Asthma, Allergies, Psoriasis During Pregnancy Linked To Increased Risk Of Autism In Offspring, Study Says

Main Category: Autism
Also Included In: Eczema / Psoriasis;  Respiratory / Asthma;  Allergy
Article Date: 10 Feb 2005 - 6:00 PDT

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Pregnant women who have asthma, psoriasis or allergies are more likely than women who do not have these disorders during pregnancy to give birth to children who are subsequently diagnosed with autism, according to a study published in the Feb. issue... Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Reuters reports (Reuters, 2/7). Lisa Croen, a research scientist at Kaiser Permanente's Division of Research, and colleagues studied the medical records of more than 88,000 children born in Northern California between 1995 and 1999, Scripps Howard/Detroit News reports. Of the cohort, 420 children were identified as having been diagnosed at least once with an autism spectrum disorder, such as severe autism or Asperger's syndrome (Bowman, Scripps Howard/Detroit News, 2/8). Researchers then selected 2,100 children without autism diagnoses to serve as controls, frequency matching the two groups based on gender, birth year and hospital of birth (Croen et al., Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, February 2005). Researchers then studied the medical histories of the children's mothers, paying particular attention to any maternal history of autoimmune disorders, which previously have been linked to autism in offspring.

Findings
The study -- which was funded by the Kaiser Foundation Research Institute, CDC and NIH's National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences -- found that there was no link between autoimmune disorders -- such as lupus, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis -- in the mother and an increased risk of autism in her offspring, with the exception of psoriasis (Vesely, Oakland Tribune, 2/8). Women in the study who had psoriasis during pregnancy were more than twice as likely to have an autistic child as women without the disorder (Reuters, 2/7). In addition, women diagnosed with asthma or allergies during the second trimester of pregnancy were more than twice as likely as women without such diagnoses to have an autistic child (Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, February 2005). However, Croen said that the overall risk of a woman with allergies, asthma or psoriasis giving birth to a child who goes on to develop autism is low. Approximately 1% of children born to women with such disorders develop an autism spectrum disorder, according to the Tribune. Croen warned that the study's findings have not yet been replicated and do not provide suggestions for clinical guidance, so pregnant women should follow their doctor's advice (Oakland Tribune, 2/8).

"Reprinted with permission from kaisernetwork.org kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/repro The Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . � 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

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