UC DAVIS M.I.N.D. INSTITUTE STUDY SHOWS CALIFORNIA'S AUTISM INCREASE NOT DUE TO BETTER COUNTING, DIAGNOSIS

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http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/134717.php

UC M.I.N.D. Institute Study Shows California's Autism

Increase Not Due To Better Counting, Diagnosis08 Jan

2009

A study by researchers at the UC M.I.N.D. Institute has found that

the seven- to eight-fold increase in the number children born in

California with autism since 1990 cannot be explained by either changes

in how the condition is diagnosed or counted - and the trend shows no

sign of abating.

Published in the January 2009 issue of the journal Epidemiology,

results from the study also suggest that research should shift from

genetics to the host of chemicals and infectious microbes in the

environment that are likely at the root of changes in the

neurodevelopment of California's children.

" It's time to start looking for the environmental culprits

responsible for the remarkable increase in the rate of autism in

California, " said UC M.I.N.D. Institute researcher Irva

Hertz-Picciotto, a professor of environmental and occupational health and

epidemiology and an internationally respected autism researcher.

Hertz-Picciotto said that many researchers, state officials and advocacy

organizations have viewed the rise in autism's incidence in California

with skepticism.

The incidence of autism by age six in California has increased from fewer

than nine in 10,000 for children born in 1990 to more than 44 in 10,000

for children born in 2000. Some have argued that this change could have

been due to migration into California of families with autistic children,

inclusion of children with milder forms of autism in the counting and

earlier ages of diagnosis as consequences of improved surveillance or

greater awareness.

Hertz-Picciotto and her co-author, Lora Delwiche of the UC

Department of Public Health Sciences, initiated the study to address

these beliefs, analyzing data collected by the state of California

Department of Developmental Services (DDS) from 1990 to 2006, as well as

the United States Census Bureau and state of California Department of

Public Health Office of Vital Records, which compiles and maintains birth

statistics.

Hertz-Picciotto and Delwiche correlated the number of cases of autism

reported between 1990 and 2006 with birth records and excluded children

not born in California. They used Census Bureau data to calculate the

rate of incidence in the population over time and examined the age at

diagnosis of all children ages two to 10 years old.

The methodology eliminated migration as a potential cause of the increase

in the number of autism cases. It also revealed that no more than 56

percent of the estimated 600-to-700 percent increase, that is, less than

one-tenth of the increased number of reported autism cases, could be

attributed to the inclusion of milder cases of autism. Only 24 percent of

the increase could be attributed to earlier age at diagnosis.

" These are fairly small percentages compared to the size of the

increase that we've seen in the state, " Hertz-Picciotto said.

Hertz-Picciotto said that the study is a clarion call to researchers and

policy makers who have focused attention and money on understanding the

genetic components of autism. She said that the rise in cases of autism

in California cannot be attributed to the state's increasingly diverse

population because the disorder affects ethnic groups at fairly similar

rates.

" Right now, about 10 to 20 times more research dollars are spent on

studies of the genetic causes of autism than on environmental ones. We

need to even out the funding, " Hertz-Picciotto said.

The study results are also a harbinger of things to come for

public-health officials, who should prepare to offer services to the

increasing number of children diagnosed with autism in the last decade

who are now entering their late teen years, Hertz-Picciotto said.

" These children are now moving toward adulthood, and a sizeable

percentage of them have not developed the life skills that would allow

them to live independently, " she said.

The question for the state of California, Hertz-Picciotto said, will

become: 'What happens to them when their parents cannot take care of

them?'

" These questions are not going to go away and they are only going to

loom larger in the future. Until we know the causes and can eliminate

them, we as a society need to provide those treatments and interventions

that do seem to help these children adapt. We as scientists need to

improve available therapies and create new ones, " Hertz-Picciotto

said.

Hertz-Picciotto and her colleagues at the M.I.N.D Institute are currently

conducting two large studies aimed at discovering the causes of autism.

Hertz-Picciotto is the principal investigator on the CHARGE (Childhood

Autism Risk from Genetics and the Environment) and MARBLES (Markers of

Autism Risk in Babies-Learning Early Signs) studies.

CHARGE is the largest epidemiologic study of reliably confirmed cases of

autism to date, and the first major investigation of environmental

factors and gene-environment interactions in the disorder. MARBLES is a

prospective investigation that follows women who already have had one

child with autism, beginning early in or even before a subsequent

pregnancy, to search for early markers that predict autism in the younger

sibling.

" We're looking at the possible effects of metals, pesticides and

infectious agents on neurodevelopment, " Hertz-Picciotto said.

" If we're going to stop the rise in autism in California, we need to

keep these studies going and expand them to the extent possible. "

The study was funded by grants from the National Institute of

Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and by the M.I.N.D. Institute.

In 1998, dedicated families concerned about autism helped found the UC

M.I.N.D. (Medical Investigation of Neurodevelopmental Disorders)

Institute. Their vision? Experts from every discipline related to the

brain working together toward a common goal: curing neurodevelopmental

disorders. Since that time, collaborative research teams at the M.I.N.D.

Institute have turned that initial inspiration into significant

contributions to the science of autism, fragile X syndrome, Tourette's

syndrome, learning disabilities and other neurodevelopmental disorders

that can limit a child's lifelong potential.

UC M.I.N.D.

Article URL:

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/134717.php

Main News Category: Autism

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Media Contact:

Phyllis Brown, UC M.I.N.D. Institute:

E-mail: phyllis.brown@...

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