genes affecting all kinds of things causing deficiencies and problems converting or breaking down things

 

[RogerBlack]

I bet its to do with the genetics. I have my genes affecting all kinds of things causing deficiencies and problems converting or breaking down things

Unfortunately, it's not simply genetic.
There have been many wide screens genetically using large populations of people with autism and have not found any simple relation.
I note the other recent paper on HIV treatment and the vaginal biome posted here.

The genes affecting treatment of specific toxins in the body can be in your gut bacteria, not in your genome, raising a complication in that what you actually wanted to measure was not your sensitivity to some chemical, or your mothers sensitivity to some chemical, times the exposure to that chemical, but your sensitivity, to that chemical, times the effectiveness of her gut microbiome in removing that chemical, times the exposure to that chemical.

 

[Hip]

Quoting the article:

Specifically, the siblings with ASD had higher uptake of the neurotoxin lead, and reduced uptake of the essential elements manganese and zinc, during late pregnancy and the first few months after birth, as evidenced through analysis of their baby teeth.

Furthermore, metal levels at three months after birth were shown to be predictive of the severity of ASD eight to ten years later in life."

The study itself is here.


From the CDC's ATSDR:

The distribution of lead in the environment varies from place to place. Each of the following sources of lead is discussed further below.

The most widespread source of lead today for U.S. children is in lead paint that remains in older buildings.
Lead may be found in and around workplaces that involve lead.

Lead may contaminate water, food, and beverages, but the contaminant cannot be seen, tasted, or smelled.
Lead may still be found in some commercial products.

Some imported home remedies and cosmetics contain lead.

Lead concentrations in soil, air, and water can be especially high near the sites of historic or ongoing mining operations or smelters.

While blood lead levels over time are consistently declining, it is still a serious health problem for many, particularly children in urban areas.

Landrigan (2002) estimates that the U.S. incurs $43.4 billion annually in the costs of all pediatric environmental disease , with childhood lead poisoning alone accounting for the vast majority of it. This is a very high cost to our society, which include medical costs, disability, education and parental lost work time.

But since I understand lead exposures are generally going down, due to the removal of lead from petrol and paint in the 1970s, lead exposure would not seem to correlate with the increasing incidence of autistic spectrum disorders.

 

[lansbergen]

Why does one of twins becomes autistic and the other one does not?

 

[Valentijn]

Why does one of twins becomes autistic and the other one does not?

Identical twins get the same genes ... but not the same mitochondria. It would be likely that heteroplasmic mitochondrial mutations would appear in different frequencies and/or in different tissues for each twin. So that's one possibility.