Prenatal Vitamins May Ward Off Autism

[FLPanhandle]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/14/health/research/14patterns.html?_r=2

Patterns: Prenatal Vitamins May Ward Off Autism
By RONI CARYN RABIN

A new study reports that mothers of children with autism and autism spectrum disorders were significantly less likely than mothers of children without autism to have taken prenatal vitamins three months before conception and in the first month of pregnancy. The finding, published in the July issue of the journal Epidemiology, suggests that taking vitamins in this period may help prevent these disorders, reducing the risk by some 40 percent.

“Taking prenatal vitamin supplements even before conception is a concrete step concerned parents can take,” said Dr. Irva Hertz-Picciotto, the study’s senior author and principal investigator of the Charge study.




A 40% reduction is risk is huge. I guess all those folks blaming vaccines will have to tweak their conspiracy theories.

[Doctor Hurt]

1. 40% is too huge

which makes me think this is a serious outlier.


As an aside, being on the spectrum, I always feel like people are trying to eliminate my kind from existing.

[TheWraith]

2. Agreed, I'll believe this when more studies show it to be factual.

I particularly wonder about it when you're talking about the first month of pregnancy, which is prior to the bulk of brain cell development.

[JDPriestly]

20. My European doctor required me to take strong vitamin B supplements.

They help the mother's nervous system. I will say that based on my experience. If I have certain kinds of pain or am tired for no reason, I take a combination of the B vitamins and it is enormously helpful.

I do not eat very much beef. In fact I don't eat much meat at all. So that may be why the vitamin B helps me.

[FLPanhandle]

4. With this kind of finding, there will be many more collaboration study

So, we'll know if it's a single study outlier or if the findings hold up.

[Confusious]

6. I have anxiety problems

They are not normal. If they could eliminate it, I would be all for it. No one should have to suffer the way I did.

I would think that as a person who has had to suffer with it (probably not so bad, since you're on a board) what about the people who cannot stand to be touched or have incredible problems?

Would you say the same about deformations or mental disability? Should we allow those people to suffer when it could be fixed?

[Doctor Hurt]

7. I would not want to be other than what I am

would you deprive me of existence?

[Confusious]

10. Not saying that

I'm Saying, if you could fix a problem a child has, would you say NO, just to keep them from "wiping out your kind?"

[FLPanhandle]

12. This doesn't change you

It just helps future mothers reduce the risk of their children having autism. Maybe you are fine, but many others with autism don't do as well.

[joshcryer]

16. Given that it's a simple survey, I think that overall it doesn't immediately help, but if it...

...holds up in further studies then, yeah, all prenatal care would implement it.

[joshcryer]

13. It's either an outlier or a result, it'll certainly be checked and rechecked in the next few years.

If it's true it will change a lot of prenatal care regimes.

[gkhouston]

25. Women who can afford prenatal vitamins and have lives stable enough

to care about taking them every day may have other factors in their lives that are different and which could also affect the chances of bearing an autistic child. It doesn't look like they tried to account for that here.

[catabryna]

3. Women are going to have a difficult time accepting this...

Nothing worse than telling a mother that there was something she did or did not do during pregnancy that caused her kid to be autistic.

[Doctor Hurt]

5. " caused her kid to be autistic."

rhetoric like this makes me feel like shit.

[catabryna]

15. My son is autistic...

I agree with you. Unfortunately, many mothers of autistic children do feel this way already. I'm concerned that this is just going to make those mothers feel even worse. This of course, could produce an unintended affect on the kids; especially as they become adults. I can't even listen to Autism Speaks commercials because they make it sound like it's some horrible burden to have an autistic child.

[JDPriestly]

21. Just curious. Did you eat beef when you were pregnant?

My doctor required me to take vitamin B. I was in a European country.

[catabryna]

24. My son is adopted...

so I'm not able to answer that question. ;-)

[Book Lover]

8. Speaking as the kind of mother in question

I can tell you honestly there are many, many other things you could tell me that would be worse. You may feel good feeling all that pity, but I hope you can come to understand that feeling is unwarranted.

[lumberjack_jeff]

18. Particularly for moms who DID take prenatal vitamins.

Besides, why is the rate of occurrence increasing? More women take vitamins today than did 40, 30 or 20 years ago.

Smells like bullshit. At least the vaccine theory was plausible sounding.

[OhioChick]

9. A friend of mine took prenatal vitamins prior to all 4 of her pregnancies....

Yet all four are autistic.
:shrug:

[Confusious]

11. Bad?

Ok, manageable?

[OhioChick]

14. While I'm not familar with the different levels of autism....

She's said that they're all severely autistic and is having a hard time, emotionally and physically.

[catabryna]

17. Four children would be rough... nt

[JDPriestly]

22. Woops! That kind of suggests a cause other than a vitamin deficiency

at least in that case.

[FLPanhandle]

23. Or this mother's metabolism doesn't absorb and pass on the vitamins well.

So even with supplements, the child may still be having a vitamin deficiency. Since all her children are autistic, there may be an underlying issue.

It's a 40% reduction in risk not a 100% reduction. Probably because of variables like this.

[JDPriestly]

19. Vitamin B is a biggie.