Monday, July 04, 2011

Intrauterine contributors to autism

A recent twin study (NYT.com) claims that only 40% of what the researchers considered "autism" was clearly genetic. Previous studies estimated a 90% rate. The greater causes was something occurring prior to birth.The researchers further claimed that most (about 58%) of the environmental causes were shared.

These are remarkable claims, and they will require remarkable evidence. I am very skeptical.

If there is a common intrauterine cause of brain injury, however,  we do need to look again at obstetric ultrasound.

See also: