Closing the Door on Kids with Autism

Posted on May 4, 2012 by BritaBelli

Narrowing the definition of autism won’t diminish its challenges or alter the fact that an extraordinary number of children are being born with difficulties in communicating and socializing and prone to repetitive behaviors. It will, however, make finding and affording support services more difficult for parents and provide some vindication to those who suspect that autism numbers have more to do with increased diagnosis than environmental toxins. And most unfortunate, it comes at a time when environmental causes for autism are finally being taken seriously.

In 2010, when creating a new draft of the fifth edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, researchers decided Asperger’s Syndrome, or high-functioning autism, belonged in the autism category. While the distinctions between high-functioning autism and severe autism can be profound—the former can function independently and may display genius-level intellects, the latter may require assistance for the most basic daily tasks—the underlying obstacles are the same. Whether self-sufficient or wholly dependent, these individuals have difficulties related to social interaction and communication in addition to a host of other potential signifiers, from repeating daily tasks, to lining up objects, to obsessive interest in a single subject, to hand flapping.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) defined it best. But as the new D.S.M. nears completion, Asperger’s and autism appear likely to be teased apart. Continue reading →

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Worries Big and Small

Posted on March 1, 2012 by BritaBelli

This is not me. Thanks, Wikipedia!

March is a big month for me. Not only because it marks the release of The Autism Puzzle after much work and recalibrating of endnotes, but because March 30 is the date I’m having my second daughter. That is, of course, unless nature intervenes. Unlike my first birth experience, which ended (as it does for so many women) in an emergency C-section, this  is to be a planned C-section. It’s just one of many concerns that cloud me in this final month, brought on in large part by issues I raise in the book.

The problem, really, is that so much is left unknown when it comes to chemical interactions while a baby is in utero and being born. Without further ado, here are some of the things I have done or will do that could pose some cause for concern regarding the baby’s development based on research directly related to the book.

  • Ate tuna fish. I had planned to eat no tuna, or to replace it with canned salmon which is a very legitimate substitute and sold at Trader Joe’s, but delis and salad bars don’t have salmon salad, and I really like tuna, so I caved. But not more than once a week! But still… tuna is one of the major sources of mercury today (well, coal-burning power plants are the source, our tainted fish are the unfortunate side effect) and that mercury is easily passed to infants via cord blood. Mercury is known to impact brain development and autism and mercury poisoning share a lot of unsettling similarities.
  • Microwaved soup in plastic. This only happened once when our office bowls went mysteriously missing and the alternative was eating cold soup. Plastic containers often contain phthalates and bisphenol A, endocrine-disrupting chemicals that are much more likely to come loose from plastic and enter foods when heated. Even small amounts of phthalates–in amounts below what is typically found in one-quarter of the female population–have been shown to impact male reproductive development in rat studies and both BPA and phthalate exposure during pregnancy have been tied to later autism-like social impairments in children.

Continue reading →

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The Toxic Tipping Point Theory

Posted on December 5, 2011 by BritaBelli

Researcher Claudia S. Miller is drawing connections between shared chemical sensitivities in the parents of children with autism and their autistic children. She writes that the same chemicals (pesticides, medications, foods) that may be giving rise to a host of reactions in adults may be impacting the neurodevelopment of their children while in the womb, a case where “genes load the gun and environment pulls the trigger.”  The form of chemical intolerance in question is called Toxicant-Induced loss of Tolerance of TILT, which she writes “may develop after a workplace exposure or remodeling of a home or exposure to petrochemicals or combustion products from a fire. Thereafter, everyday exposures to common chemicals, foods, medications, and even caffeine, can trigger cognitive and mood difficulties, as well as a host of baffling symptoms that can affect the nervous system, digestive tract, airways, and skin.” These symptoms can include Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, eczema, asthma and seizures.

Continue reading →

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Antidepressants Increase Autism Risk

Posted on November 8, 2011 by BritaBelli

Researchers found an unsettling link between mothers taking antidepressants both pre-pregnancy and during the first trimester and their likelihood of giving birth to a child with autism. The findings involved the most popular class of antidepressants, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), which includes the drugs Prozac, Celexa, Zoloft, Paxil and Lexapro. Mothers who took these antidepressants in the year before pregnancy had a two-fold risk for giving birth to a child with autism; Mothers taking the drugs during the first trimester had a four-fold risk. The study came from the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program in California and was published in the Archives of General Psychiatry. A mother’s mental health history, absent the antidepressants, had no apparent impact on autism risk.

Continue reading →

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9/11 and Developmental Delays

Posted on August 10, 2011 by BritaBelli

The 10-year anniversary of 9/11 is nearly upon us,  and many questions remain about the lingering health impacts caused by the massive destruction of the World Trade Center towers that day and the burning debris and toxin-filled air left behind. One study by the Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health published last year looked specifically at the impact of elevated flame retardants or polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) on children born to mothers at one of three hospitals in lower Manhattan following the attack. Hundreds of mothers who were pregnant on 9/11 and lived nearby the site were looked at: Their cord blood samples were analyzed for concentrations of flame retardants and their children were assessed for neurodevelopmental impacts at ages 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 years of age. None of the mothers were smokers, drug users or had other outstanding health issues, and researchers controlled for factors such as maternal IQ, breastfeeding and other toxic exposures. The impacts of PBDE concentrations on their children’s later development were unmistakeable.

Continue reading →

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The Twin Revelation

Posted on July 7, 2011 by BritaBelli

Autism’s connection to environmental factors became much more certain with the release of a new twin study on July 4. The study, published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, found that among identical twins, the likelihood of both twins–who share identical genetic makeup–having autism of equal severity was 77% for boy twins, and 50% for girl twins. And rates were even lower for fraternal twins who share 50% of genes. Using mathematical modelling, researchers found that just 38% of autism cases overall could be explained by genetic factors. Previous studies have found that genes are responsible for 80%-90% of autism cases.What differed here was that in looking at records of those babies born in California with an autism spectrum disorder between 1987 and 2004, researchers used “structured clinical assessments by both parental interview and direct child observation.”

The report concluded that “Susceptibility to ASD [autism spectrum disorder] has moderate genetic heritability and a substantial shared twin environmental component.”

Continue reading →

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A Scientist, A Mother

Posted on June 24, 2011 by BritaBelli

Thomas the Tank Engine toys that were recalled for having paint with high lead levels in 2007.

I was fortunate enough to be able to tune in to a teleconference on autism and chemicals by the group Safer Chemicals Healthy Families on June 7. One speaker in particular stood out–Lisa Huguenin, Ph.D., a researcher who specializes in chemical exposures and mom to a son with autism. While she clearly, professionally, had important insights to share about the consequences of the multiple chemical insults we face in our daily lives, she spoke more often as a mother blindsided by her son Harrison’s late-onset autism, the signs of which did not emerge until he was 18 months old (that’s the typical age when this particularly devastating form of autism strikes).

“Gone was his ability to hold a crayon and scribble,” she said. “Gone was his amazing ability to kick a soccer ball and jump. Gone was his ability to say ‘mommy’ and ‘daddy.’” Her voice faltered a beat before she continued: “It was heart-wrenching. Our son was losing skills before our very eyes and we were helpless.”

By age two, Harrison was diagnosed with autism and his medical picture continued to rapidly deteriorate. “My son was experiencing severe gastrointestinal issues and was constantly sick. He began to self-limit his diet and eventually stopped eating, falling rapidly off the growth charts. After seeing many specialists we ended up at UMDNJ’s Pediatric Center for Rare and Complex Disease. Not only did Harrison have autism, he had many other problems including asthma, non-IgE mediated food allergies and immune issues. To this day, he is unable to eat most food and gets nutrition from a formula provided by his doctor.”

All of Harrison’s conditions, she noted, have been tied to environmental exposures. Continue reading →

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The Media’s Same Old Song

Posted on May 13, 2011 by BritaBelli

Late last month, The New York Times Magazine ran an in-depth profile of discredited autism researcher Andrew Wakefield. The guy famous–at least in autism circles–for claiming he had reason to believe there might be a link between the MMR vaccine and autism, whose paper drawing such connections was retracted from the medical journal The Lancet after it was discovered he was both unethical (accepting payouts from lawyers looking for this very evidence) and fraudulent (misrepresenting data).

Despite his discrediting, Wakefield has done immeasurable harm–particularly in stoking the fears of new parents who in turn become reluctant to vaccinate their children. But Wakefield’s false science also drove many a media report on rising autism cases, a media eager to seize on a simple explanation while virtually ignoring the more complicated topic of multiple chemical exposures and the damage they do to developing brains.

I’ll admit I was curious to read what had happened to Wakefield post-media-flailing. Though it’s not much, really–a big house in Texas, a small group of loyal followers, feeling more and more like the world is out to get him.

But in the middle of this sad profile of a man that we can’t seem to stop revisiting is this: “To him [Thomas Insel, the director of the National Institute of Mental Health], the M.M.R. vaccine, so aggressively studied since the media splash following Wakefield’s 1998 paper, is one of the few factors [driving autism rates] that can be ruled out. But could it be aspartame? UV rays? Elmo? No one knows.”

Continue reading →

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Can We Fix Our Chemical Laws?

Posted on April 20, 2011 by BritaBelli

It’s almost Earth Day, and as nice as it feels to finally start composting or switching to compact fluorescent lightbulbs, what the country really needs to honor its environmental and health commitments is new chemical legislation. Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) is trying to get that ball rolling again, having just reintroduced the Safe Chemicals Act of 2011. The bill would finally fix the gaping holes left by the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976, a bill which grandfathered in some 62,000 existing chemicals and essentially tied the EPA’s hands if and when it became clear that certain of these chemicals were dangerous to human and environmental health. Many chemicals in widespread use have since been discovered to cause known or suspected harm to the developing brains of infants–including phthalates, BPA, pesticides and flame retardants–and may be in part responsible for driving up rates of autism.

What’s more, Autism Society President and CEO Lee Grossman said in a related release: “Thousands of unchecked potential toxins in the American marketplace are highly detrimental to the 1.5 million Americans living with autism today because many have immune deficiencies that, when exposed to certain substances, complicate already existing health issues.”

Continue reading →

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Endocrine Disruptors Linked to Social Problems

Posted on April 14, 2011 by BritaBelli

A study just published by the Mount Sinai School of Medicine found that exposure to two common endocrine-disrupting (or hormone-altering) synthetic chemicals–BPA, or bisphenol A, and phthalates–is associated with later autism-related social impairments in children. Researchers measured the levels of these chemicals in the urine of 404 mothers from a predominantly minority East Harlem, New York, community during their third trimesters, and requested that they return for testing when their children were between the ages of 7 and 9. Of those tested, 137 returned for follow-up studies. Researchers discovered that there was a correlation between higher levels of BPA and phthalates in the pregnant moms and lower scores on a later Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) of their children, a “65-item caregiver/educator rating scale of social behaviors characteristic of autism spectrum disorder.” Continue reading →

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