New Autism Cure - breakthrough treatments and cures for autism

As you know, it is not known exactly what causes a child to develop an autism spectrum disorders and many doctors and scientists, myself included, believe that autism is a multi-factorial disorder, meaning that it can be caused by a number of different factors or a combination of factors. These factors can include environmental factors, genetics, vaccines, food intolerances and pregnancy and birth complications.

Today, I’m going to examine evidence that points to autism spectrum disorders being caused by complications at birth. In their book ” A Parent’s Guide to Asperger Syndrome and High-functioning Autism”, Sally Ozonoff, Geraldine Dawson and James McPartland talk about the link between complications in pregnancy, labor and birth, and autism spectrum disorders, saying that:

“A number of pregnancy, labor and delivery complications have been noted in the histories of children who later turn out to have autism spectrum disorders, such as maternal bleeding during pregnancy, high blood pressure in the mother leading to toxemia, prematurity, and oxygen deprivation during or shortly after birth.”

However, Ozonoff, Dawson and Mc Partland point out that these complications are also found in the birth histories of children with mental retardation, cerebral palsy, speech and language difficulties, and learning disabilities, so they wonder if actually these birth complications cause differences in the brain, rather than autism specifically, or whether actually it is the autism that causes the birth complications.

You might think that it is very strange to believe that it is the autism that causes the pregnancy and birth complications, rather than the other way round, but Ozonoff et al. point out that in the case of Down Syndrome (a disorder that is determined at conception), mothers of babies with Down Syndrome have a higher than average rate of experiencing pregnancy and delivery complications - interesting!

Studies into Birth Complications

There are, however, a number of studies which suggest a link between pregnancy, labor and delivery complications and autism. Here are four examples:-

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Is there a link between the usage of pitocin, an artificial hormone given to induce or speed up labor, and the rise in autism statistics? Are we causing autism by our use of such drugs in the birth process?

The theory of a link between pitocin and autism is a controversial one, and a rather worrying one, but it is something that needs further research so that we can rule it out or do something about it.

It first entered the public forum when Geoffrey Cowley, a Newsweek reporter, interviewed physician Dr Eric Hollander of New York’s Mount Sinai School of Medicine for an article back in July 2000 (see http://www.newsweek.com/id/85572/page/1 for “Understanding Autism” article). Dr Hollander had made the startling discovery that 60% of his autistic patients had been exposed to pitocin in the womb, when their mothers’ labors had been induced, and said:-

“In some individuals whose oxytocin system could be genetically vulnerable, a strong environmental early hit while the brain is still developing could down-regulate the oxytocin system, leading to developmental problems. But this is only a hypothesis that has been observed by association.”

What is Pitocin?

Pitocin is a synthetic version of oxytocin, a hormone that is naturally produced by a woman’s brain to produce spontaneous labor. When oxytocin is produced in the woman’s body, it triggers uterine contractions which cause the woman’s cervix to dilate and which also propel the baby through the birth canal. When a woman goes past her due date or needs to be induced for some reason, pitocin can be used to artificially induce labor or speed things up.

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