Autism Linked To Environmental Factors

According to a report done on autism, environmental factors may contribute to autism.

 For the study researchers focused on the environmental factors that babies and fetuses are exposed to.  They argued that the increase in autism cases in California could not be explained by changes in doctors' diagnoses.

For example:
In 1990 there were 205 new cases of autism; 6.2 of  every10,000 children born were autistic.
In 2006, there were 3,000 new cases and 42.5 of every 10,000 were autistic.
Medical experts suspected changes in diagnoses or migration tom the state.

They analyzed 17 years of state data that tracks developmental disability. They also used birth records and census bureau data to calculate the rate of autism and diagnosis.

The result:
Migration to the state of California had no effect.
Changes in how and when doctors diagnose the disorder and when officials file reports can explain less than half of the cases.


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