Autism and the SSRI connection

It was only 10 years ago that biologists were describing the fetus as a fortress, immune to anything the mother might eat, drink or inhale. Today, however, we know different

- Bryan Hubbard

A mother who smokes or drinks alcohol can affect her baby, and the unborn child’s healthy development can also be impaired by malnutrition, obesity, infection and autoimmune conditions.

These recent discoveries have unlocked billions of dollars of research funding as scientists have scrambled to understand the inexorable rise of autism in children and its possible link to toxins crossing the placenta. In the US, the incidence of autism is increasing by around 24 percent every two years, and America’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has estimated that one in 44 eight-year-old boys has the condition, which represents 2.3 percent of the boys of that age.

Although it’s now known that toxins can breach the placenta, most scientists still hold to the theory that genetics is usually responsible for autism. Studies of twins have discovered that 70 percent are likely to be autistic, which does support the genetics theory, and other studies have identified genetics as a major factor in 30 to 80 percent of autistic children.

But the genetics theory can’t explain the explosion in autism in recent years, a phenomenon that seemed to start around 30 years ago, although the rise can, in part, be explained by a greater understanding of the condition and its complexity of symptoms, along with better screening programs.

It’s the drugs