Autism 'Clusters' Linked To Parents' Education

[Freddie Stubbs]

Source: NPR

Clusters of children diagnosed with autism tend to occur in places where parents are older, more educated, and white, according to a study by researchers at the University of California, Davis.

The study found no link to local pollution or chemical exposures — which some consumer groups have cited as possible causes of autism clusters.

The results suggest that areas in California with apparently high rates of autism spectrum disorders are probably just places where parents are more likely to obtain a diagnosis for their child, the researchers say.

"It doesn't necessarily mean that higher education causes autism," says Irva Hertz-Picciotto, one of the study's authors and a researcher at the UC Davis MIND Institute. "It gets you the diagnosis more frequently."

Read more: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122256276&ps=cprs

[xchrom]

1. Oh THIS is gonna be good. Nt

[OHdem10]

2. Older Mothers??? perhaps more than education????

[cutlassmama]

3. no, my son has it and I had him in my early 20's

[ret5hd]

15. Do you honestly think that ONLY older mothers is what was meant? Really? Really really?

[girl gone mad]

14. I think paternal age is a greater factor in autism than maternal age is. n/t

[David in Canada]

25. Interesting Concept...

I am an Aspie and when I was born my mother was only 37 whereas my father was 56. During my school years, I was the only child who had a father (versus a grandfather) who was a World War II veteran.

[NashVegas]

32. I've Seen That

When men get over 40, dna breakage becomes a factor in sperm.

[Lorien]

24. The conclusion is that older, better educated parents seek diagnosis/ treatment

while younger/ undereducated parents often do not.

[Soylent Brice]

4. ...

:popcorn:

[uppityperson]

5. Higher education, more money, more diagnoses overall. Not for every specific case, but

I can see clusters happening with those type parents, those able to get a diagnoses and with insurance or money enough to deal with it.

[mike_c]

6. yup, likely an artifact of diagnosis....

That's especially true "around the edges" of ASDs, where people with sufficient resources are likely to pursue diagnosis and possible treatment while people with less means are more likely to dismiss them as simple personality or behavior issues, if they have time to deal with them at all.

[bemildred]

7. This seems unscientific somehow.

:popcorn:

[ohheckyeah]

8. Huh?

It doesn't necessarily mean that higher education causes autism,

No shit. Why or how in the world could higher education cause autism?

[Ian David]

9. People with the money to access better education also have access to other luxuries.

Things like:

1) Fish
2) Generally better nutrition (what if better nutrition prevents miscarriage of autistic fetuses, for example?)
3) Air travel
4) Fresh fruits and vegetables
5) Meat
6) What if Autism is transmitted by a virus contracted in college dormitories?

I don't think it's related to being intelligent, judging by anecdotal evidence provided by some of the Anti-Vax morons. But that could just be because stupid people generally make more noise.

I hope it turns out to be a mutated measles virus that can be avoided with a standard MMR vaccine.

[jeff47]

17. Sometimes a little education makes someone seem dumber

"don't think it's related to being intelligent, judging by anecdotal evidence provided by some of the Anti-Vax morons."

Often a little bit of education in a particular area can make an otherwise intelligent person seem like a moron.

For example, highly educated folks have a little bit of exposure to biology through their general ed requirements. But if their degree is in something else, they're not remotely close to well educated in that field.

So someone with just a little bit of general biology knowledge under their belt can spew a lot of moron everywhere on a subject with as much nuance as vaccination. They know just enough to leap to all sorts of dumb conclusions. Whereas a less educated person would just assume they don't know anything about the subject.

[zeemike]

18. And there may be one other factor too

And that is the well educated have their children vaccinated and the less well off do not.
And I do know that at one time they put mercury in the vaccines...that cannot help.

[Ian David]

20. That has already been discredited at too high a price. n/t

[Spider Jerusalem]

28. The hypothetical link has been extensively and repeatedly disproven

The doctor who linked the MMR vaccine to autism is also probably going to be struck off the medical register in the UK for professional misconduct in relation to his original paper and research (for among other things failure to disclose conflicts of interest in that he patented a single measles vaccine, offering financial incentives to research subjects, using a sample size so small as to be meaningless of whom several were not even autistic, and mis-stating and exaggerating findings).

And the vaccine hypothetically linked to autism, the MMR vaccine, never contained thimerosal (which in any case has been removed from *all* childhood vaccines since 2001 with no noticeable decline in rates of autism prevalence).

[zeemike]

35. I have no doubt that is has.

But the problem is trust...and as long as we have hugh profits at risk in all of this I can't and don't trust them.
The only thing I am sure of is that what ever the findings as to the cause of autism it will not include any liability or responsibility for the drug companies.

[Lance_Boyle]

42. vaccines are not, and have never been, 'huge profit' centers for drug makers

[zeemike]

60. Well thanks for that information

I have no access to their books so I would not have known that.

[AngryAmish]

47. This is one of the stupidest things I have ever heard

[mike_c]

10. not sure if that's a real or rhetorical question...

...but the author's interpretation is that better educated, wealthier parents are more likely to pursue a diagnosis. In effect, the data are biased in favor of clusters where such parents live.

[ohheckyeah]

29. that's not really what was said. n/t

[AngryAmish]

46. There is a theory that the widespread higher education of women

means they meet and marry men who have always had the benefit of higher education. Or high IQ men are marrying higher IQ women. The thought is high IQ correlates with autism. Like 2 copies of certain gene or genes. And back in the day high IQ men did not marry high IQ women since high IQ was not as prized.

Actually it is not a theory, more like a hypothesis that is being researched.

[HughMoran]

11. I can see that. I pushed and pushed against my uncooperative ex, and eventually got a diagnosis

...of Aspergers for my oldest. I can see (and have) where less educated are intimidated (socially, economically (treatment costs money) and intellectually) into using the older "he/she is just odd" analysis of their child's behavior.

[tinrobot]

12. Jenny McCarthy has an education?

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

54. Her kid was cured she doesn't count.

[nashville_brook]

13. hear that ladies -- it's all in your over-educated heads. yer kids are fiiiine.

move along -- nothing to see here.

[ret5hd]

16. I'll bet you are as intelligent as you seem.

Bless your heart.

[nashville_brook]

19. oh -- fluff off with your "bless your heart" crap -- i'm tired of being told

that the spike in autism is a variable of measurement. guess it's fine in your world.

[ret5hd]

21. .

:rofl:

you got it! i'm surprised!

[Odin2005]

39. There is no "spike in autism"

just a spike in DIAGNOSIS of people that would have never been diagnosed, or would have been misdiagnosed before. The so-called "autism epidemic" is nothing but mass hysteria promoted by pro-cure bigots like Jenny McCarthy and Autism Speaks.

[Zhade]

56. So, essentially a mass confirmation bias?

I can see that.

It certainly isn't any of the woowoo bullshit the anti-vaxxers allege.

[Odin2005]

57. Yup.

[AngryAmish]

48. Bless your heart, that is so cute.

[demigoddess]

22. in one second, I could see that it was not a cause and probably a matter of diagnosis

so they should have not reported on it like this. We all know that could not be the cause or they would have cured it ages ago. But general theory of it being a malabsorption of nutrient problem, has not been looked into sufficiently because they are always on the vaccination detail.

[KT2000]

23. Crap "science"

older parents is a clue - the older a person is, the more chemicals they have stored in their fat tissue that they can pass on to the fetus.
The wealthier people are, the more toxic chemicals they are exposed to on a day to day basis.

People without money do not fill their homes with new furniture that is still emitting formaldehyde, carpets that have all kinds of crap, lots of new sheets that have formaldehyde, regular pesticide applications in the home, lots of air fresheners, lots of personal care products that contain lots of crap that enters the body through the skin.
Swimming pools that are treated are usually found in wealthier homes, lots of yard chemicals are used in the wealthy neighborhoods.

There has NEVER been a study that has found a a link to an environmental cause of any illness. Such studies are just a charade that is repeated over and over again to keep people quiet and corporations fearing liability happy. it is a sham just like this ridiculous so-called study. The corporations fear the "opening of the floodgates" if any study finds environmental links to illness clusters. They will not stand for it.

[David in Canada]

27. Another possibility?

Perhaps another possibility is that some older parents of autistic children (not all mind you) are high-functioning autists themselves and as a result, take longer to mature enough to marry and reproduce?

Some autistic people, namely those with Asperger's, often go into scientific fields. Many mathematicians and scientists exhibit autistic traits. Perhaps employment provides the means for autistics to mate whereas before, they would have spent their lives single and lonely?

[KT2000]

30. What a great point!

Temple Grandin, a woman with autism was on C-Span recently. She talked about the careers for people with autism. She described a computer tech conference she attended where there were rooms of people glued to their computers but not saying a word to each other. She called it Aspie (Asperger's) heaven. She listed other good jobs as well.

The technological world has likely opened huge opportunities for employment for people with autism.

[NashVegas]

33. Yes, It Has

On the downside, it has enabled people with more hyper-rational tendencies than emotional intelligence to make decisions affecting billions of people.

[hunter]

43. That certainly explains my family tree full of odd people.

Unfortunately for every successful high-functioning autistic person there were a couple of unsuccessful staring-at-the-ants-on-the-wall autistic people.

[AlienGirl]

51. Many people on the spectrum cluster in some professions, and some companies have recognized that

There are software companies with private educational programs for the autistic-spectrum kids of their autistic-spectrum employees, because computer science is an attractive career to so many auties/Aspies.

I'd imagine that a deeper study of the "clusters" might reveal high numbers of IT-involved families, and likely have a geographic distribution that reflects this.

Tucker

[wickerwoman]

31. I have to disagree.

Poor people are exposed to a lot more toxic chemicals than rich people. Who do you think makes the new furniture, carpets, sheets, air fresheners and personal care products and is exposed to the chemicals in large doses for 8 hours at a stretch? Who sprays the pesticides? Who works with cleaning products all day long? Not rich people. And if there was a link between formaldehyde and autism, wouldn't it be much more obvious in the children of people who work with it all the time?

Plus rich people can afford organic food and filtered water. They can afford a personal trainer to help them sweat off extra fat. They don't have to sit breathing bus fumes every day. They can live in houses in areas where the air is cleaner. They don't have to live on top of landfills or next to airports or nuclear power plants.

I agree that age may be a factor, but it seems obvious to me that wealthier, better educated people are not exposed to environmental toxins at a higher rate than poorer people.

[ret5hd]

36. You said it much nicer than i would have. thnx.

[KT2000]

53. This would make an

important area of study and you make a good point. Environmental justice (before bush) used to spotlight the added burdens of being poor. An actual comparison would be useful for everyone.

One area of study would be to examine what the baby comes home to as well. Has the room been repainted, is there new flooring, is the furniture new, have the clothes been wahsed with detergents and dryer sheets, are the sheets and bumpers new, what lotions are used?

Formaldehyde becomes a greater concern when it mixes with other chemicals in the air to form a third chemical - a very toxic one.
Formaldehyde is regulated in the workplace but not in the home. Levels are measured in the air but the greatest risk comes from the dust where there is a lot of formaldehyde and other chemicals in the environment. Formaldehyde has been measured at 500 times the allowable air levels in dust.

[vadawg]

65. you do know that some rich people do live on landfills and newar power plants etc

same as some poor people eat only organic food and have more fresh air than the majority of rich people, a lot of poor people dont live in the urban areas but live in areas with cleaner air and better water than the rich living in manhatten or LA

[wickerwoman]

69. I'm not talking about "some", I'm talking about statistical averages.

The kind of averages that would result in a noticeable spike in autism among certain populations. And in those terms, poor people are exposed to more environmental toxins than rich people, although individual poor people might make sacrifices to afford organic food and individual rich people (for some unfathomable reason) may choose to live next to an airport, sewage treatment plant or Superfund site.

Everywhere I have ever lived (in six countries, in urban and rural areas), the best land is always owned by the richest people. Just look at the history of real estate in the south and all the cancer clusters in predominantly black neighborhoods. Nobody who has the money to avoid it chooses to live in an area at risk for land, water, air or radiation contamination.

One of the great tragedies of our country in the 20th century is that so much of the best coastal, mountain and forest area, which used to be available to everyone, has been bought up and fenced off by the rich.

On edit:

Here's some light reading to get you started:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cancer_Alley

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_racism

[KT2000]

71. Accurate exposure testing

is necessary to determine who is exposed to what chemicals. No one is saying that lower income neighborhoods are not located near toxic sources. But just because someone is wealthier and lives on cleaner land does not mean they live without toxic exposures.
As I noted in another post, a congressman used data that said newly build homes had higher levels of formaldehyde than Katrina trailers. You can bet the levels of other toxic chemicals are high too. New homes now are built airtight as well.
The exposure may be different between the economic classes but we just cannot say they exist for one and not the other.
If they suspect an environmental source that started in the 90s, its effect is seen in better educated and older parents - there are the clues of where to start.
There are now over 100,000 chemicals in commercial use. More are added every year without adequate safety testing.

[Odin2005]

40. Last paragraph = Logic fail.

:eyes:

[KT2000]

52. You may want to

look into this because it is true.
Some researchers have found links but when it comes to an official explanation, the ATSDR always comes through with reasons why the link cannot be made.

[jeff47]

61. Um.....you're lying or woefully misinformed

You said "There has NEVER been a study that has found a a link to an environmental cause of any illness.".

Let's see...on the TV just now was a commercial for a lawyer looking for plaintiffs to sue over exposure to Asbestos. Which many studies have proved as the environmental cause to multiple illnesses.

Just one example.

[KT2000]

64. I did make a mistake

Of course there are many many studies that have found a link to environmental causes of illnesses. But when it comes to investigating clusters by the ATSDR, state health departments and other agencies, the links are never found - at least for the purpose of avoiding more illness, taking corrective action or holding anyone liable.
The subject of the thread was "clusters" and it was my mistake in not being more accurate in my composition.

Actually there is a mountain of evidence that implicates environmental causes of illness but such studies do not make it into the medical literataure and regulatory agencies for decades. Environmental health research is kept separate and it often takes political action to get it into medical mainstream and reg. agencies.

Dr. Irving Selikoff knew that asbestos caused cancer many years before any action was taken to protect workers. Eventually he had to demonstrate exactly how asbestos caused the particular cancer that it does. It was only when the Twin Towers were being built and he was horrified at the careless way the asbestos was being handled that restrictions were enacted - largely because of his political efforts.

The liability for the damage done by asbestos is being realized in 2010. His first work linking asbestos and cancer appeared in the 1960s and he died in 1992 still fighting the good fight.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

55. Yes executives of chemical companies are exposed to far more chemicals than plant workers.

Do you have any other jokes to tell?

[KT2000]

66. The answers to exposures

will be found by adequate research but I am not holding my breath.
Sometimes in exposure studies the answers are not obvious.
For example, brand new housing can be a real gas chamber, depending upon the materials used to build it. A person living in such a home 24 hours a day could experience exposure levels far exceeding those established for the workplace over an 8 hour period. When Congress was debating the formaldehyde levels in the Katrina trailers, one congressman used data that showed new conventional housing had higher levels of formaldehyde than the trailers.

We may find that economic status has different sets of exposures. We may find that the more products people use inside an air tight home may create a chemical soup that makes the fetus and children vulnerable to damage. We may find that the ingredients of many household and personal care products that are kept secret from everyone except an employee at the EPA are indeed dangerous to children. In the case of autistic children we need to look for the exposures where the children live.

We are desperately in need of accurate exposure studies and good data.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

68. That's a whole lot of mays compared to your original statement.

[KT2000]

70. I post on this issue

due to personal experience. My wish is for people to question the lax attitude we have about the toxic effects of the 100,000 chemicals currently in commercial use. I am not always sure about the tone to use as I do feel anger about the horrible way corporations, government agencies and the medical community treat the issue of toxic chemical exposures - with kid gloves and more concern for the bottom line than peoples' lives and health.
If I express a tone that is not effective, or write something too impulsively, I do try to change or correct it. But still - I know what I know.

One way this information remains obscured is by using stereotypes and generalities to explain things like clusters - I am not talking about you - I am talking about those who should know better. I will give you another example. I was asked to comment on a study that examined methods to reduce asthma in inner city African-American children. Without supporting documentation, the authors predicated their work on the supposition that their homes had more cockroach residues and the families needed to learn how to manage garbage and keep their homes cleaner. What they failed to realize is that a particular cleaning product popular in the African-American community contains a toxic chemical that is known to induce asthma. This has been documented in the occupational medical literature.
Their failure to accurately assess the potential environmental exposures resulted in a team of people sent to the neighborhoods to encourage more cleaning with a product that would make things worse.

[Nevernose]

63. Or it could be just what the scientists in the article think:

That older, more educated people are usually wealthier. Wealthier people usually have better health coverage. People with better ehalth coverage are more likely to get diagnosed for any disease AT ALL, but especially for a broad-spectrum disorder that is difficult to diagnose with accuracy (like autism).

[KT2000]

72. Yes - but if you will note

on the one hand it discounted the environmental cause and then on the other hand said there could be an environmental cause that may have started in the 90s.
In the end it is just another "study" that attempts to insert an unverified conclusion into the debate over autism. Ah shucks - its just those rich people with too much money going to their doctors getting a diagnosis for their hard to handle children. No cause for concern.

[AlphaCentauri]

67. and they drink more plastic bottled water

[Psephos]

26. This isn't a newstory, it's a scientific literacy test.

I hope it's being graded on a curve, because the scores are all coming in very low.

[rampart]

34. health care at the level to diagnose autism

may cluster near the same older, higher educated parents

[Tailormyst]

37. I would say that group just tends to have the means for more frequent diagnosis

[Odin2005]

38. How long before the Pro-Cure Woo-Woo Bigots come and...

...see the part that says "The study found no link to local pollution or chemical exposures" and scream "EVIL LIES" :eyes:

[Realityhack]

41. #23 doesn't count? n/t

[goforit]

44. The educated ones that make sure they get all their vaccines when child is one day old.

[jeff47]

62. The educated ones also don't blindy inject whatever their doctor says to. (nt)

[Javaman]

45. So what I take away from this study is...

that there are A LOT more kids out there with Autism than is being reported.

Perhaps Autism is part of our normal development?

:shrug:

I'm just postulating.

[Bragi]

49. Bad day for Jenny McCarthy /nt

[Zoeisright]

50. The very highly educated people I know do have kids with Aspergers and

autism, including a couple of college professors who are extremely brilliant.

[TexasObserver]

58. People with good health insurance get better health care.

A survey of the same people would show the same trends for parents of college bound children, for the same reason: economics and the opportunities money brings.

[yellowcanine]

59. I would think older is correlated with both more education and whiteness so

My guess is the actual cause if there is one is OLDER.