Fetal Signs of Autism

In the first two years of life, there is a neurological condition called a developmental disorder called aaustical spectrum disorder. It can be diagnosed by 18 months, but not formally diagnosed until later. Difficulty with communication and social interaction, restricted range of interests, and repetitive behaviors are typified by the condition. There is a wide variation in symptoms.

There are false and now thoroughly discredited claims that it may be caused by the vaccine. The CDC recommends that all children get their first dose of the vaccine at 12 months of age. The correlation between the timing of the first dose and the start of symptoms of the disorder may lead some parents to wrongly conclude that the vaccine causes the disorder.

The anti-vaccine movement immediately focused on this claim, which was given a huge boost from a fraudulent and now retracted study. The scientific evidence proved that the MMR-autism was completely discredited. The anti-vaccine movement changed their claims to focus on mercury-containing thimerosal, which the vaccine does not contain. The claim was dead at the hands of scientific evidence. In 2001, the vaccine schedule was removed from the standard schedule, with any leftover vaccine used or discarded by 2002. The anti-vaccine movement thought this would cause a drop in diagnoses. Scientists thought it wouldn't. It didn't. Diagnostic rates continued to rise in the same way. The hypothesis was dead.

The anti-vaccine movement, undeterred by evidence, changed their claims into simply vaccines, without specifying a specific vaccine or ingredient. They have the ability to maintain their anti-vaccine claims while avoiding new evidence.

There is a scientific angle to the question of vaccines and autism, and when does it first appear? Despite the false controversy over vaccines, researchers have been learning a lot about the genetics of the disorder. There are many genes associated with the condition. This doesn't rule out an environmental influence, but it appears to be a multifactorial genetic disorder.

There is a question of when it will manifest. It takes 18 months for a formal clinical diagnosis to be made for children who are old enough to show behavioral signs of the disorder. There should be more subtle signs of the disorder at a younger age if it is mostly genetic and developmental. When researchers started looking, they found changes in behavior and head circumference that could be seen between 3-6 months in one study. If there is a case of ASD at 3-6 months, then later vaccines can't be the cause.

Evidence should go back even further to the womb if it is mostly genetic. The first evidence was published in the NEJM. The brains of children who died were examined. The normal 6-layer structure of the cortex was disrupted by the autopsies. These layers form early in development, and the changes seen had to occur during that phase of brain development, which leads to the start of ASD in early fetal development.

Direct evidence is also present. Fetal anomalies and a later diagnosis of ASD were found to be associated with ultrasonography fetal anomalies. The number of UFAs correlated with the severity of symptoms.

A recent study used magnetic resonance scans to look at the brains of children with and without a later diagnosis of ASD. The study allowed for a more detailed examination of fetal brains. They found something.

The insula/insular lobe showed statistically significantly larger volume in ASD than that in all three control groups in the lobar comparison. In the regional comparison, the ASD group had statistically significantly larger amygdala, hippocampal commissure, and insula compared to the non-ASD controls with neurological and non-neurological comorbidities.

This is likely not a random fluke, as the finding correlate with features of theASD brain in adults.

Multiple studies show that there is a neurological disorder that affects most of the time. The environment of the womb appears to play a role in the genetics. This consensus of evidence is not compatible with the idea that childhood vaccines play a role in the development of the brain.

• Steven Novella is an academic clinical neurologist at the Yale University School of Medicine. He is the host and producer of the popular weekly science show, The Skeptics, Guide to the Universe, and also the author of the daily neuroscience website, Neuro LogicaBlog. The Skeptics Guide to the Universe was published by Dr. Novella, as well as two courses with The Great Courses.

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