Thank you... I always liked loons for some reason!
Posted on 12/17/2017 4:39:27 AM PST by Neoliberalnot
Autism spectrum disorder has no single known cause. Given the complexity of the disorder, and the fact that symptoms and severity vary, there are probably many causes. Both genetics and environment may play a role.
Genetics. Several different genes appear to be involved in autism spectrum disorder. For some children, autism spectrum disorder can be associated with a genetic disorder, such as Rett syndrome or fragile X syndrome. For other children, genetic changes (mutations) may increase the risk of autism spectrum disorder. Still other genes may affect brain development or the way that brain cells communicate, or they may determine the severity of symptoms. Some genetic mutations seem to be inherited, while others occur spontaneously. Environmental factors. Researchers are currently exploring whether factors such as viral infections, medications or complications during pregnancy, or air pollutants play a role in triggering autism spectrum disorder.
(Excerpt) Read more at mayoclinic.org ...
I think Main Herdman merged with Peat happened in 1979. I was with E&E at the time. It was the first of the “Big 8” mergers.
E&E then became Ernst & Whinney (1979 or 1980) due to an international merger. We joked that the E&W stood for “evenings and weekends” as we worked long hours. In 1989, Ernst & Whinney and Arthur Young merged to form Ernst & Young.
It was Ernst and Whinney when I was in accountant school in the mid-80s. I went to work for an insurance company, but some of my more hard-charging classmates were with E&W and did our audits. Boooo-ring.
The statistics on autism do not distinguish - can’t distinguish - between real-incidence and identification, and therefore, while what you say about “risk” is accurate if you define “risk” the way you are, the statistics are not necessarily helpful in drawing any conclusions.
But I think the issue linking “nerds marrying nerds” and all the more specific reports linked to that results from the classic element of change in input causing change in output.
Women have been older mothers for years. When “pioneer” women had 10-12 children, spread out over 20 years, there was appreciably less autism.
The change was men and women from the same specific disciplines marrying each other much more frequently. Women who were strong in math met and married men they met in math graduate school. Lawyers, with the mental skills required form that profession, met in law school and married each other, as opposed to a school teacher or nurse.
That was the change in the input, not parental age.
Remember, Autistics are often brilliant in one area, but totally deficient in all others. Are their areas of brilliance from the same input from both parents? I think so.
“We can generate hypotheses that “Make sense to me!” all day, without ever proving anything ... possibly without ever getting near the true cause or causes. Coming up with an idea is always the easiest part of science.”
I agree. That is why I switched to neuroscience as I wanted facts and hard science. Although one of my degrees is in psychology, I never considered it a science due to the biased variable of perception. At best you can show correlation, but not unbiased stimulus response measurement.
That is until I discovered that I could stimulate the memory directly and bypass the five senses and thus the influence of sensory perception stimulation of the critical mind.
Most of what I say is based upon direct observation and repeated testing to understand the changes in neural pathways and biochemistry.
Science is just on the edge of discovering the importance of the amygdala and hippocampus on memory storage and retrieval.
The word "correlation" only means that two events happened at the same time. It does not imply that one causes the other.
Medical science is advancing on all fronts. Therefore, we can expect to see advances such as more effective birth control methods happening at the same time as advances such as more specific diagnostic methods to detect autism or Asperger's. And there are many other medical advances happening all the time. What they have in common is that the federal government invests a lot of taxpayer money into medical research.
Now we're back to the "incidence vs. diagnosis" question and the issue of defining "autism."
Apart from that, though, I think the idea of people with the same very specific qualities producing offspring is probably one of many factors.
Actually, they do know. Ever since that quack Wakefield published his fake "study", millions of dollars have been wasted trying to confirm any link between vaccines and autism. No link has ever been confirmed. Furthermore, those millions of dollars would have been much better spent trying to actually pin down the real causes of autism--the interplay of genetic and environmental effects that are almost certainly responsible. Scientific understanding of autism is improving, but not because of that discredited quack.
I do not know how to say this delicately... but you claimed to be an RN, while your scientific knowledge and comprehension of scientific principles seem to be nearly nonexistent. I have to wonder what you really do.
Because they keep changing the actual definition of the spectrum
If my son in law were a youngster today he would end up on the spectrum, get a label, and be given all sorts of “help”. Thankfully he is a married adult with a great job and a wife who loves him
It’s the six-month MMR vaccine. Now given at two years in many places.
It’s not the 19th century. There is no longer open air markets in the midst of waste and refuse due to a lack of public sanitation.
Infants should stay at home as much as possible.
We vaccinate at 5, just before Kindergarten. Any earlier and a parent is playing Russian roulette with a lifetime of despair.
It is interesting that you mention MMR. When I was growing up there was no MMR vaccine, and there was no Autism to speak of.
I am not sure it is causative tho some others have done research to indicate a connection. That said, I do think kids are receiving waaaay too many at waaay too early of an age.
“I wonder if there is any correlation to the introduction of hormone based oral contraceptives and the “rise” in autism!”
While it is possible, I have never observed this situation. It is also possible that “hormone based oral contraceptives” do have an influence upon the shift of men into feminism, just as they have shifted male fish in the Susquehanna River into developing egg sacs and female physical characteristics. This is just speculation, but I do observe similar shifts in the two different populations.
Sewage water treatment plants do not remove pharmaceuticals from the water. Thus, cities utilizing the same rivers for drinking water could be providing low levels of hormones!
Would be interesting to look at the Susquehanna River from New York, through Pennsylvania, to Maryland to see how many sewer discharges go into and how many get drinking water from, the same river. Gives new meaning to the phrase, “Crap flows downstream.”
Here’s an informative article on medications being handed out like candy and handed out by Big Pharma and physicians who tell you the side effects are all in your head or because of your age. Then they fail to mention that the Generic medication is being manufactured in some third-world country and likely not being inspected by the FDA. The fillers are God knows what! Meanwhile, the cheap medication is making billions for the drug companies and insurance carriers.
The “refrigerator mother” theory of causation was so thoroughly condemned that no researcher wanted to risk their reputation on studying the influence of mother-child bonding, or lack thereof.
Decades of research into a possible causal link between children increasingly raised in daycare and an increase in autism diagnoses never got done, perhaps at the cost of seriously hindering the development of effective treatment and prevention.
Thank you... I always liked loons for some reason!
We have a friend who worked with "special need" kids in an Oregon school district....for each kid, the district got $6000 per month. He said, whenever they asked for something, the district would Jump, and ask how HIGH...
Is there any correlation between the mother taking depression drugs and autism?
There is a lot of money out there, not only for the districts but for the professionals who do the testing and diagnosis. Often these people have close relationships with school or district administration.
“Actually, they do know. ”
What do they know?
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