Rainier Spots Show Higher Autism Rates

November 4, 2008

This one will be filed in the " Quack Medicine " folder in the " Weak

Links " subfolder.

The study may be correct in its detection methods, but its

postulations about what might cause autism in these reasons are a bit

far-fetched. Otherwise, those of us who drink milk in copious

quantities, as I do, would not have autism.

Administrator

smrates

Rainier Spots Show Higher Autism Rates

By Reinberg

HealthDay Reporter by Reinberg

healthday Reporter – Mon Nov 3, 4:03 pm ETMONDAY, Nov. 3 (HealthDay

News) -- Children who live in areas of the United States that get a

lot of precipitation appear to have a higher risk of developing

autism, a new study suggests.

Because these children may spend more time indoors or because rain

brings chemicals in the atmosphere to the ground, they might be

exposed to environmental triggers that can trigger a genetic

predisposition to autism, the researchers say.

" There seems to be a strong association between precipitation and

autism diagnosis rates, " said lead researcher Waldman, a

professor of economics at the Graduate School of Management

at Cornell University.

Waldman, whose son was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, isn't

saying that rain causes the condition. " Our finding strongly suggests

that there is some factor which is positively correlated with

precipitation, which is serving as a trigger for autism, " he said.

One possible explanation for this correlation is vitamin D

deficiency, Waldman said. " There is a fair amount of research that

vitamin D deficiency in young children causes problems. As children

aren't outside as much, they aren't getting enough vitamin D, and

that's serving as a trigger for autism, " he said.

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