Pregnancy Over 40, Prematurity and Autism
It seems that autism has taken center stage lately with a number of celebrities going public with their children's condition.This article from CNN talks about how extreme prematurity is another risk factor. However, having said that, I know a number of women who had multiples and delivered as early as 26 weeks. Their children are now over the age of 10 and they are as normal as can be. Read more:
Children who are born more than three months premature have double the expected rate of autism at age two as full-term children, according to a study published Wednesday in the Journal of Pediatrics.
SEE ALSO: PREGNANCY OVER 40 (getpregnantover40.com)
Twenty-six percent of babies born extremely premature had cognitive impairment, according to the study.Overall, about one in 10 of the extremely premature infants who did not have other health problems (including cerebral palsy, mental impairment, or vision or hearing problems) tested positive for autism at age two.
The study assessed the children via a survey of behavior known as the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (M-CHAT). But not all children who test positive definitely have the brain development disorder. Autism spectrum disorders (which include a range of diagnoses, from mild to more severe autism) aren't typically diagnosed until age three or older, and M-CHAT is not considered a definitive test.
However, the finding is not surprising, according to Dr. Antonio Hardan, director of the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Clinic at the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford University, who was not involved in the study.
"We have to be in the womb for nine months for a good reason," says Dr. Hardan. "There are a lot of steps of brain development that should occur in the right environment, and the ideal environment is in the womb." Health.com: Depression during pregnancy doubles risk of preterm birth
In the new study, which was conducted by a team led by Karl Kuban of the Boston University Medical Center and Boston Medical Center, 26 percent of children who were born extremely premature (27 weeks gestation or less, as opposed to a full-term of 37 weeks or more) had cognitive impairment, 11 percent had cerebral palsy, 3 percent had problems with vision, and 2 percent had hearing impairment.
excerpted from:
(www.cnn.com)
