Non-genetic factors cause autism?

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Epigenetic Changes Shed Light on Biological Mechanism Of Autism

This article is stating that there may be some environmental causes as well. Thoughts?

I think it has been self-evident that there is strong heritability in ASD's, but that the etiology is not exclusively genetic.

Twin studies have been particularly useful in this regard, showing a strong, but not absolute concordance for monozygotic twins over dizygotic twins.

I tend to the view that genetics creates a predisposition for ASD's, which is then enhanced or mitigated through environmental factors.

My internet hates links. Could someone please tell me what the article says?

It is not accurate to say "non-genetic" the situation is better described as "genes plus" or epigenetics: the way that gene expression is impacted by factors in the cellular environment. A typical example that is specifically mentioned in this study is DNA methylation. There are no "epigenetic effects" without genes.

This is a very good paper, that nicely illustrates what my group has been saying for years:

http://www.nature.com/mp/journal/v14/n1 ... 0982a.html

Yup, Autism is caused by Progress, notice any other outstanding changes in the last forty years?

Anti survival behaviors have become normal.

The dose of Tetra Ethel Lead after WWII, which was pulled in 1973, is still around by the millions of tons everywhere the auto went, still being stired up by every passing breeze, and fully in the pastures and cropland, where it migrates up the lifechain to the supermarket.

The problem with disposing of sewer sludge, is it is loaded with Mecury and Lead, which did not come from industry, but through humans.

This land is poisoned, will be for tens of thousands of years.

IQ has declined 10%, so far.

Autism is only one indication, we do not have more people in jail just for fun, we have more and worse crime.

People are less intelligent, less productive, and the costs of the decay is taking over. We spend more on jails than schools, more on self caused medical problems than on natural causes, and we have hit a level where nothing is growing.

That was just the first forty years.

We provide a lot more education than any before us, and have less results.

On a personal and government level running up unsupportable debt has been the only way to continue for a few more years.

Government, Business, Media, have resorted to lies. As they are given a choice, people chose which lies to support.

Telling the truth, that the population was poisoned by metals, that there is no treatment, and it will get worse, will not get you elected, and might get you hung.

Lets just pretend it is not happening, might be the best choice.

Lots of rubbish in that last post.

First, there is no valid evidence that rates of autism are increasing, absolutely no VALID evidence. Yes, more is being REPORTED, but that's not the same thing. The criteria for diagnosis have become broader. Willingness to submit children to diagnosis is higher. Availability of personnel is higher. Depending on how much broadness, capacity, and willingness have increased, the actual INCIDENCE of autism could be decreasing while the reports of autism increase.

Likewise, estimates of incidence of autism are, for the most part, total loads of crap and should be ignored. This is because of how they are constructed. We have actual counts of the number of children actually diagnosed. We know how many children are brought in for diagnosis. We have counts of how many total children live in an area. Okay, from those three numbers, epidemiologists fiddle, finagle, fudge, massage, guess, and BS to come up with a final "estimate".

How many studies have actually gone through an entire region and administered diagnostics to ALL the children in that region?

One, only one (Kim et al. 2011. Am J Psychiatry. 168:904-912). It determined that ASD spectrum diagnosis applied to about 2.64% of all children. Of those children, the majority were in need of no clinical or other intervention, even though they met the diagnostic criteria. They were doing okay without it.

This frequency of 2.64% should raise an eyebrow. This is because it is nearly half of 5%. This is important because a convention in the sciences is to assign a cut-off of 5% to the "tails" of any "normal" distribution: 2.5% on the low end and 2.5% on the high end. Thus, instead of distribution that would be typical of a zero-inflated binomial distribution, which is what we would expect from a dire, dreaded disorder that has a horrific impact upon fundamental survival, we get a distribution that would be typical of one end of the Gaussian (normal) distribution, suggesting that ASD is simply an extreme end of the "normal" state of human affairs.

Second, IQ has actually INCREASED in those countries that supposedly are seeing the largest rise in autism. That is, while "world IQ" has dropped, IQ in the USA, the EU countries, etc. has increased over the last ten years. Thus, it's the MORE AUTISTIC countries that are smarter! (Yes, I'm intentionally drawing an invalid conclusion, to illustrate a point about silly conclusion drawing.)

Everything else in that post is just the screed of a grumpy basement dweller.

From the basement of Tulane Medical Center, and The University of Colorado, comes the largest recent study of the persistance and effects of Tetra Ethel Lead, and how areas affected in the 60's have the same level in current testing, and a higher than normal crime rate, and lower IQ.

There are other behaviors related to Lead, and we are seeing a social change.

You will not find "Crap and BS" used in the scientific papers posted on the web, just the facts.

The oil companies poisoned America, and knew it at the time, as the people working to develop Tetra Ethel Lead died, were replaced, and they died. Still, it was a cheap Anti Knock Compound, that let less refined gas be sold.

The head of the program went on to develop Cloraflurocarbons, for use in spray cans.

I would agree that Autism runs a constant 2.5% of the population, and no treatment was ever needed before, except for profound cases, which are rare, perhaps 1 in 10,000.

Psychology is blaming Autism, Medical Science is blaming Lead, and when this first came up, high levels of lead and reduced IQ in city people, they were accused of eating paint chips, and being the color of people who would feed their children paint chips, by Oil Company Agents.

Since then our economy has stalled, real wages declined, education has been dumbed down, class size reduced, and still test scores decline.

The cultural change over the last fifty years is well documented, A 1963 dollar was an ounce of Silver, now worth $30 in pretend money, and the numbers still do not work.

The rate of decline is staying constant.

High Lead areas produce a lack of impulse control, that leads to behaviors that are self and other destructive.

Autism it seems is the new Paint Chip.

Metals in Vaccines caused it! Is being funded by the "It was not our product," people.

This is a standard, deny everything, create other stories, place them in the news.

If the people found out that Big Oil poisoned the country forever, they would Nationalize Oil and Gas. Also the damages would be huge.

Autism sure gets a lot of news plants, considering it went forever with no concern. Asperger's Type Cases were Middle Class, and all went on to live normal lives, go to school, work, and fit the general profile of their time.

Lead Poisoning fits the CNV mutations we are seeing.

The Human Genome did not just mutate on it's own, and Autism is a cover story for the real problem.

The Mutation is real, the cause known, and there is no way to get rid of it.