Autism Rate Rises in US, May Begin In Utero
An abstract of a study released by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the study's "2010 [Autism Spectrum Disorder] prevalence estimate of 14.7 per 1,000 (95% CI = 14.3-15.1), or one in 68 children aged 8 years, was 29% higher than the preceding estimate of 11.3 per 1,000 (95% CI = 11.0-11.7), or one in 88 children aged 8 years in 2008." Of the sites surveyed, four counties in New Jersey had the highest prevalence estimate, with 21.9 per 1,000 (95% CI = 20.4-23.6).National Public Radio quotes CDC experts that "skyrocketing estimates don't necessarily mean that kids are more likely to have autism now than they were 10 years ago."
"It may be that we're getting better at identifying autism," says , director of the CDC's National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities.Another abstract of a "small, explorative study" from The New England Journal of Medicine describes Patches of Disorganization in the Neocortex of Children with Autism and suggests "a probable dysregulation of layer formation and layer-specific neuronal differentiation at prenatal developmental stages." CBS News demystifies the study as "brain abnormalities may begin in utero."
Researchers say intervention in early childhood may help the developing brain compensate by rewiring to work around the trouble spots.
Cross-submitted by the author at Soylent News.
The site's 'flavor' will probably evolve as a function of what kind of articles people enjoy posting and others enjoy commenting on. Post stuff, and let's see what happens. What if suddenly a team of astrophysicists decides to camp out here and suddenly all the articles are about astrophysics? Pipedot becomes the world's best tech site for discussion of astrophysics. Just sayin'.