Soaring autism rates in California not an artifact
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The increasing number of autism cases seen in California since the 1990s is in large part real, not simply the result of changes in diagnostic criteria or in how autism cases are counted, new research suggests.
This study is the first to assess whether the autism trends in California might be explained by changes in age at diagnosis or by inclusion of milder cases, Dr. Irva Hertz-Picciotto and Dr. Lora Delwiche, from the University of California, Davis, note.
Using data from the California Department of Development Services, the researchers found that autism rates among children aged 5 years or younger rose steadily from 0.8 per 10,000 children born in California in 1990 to 11.2 per 10,000 children born in 2006.
The cumulative incidence per 10,000 births climbed from 6.2 in 1990 to 42.5 in 2001.
The proportion of cases that were diagnosed by 5 years of age rose only slightly from 54 percent to 61 percent for 1990 to 1996 births, according to a report in the January issue of Epidemiology.
A change in the age at diagnosis could explain 12 percent of the increase in autism rates, while inclusion of milder cases could explain 56 percent.
“With evidence of a leveling off, the possibility of a true increase in (autism) incidence deserves serious consideration,” the investigators emphasize.
“It’s time to start looking for the environmental culprits responsible for the remarkable increase in the rate of autism in California,” Hertz-Picciotto added in a statement.
SOURCE: Epidemiology, January 2009.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Related Posts:
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The incidence of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) in California fell significantly in the 1990s but has held steady since 2002, according to a new report. The decline in SIDS deaths in California began even before the launch of the national “Back to Sleep” campaign in 1994. This campaign called for
Full Post: SIDS incidence stable in California: study
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Certain ethnic groups and women with lower socioeconomic status are at increased risk of developing diabetes while pregnant, research shows. Thirty percent of women who develop “gestational diabetes” will develop type 2 diabetes within the next 7 to 10 years, Dr. Hidde P. van der Ploeg of the University of Sydney,
Full Post: Risk of diabetes in pregnancy higher in some women
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mississippi has claimed the distinction of having the highest teen birth rate in the United States, a figure more than three times higher than the states with the lowest rates, health officials said on Wednesday. Mississippi, a comparatively poor state in the South, had a rate of 68.4 births per 1,000 women ages
Full Post: Mississippi has highest teen birth rate
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Michael Kahn LONDON (Reuters) - Too many children remain unvaccinated against measles for Europe to have any realistic hope of eliminating the disease by 2010, researchers said on Wednesday. In 2006 and 2007, more than 12,000 measles cases were reported in the region, mainly in Romania, Germany, Britain, Switzerland and Italy where fewer children have immunizations
Full Post: Scientists doubt Europe can wipe out measles by 2010
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Strategies introduced in the late 1980s for protecting fertility in patients undergoing cancer treatment may have indeed helped boost reproduction rates modestly among survivors of certain types of cancer, new research from Norway suggests. However, overall, female cancer survivors remain about half as likely as women who had never been diagnosed
Full Post: Post-cancer reproduction still low for women, men