New autism check for foetuses

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Taken from the West Australian newspaper .. linky

In a world first, Perth researchers will screen unborn babies for autism risks in the hope children can be treated earlier.

The team, headed by Telethon Institute for Child Health Research senior research fellow Andrew Whitehouse, will monitor 100 pregnant women who have a child with autism and 100 women who have a child with normal development.

At an international autism conference in Perth today, Dr Whitehouse will present research from another study showing abnormal levels of the hormone testosterone in umbilical cord blood are related to language impairment, a symptom of autism. In the next study over five years, his team will check foetuses for biomarkers linked to a higher risk of autism, including abnormal brain growth.

"Some of the genes linked to autism are responsible for aspects of neurodevelopment that happen very early on," Dr Whitehouse said.

Judi Barrett-Lennard, who is 32 weeks pregnant with her third child, is in the study. She and her husband were keen to support research that might find a cure for the condition that affected their seven-year-old son.

They are just grandstanding in attempt to find more funding and don't know the cause much less a way to cure it. Abnormal testosterone levels haven't been found to be a contributing factor for autism- even in boys. Didn't the gays already lose that argument?

More power to them. Did they ask their son if he wanted to be cured, or do they just presume that he wants to be cured?