Sat Jul 27, 2013 1:29 pm by 
Autism screening test on unborn babies
Monday, January 12, 2009 20:40
Posted in category Mixiya NewsHealth News
Babies exposed to high levels of the male hormone testosterone in the womb have an increased risk of autistic traits, groundbreaking research has found.
The study found children who were exposed to higher levels of the chemical during foetal development are more likely to display autistic traits from an early age.
The discovery takes prenatal screening for autism a significant step closer, raising the possibility that mothers could terminate babies with the condition.
It also, more controversially, opens the way for a cure.
Researchers made the discovery after monitoring the progress of 235 children whose mothers underwent amniotic fluid tests when pregnant.
Study leader Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, from Cambridge University, one of the world’s leading experts on autism, called for a debate on the ethical implications.
He said: ‘If there was a prenatal test for autism, would this be desirable? What would we lose if children with autistic spectrum disorder were eliminated from the population?
‘We should start debating this. There is a test for Down’s syndrome and that is legal and parents exercise their right to choose termination, but autism is often linked with talent. It is a different kind of condition.’
The paper released today is such a significant step forward because the children in the study are now aged between eight and 10 and are old enough to be psychologically assessed using two separate autism test ratings.
Scientists found a clear link in both tests between higher testosterone levels when the child was in the womb and autistic traits, reported the Guardian.
Around 535,000 people are thought to be affected by autism, around on in 100 people. Of these 133,500 are children.
The condition is characterised by an inability to empathise and interact socially and an unusual focus on numbers or lists.
The research team watched twelve-month-old infants to see how often they gazed at their mothers’ faces, because it is known that as babies autistic children tend not to do this. Another sign of possible autism, at 18 months, is a lack of vocabulary.
But enabling couples to screen and terminate babies that are autistic would be an ethical minefield, said Professor Baron-Cohen, as would finding a cure.
Professor Baron-Cohen, director of Cambridge University’s autism research team, said: ‘We could do something about that (a cure). Some researchers or drug companies might see this as an opportunity to develop a prenatal treatment.
‘There are drugs that block testosterone. But whether we’d want that would be a different matter.’
The women taking part in the study were among the 6% of expectant mothers who elect to undergo amniocentesis tests, which involve extracting fluid using a needle inserted into the womb.
Normally the tests are performed in order to screen for genetic abnormalities, such as Down’s syndrome. In this case testosterone in the fluid samples was also measured, revealing a more than 20-fold variation in levels between different women.
After the children were born they were observed and tested on four occasions during their first eight years of life.
Parents were questioned about any aspects of their children’s behaviour that might suggest autism - for instance, preferring solitary to social activities, or being
unusually quick to pick up on numerical patterns.
Eight-year-olds were also tested for their ability to spot hidden shapes on a computer screen, a recognised objective test of autism.
Those who had been exposed to higher levels of testosterone in the womb did especially well at this task.
Overall, foetal exposure to testosterone accounted for 20% of the variability seen in measures of autistic traits - a statistically significant figure.
The association remained after controlling for other factors that might have had an influence, such as a child’s sex, birth order, and number of siblings. About one in 100 children, mostly boys, are diagnosed with autism today compared with one in 2,500 30 years ago.
One reason for the increased prevalence is that autism is now seen as a ’spectrum” disorder encompassing a wide range of mild to severe symptoms. Girls are far less
likely to exhibit autism than boys, and some experts believe the problem essentially reflects an extreme version of the ‘male brain’.
Both genetic and environmental factors are thought to contribute to autism.
Autism has only be recognised as a condition since the 1940s after work done by Hans Asperger and Leo Kanner.
Many experts, including psychiatrist Michael Fitzgerald from Trinity College, Dublin, have speculated about historical figures who may have had autism. They based their findings on reported behaviours.
Monday, January 12, 2009 20:40
Posted in category Mixiya NewsHealth News
Babies exposed to high levels of the male hormone testosterone in the womb have an increased risk of autistic traits, groundbreaking research has found.
The study found children who were exposed to higher levels of the chemical during foetal development are more likely to display autistic traits from an early age.
The discovery takes prenatal screening for autism a significant step closer, raising the possibility that mothers could terminate babies with the condition.
It also, more controversially, opens the way for a cure.
Researchers made the discovery after monitoring the progress of 235 children whose mothers underwent amniotic fluid tests when pregnant.
Study leader Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, from Cambridge University, one of the world’s leading experts on autism, called for a debate on the ethical implications.
He said: ‘If there was a prenatal test for autism, would this be desirable? What would we lose if children with autistic spectrum disorder were eliminated from the population?
‘We should start debating this. There is a test for Down’s syndrome and that is legal and parents exercise their right to choose termination, but autism is often linked with talent. It is a different kind of condition.’
The paper released today is such a significant step forward because the children in the study are now aged between eight and 10 and are old enough to be psychologically assessed using two separate autism test ratings.
Scientists found a clear link in both tests between higher testosterone levels when the child was in the womb and autistic traits, reported the Guardian.
Around 535,000 people are thought to be affected by autism, around on in 100 people. Of these 133,500 are children.
The condition is characterised by an inability to empathise and interact socially and an unusual focus on numbers or lists.
The research team watched twelve-month-old infants to see how often they gazed at their mothers’ faces, because it is known that as babies autistic children tend not to do this. Another sign of possible autism, at 18 months, is a lack of vocabulary.
But enabling couples to screen and terminate babies that are autistic would be an ethical minefield, said Professor Baron-Cohen, as would finding a cure.
Professor Baron-Cohen, director of Cambridge University’s autism research team, said: ‘We could do something about that (a cure). Some researchers or drug companies might see this as an opportunity to develop a prenatal treatment.
‘There are drugs that block testosterone. But whether we’d want that would be a different matter.’
The women taking part in the study were among the 6% of expectant mothers who elect to undergo amniocentesis tests, which involve extracting fluid using a needle inserted into the womb.
Normally the tests are performed in order to screen for genetic abnormalities, such as Down’s syndrome. In this case testosterone in the fluid samples was also measured, revealing a more than 20-fold variation in levels between different women.
After the children were born they were observed and tested on four occasions during their first eight years of life.
Parents were questioned about any aspects of their children’s behaviour that might suggest autism - for instance, preferring solitary to social activities, or being
unusually quick to pick up on numerical patterns.
Eight-year-olds were also tested for their ability to spot hidden shapes on a computer screen, a recognised objective test of autism.
Those who had been exposed to higher levels of testosterone in the womb did especially well at this task.
Overall, foetal exposure to testosterone accounted for 20% of the variability seen in measures of autistic traits - a statistically significant figure.
The association remained after controlling for other factors that might have had an influence, such as a child’s sex, birth order, and number of siblings. About one in 100 children, mostly boys, are diagnosed with autism today compared with one in 2,500 30 years ago.
One reason for the increased prevalence is that autism is now seen as a ’spectrum” disorder encompassing a wide range of mild to severe symptoms. Girls are far less
likely to exhibit autism than boys, and some experts believe the problem essentially reflects an extreme version of the ‘male brain’.
Both genetic and environmental factors are thought to contribute to autism.
Autism has only be recognised as a condition since the 1940s after work done by Hans Asperger and Leo Kanner.
Many experts, including psychiatrist Michael Fitzgerald from Trinity College, Dublin, have speculated about historical figures who may have had autism. They based their findings on reported behaviours.
