What Causes Autism
What really cause Autism
The information below is not meant to diagnose or treat.
A common question after an autism diagnosis is what is the cause of autism.
We know that there’s no one cause of autism. autism develops from a combination of genetic and nongenetic,
A child will develop autism. However, it’s important to keep in mind that increased risk is not the same as cause. For example, some gene changes associated with autism can also be found in people who don’t have the disorder. Similarly, not everyone exposed to an environmental risk factor for autism will develop the disorder.
Autism’s genetic risk factors
Autism tends to run in families. Changes in certain genes increase the risk that a child will develop autism. If a parent carries one or more of these gene changes, they may get passed to a child (even if the parent does not have autism). Other times, these genetic changes arise spontaneously in an early embryo or the sperm and/or egg that combine to create the embryo. Again, the majority of these gene changes do not cause autism by themselves. increase risk for the disorder
Autism’s risk factors
increase – or reduce – autism risk in people who are genetically predisposed to the disorder. Importantly, the increase or decrease in risk appears to be small for any one of these risk factors.
Increased risk
- (either parent) advanced maternal age over 35 year of age
- Pregnancy and birth complications (e.g. extreme prematurity [before 26 weeks], low birth weight, multiple pregnancies [twin, triplet, etc.])
- Pregnancies spaced apart (less than a year apart)
Decreased risk
- Prenatal vitamin containing folic acid, before and at conception and through pregnancy
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