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Autism linked with rainfall in study
reuters. ^ | Tue Nov 4, 2008

Posted on 11/04/2008 1:48:42 PM PST by Prunetacos

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Children who live in the U.S. Northwest's wettest counties are more likely to have autism, but it is unclear why, U.S. researchers reported on Tuesday.

Michael Waldman of Cornell University and colleagues were searching for an environmental link with autism, a condition characterized by learning and social disabilities.

They got autism rates from state and county agencies for children born in California, Oregon and Washington between 1987 and 1999 and plotted them against daily precipitation reports.

(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...


TOPICS: Health/Medicine
KEYWORDS: autism; rain
"Autism prevalence rates for school-aged children in California, Oregon and Washington in 2005 were positively related to the amount of precipitation these counties received from 1987 through 2001," they wrote in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine...."
1 posted on 11/04/2008 1:48:43 PM PST by Prunetacos
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To: Prunetacos

I guess they just didn’t like the numbers from Florida, Louisiana, etc. so they threw them out. Rain causes autism? You have got to be kidding. On second thought, they will probably get a taxpayer funded grant to study their conclusion...


2 posted on 11/04/2008 1:53:18 PM PST by allmost
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To: Prunetacos

Fungus?


3 posted on 11/04/2008 1:53:24 PM PST by who_would_fardels_bear (The cosmos is about the smallest hole a man can stick his head in. - Chesterton)
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To: allmost

“Rain causes autism?”

...”Perhaps infants and toddlers are kept are kept indoors in front of the TV more in rainy climates, and that somehow causes brain changes, they said. Or perhaps they breathe in more harmful chemicals while indoors.

Vitamin D deficiency caused by insufficient time in the sun might also be a trigger, they said.

“Finally, there is also the possibility that precipitation itself is more directly involved,” they wrote. Perhaps a chemical or chemicals in the upper atmosphere are transported to the surface through rain or snow.....”


4 posted on 11/04/2008 1:57:35 PM PST by Prunetacos (In this country we prosecute people, not beakers)
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To: Prunetacos
It all depends on what the meaning of the word "is" "autism" is...
5 posted on 11/04/2008 1:57:50 PM PST by justkate
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To: Prunetacos

Rain Man?


6 posted on 11/04/2008 1:58:59 PM PST by dano1
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To: Prunetacos
From my initial post
"I guess they just didn’t like the numbers from Florida, Louisiana, etc. so they threw them out. "
Check your rain statistics.
Vitamin could be a contributing factor. The left coast seems to be big on soy milk, tofu, etc. and they would be lacking it.
7 posted on 11/04/2008 2:07:41 PM PST by allmost
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To: allmost

Vitamin D that is.


8 posted on 11/04/2008 2:09:19 PM PST by allmost
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To: dano1

9 posted on 11/04/2008 2:10:25 PM PST by Prunetacos (In this country we prosecute people, not beakers)
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To: Prunetacos

What is the correlation between the wettest counties in the West and the most densely populated ones? It could be either urbanism causes autism or it is more likely diagnosed in urban areas.


10 posted on 11/04/2008 2:12:46 PM PST by KarlInOhio (Obama: Spread the Wealth = Marx: From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs)
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To: Prunetacos

Consider too that the west coast is the first to receive the pollution clouds from Asia, and the rainiest counties are probably most likely to have that crap pulled down to ground level (think heavy metals, complex organic compounds).


11 posted on 11/04/2008 2:20:26 PM PST by Little Pig (Is it time for "Cowboys and Muslims" yet?)
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To: Prunetacos

Maybe its because they are closer to China, and the heavy Northwest rains wash out more of the pollutants. Just a thought — “pure as rainwater” seems to be relative to location.


12 posted on 11/04/2008 3:19:40 PM PST by Pearls Before Swine (Is /sarc really necessary?)
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To: who_would_fardels_bear
Fungus?

There are lots of liberals here.

13 posted on 11/04/2008 4:10:22 PM PST by dragonblustar (Once abolish the God, and the government becomes the God - G. K. Chesterton)
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To: Coleus; neverdem; AdmSmith; Berosus; Convert from ECUSA; dervish; Ernest_at_the_Beach; ...

The problem is, the autistic subjects of the study kept dividing the running totals of raindrops striking the windows by the number of current minutes they’d been alive.

Okay, dead time in purgatory for that one.


14 posted on 11/04/2008 5:31:53 PM PST by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/_______Profile finally updated Saturday, October 11, 2008 !!!)
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To: Prunetacos

Perhaps they should consider granola and koolaid consumption as a possible factor.


15 posted on 11/04/2008 5:39:32 PM PST by piasa (Attitude Adjustments Offered Here Free of Charge)
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To: SunkenCiv; Incorrigible

Bump & a ping


16 posted on 11/04/2008 8:02:26 PM PST by neverdem (I'm praying for a Divine Intervention.)
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To: Prunetacos

That’s about the stupidest thing I’ve heard.

Rainfall=autism

Why don’t they measure how often these people shower?


17 posted on 11/04/2008 9:58:49 PM PST by happygrl (Atlas Shrugged: post election tagline)
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To: allmost
The left coast seems to be big on soy milk, tofu, etc. and they would be lacking it.

That would explain a lot of other "things" too as soy can cause hormonal feminization issues in males.

18 posted on 11/04/2008 10:02:15 PM PST by happygrl (Atlas Shrugged: post election tagline)
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To: who_would_fardels_bear
Fungus?

Could be...

19 posted on 11/05/2008 4:46:30 AM PST by GOPJ (Obama's a risky choice. Ayers, Acorn, Azzam, - and that's just the "A's".)
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To: GOPJ

20 posted on 11/05/2008 11:37:34 AM PST by Prunetacos ("justice will run down like waters and righteousness as a mighty stream" (Amos 5:24).)
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