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What Causes Autism

 

            
             For Those who don't know, Autism is a complex developmental disability that .
             typically appears during the first three years of life. It impacts the normal development of .
             the brain in the areas of social interaction and communication skills. Children and adults .
             with autism typically have difficulties in verbal and non-verbal communication, and .
             social interactions. The disorder makes it hard for them to communicate with others and .
             relate to the outside world. In some cases, aggressive and/or self-injurious behavior may .
             be present. Persons with autism may exhibit repeated body movements (hand flapping, .
             rocking), unusual responses to people or attachments to objects and resistance to changes .
             in routines. Individuals may also experience sensitivities in the five senses of sight, .
             hearing, touch, smell, and taste.
             Unfortunately, their is very little known about the cause(s) of autism. One theory, .
             according to the Pfeiffer Treatment Center, is that autism may be caused by a defect in .
             metal metobolism that impairs the development of the brain and can result in .
             hypersensitivity to toxic substances. According to William J. Walsh, Ph.D., biochemist .
             and chief scientist of the Pfeiffer Center, Naperville, Illinois, and Anjum Usman, M.D., a .
             physician at the Center, Blood and urine analyses yielded evidence of a metallothionein .
             (MT) dysfunction in 499 of 503 patients (99 percent) diagnosed with autism spectrum .
             disorders. "MT is a family of proteins essential for many important processes in the .
             body, and a dysfunction in this system can explain most of the classic symptoms observed .
             in autism," according to doctor Walsh.
             The following article by Anita Manning, USA TODAY, in my mind backs up the theory present in the preceding aritcle. For a while it was thought that the vaccine that protects .
             children from mumps, measles, and rubella may be the cause of autism. In fact, studies .
             now show that the vaccine does not directly cause autism.


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