Study : Autism linked to parents’ illness

The mystery over the root cause of ‘autism’ in a child has perplexed many. Some medical experts hold that autism creeps in the child even in the fetus stage in the mother’s womb. Some experts assign hereditary reasons.It is likely that several genes and possible environmental factors cause autism. Some people hold that Childhood vaccination play a role, although some medical experts say it is extremely unlikely.

Autism is marked by impaired social interaction and communication or a related disorder like ‘Asperger’s Syndrome’ affects an estimated one out of every 150 children in the United States.

In another sign pointing to an inherited component to autism, a study released on Monday found that having a schizophrenic parent or a mother with psychiatric problems roughly doubled a child’s risk of being autistic.

Julie Daniels of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, who worked on the study of Autism said that their research shows that mothers and fathers diagnosed with schizophrenia were about twice as likely to have a child diagnosed with autism and higher rates of depression and personality disorders among mothers but  not fathers.

The study of families in Sweden with children born between 1977 and 2003 involved 1,227 children diagnosed with autism.They were compared with families of nearly 31,000 children who did not have autism.Sweden’s detailed health registry provides a wealth of  data for such studies.