Autism and pregnancy

With rising rates of autism, we are scrambling to find a cause.  It is possible there are multiple factors at play.  In the recent news is the possible corrolation between maternal obesity and autism.  There are plenty of reasons to be at a healthy weight when beginning pregnancy.  If you want to read more on this subject check it out at Nursing Times . Other related concerns are diabetes and high blood pressure.  These two conditions often accompany obesity.  It's too soon to know if these are causes or just association but with rates skyrocketing to 1 in 88 nationally and  even higher locally at 1 in 47 (See SLTrib article here) we need to find answers. Boys are affected more frequently than girls (1 in 32 in Utah - see SLTrib article here).

Autism/Maternal Obesity Link?

There are plenty of good reasons to get into shape prior to pregnancy.  Here's another.  While there is no direct correlation or evidence of cause, finding commonalities is important in finding answers.  Most likely autism is caused by multiple factors but the high rate in our country (now estimated at 1:88 and even higher in Utah, who leads the nation in Autism rates) makes it  imperitive that we do all we can to fight this growing epidemic.  So, for many reasons, lose some of the extra weight - it's worth the effort.

Read here for news story.

Vaccines are not part of the autism puzzle

Read here.  Vaccines are an important part of your health picture and there is now sufficient evidence to know that they are not part of the autism puzzle.  Focusing on the wrong potential cause can prevent finding the actual reason for our growing rates of autism.  An excerpt from the Otis Pregnancy Baby Blog article:

"Vaccines are one of the most important medical advances in modern times. We have seen worldwide control of devastating diseases like polio and smallpox and are making progress in reducing other diseases, like chicken pox, hepatitis, pertussis, and other illnesses. Vaccines keep our children healthy and reduce disabilities that have lifelong consequences." (Al Romero, RN, PhD - Pregnancy Risk Line)