Does Propecia cause Autism?

[Guest guest]

After reading that the rates of Autism have doubled in the state of

California over the last four years, I had noticed a correlation

with the introduction of the drug Finasteride (Propecia; Merck's

hairloss drug which was introduced in 1998). There were 10360 cases

of autism in California in Dec 1998, and 20377 in Dec 2002 I read

an article on Propecia being the possible cause of auto-immune

conditions. It so happens that my husband was taking Propecia when I

conceived my autistic son. Curiousity, is prompting me to take a

poll and see if any fathers of autistic children were taking this

drug during the conception of their autistic child. Please respond

if your husband was taking Propecia when your autistic child was

conceived.

[Guest guest]

Personally I really doubt it, but this actually is a reasonable

hypothesis. After all, propecia is messing with steroid hormone

metabolism and could thus affect gene expression, e.g. in exactly how

sperm are made or programmed.

Andy . . . . . . . . .

> After reading that the rates of Autism have doubled in the state of

> California over the last four years, I had noticed a correlation

> with the introduction of the drug Finasteride (Propecia; Merck's

> hairloss drug which was introduced in 1998). There were 10360 cases

> of autism in California in Dec 1998, and 20377 in Dec 2002 I read

> an article on Propecia being the possible cause of auto-immune

> conditions. It so happens that my husband was taking Propecia when I

> conceived my autistic son. Curiousity, is prompting me to take a

> poll and see if any fathers of autistic children were taking this

> drug during the conception of their autistic child. Please respond

> if your husband was taking Propecia when your autistic child was

> conceiv