Study Suggests Weather Plays Role In Autism

Children who live in areas of the United States that get a lot of precipitation appear to have a higher risk of developing autism, a new study suggests.

Because these children may spend more time indoors or because rain brings chemicals in the atmosphere to the ground, they might be exposed to environmental triggers that can trigger a genetic predisposition to autism, the researchers say.

“There seems to be a strong association between precipitation and autism diagnosis rates,” said lead researcher Michael Waldman, a professor of economics at the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University.

Waldman, whose son was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, isn’t saying that rain causes the condition. “Our finding strongly suggests that there is some factor which is positively correlated with precipitation, which is serving as a trigger for autism,” he said.

A connection with Vitamin D is raised as a possibility since rainy weather forces people indoors and the human body needs sunlight to synthesize the vitamin. Another possibility is that being indoors means that kids are exposed to more television and videos. A third possibility is that being indoors increases exposure to contaminants.

I'd posit a fourth possibility; that rainy weather may stimulate mold development that might somehow affect human development in infants and young children.

Still, there is other research focusing on the genetic component to the disorder and the experts invariably discount and dismiss the link between vaccines and autism. The increased numbers of diagnosis could be that with better screening we are seeing doctors picking up mild cases of autism that wouldn't have been found just a few years ago. Also, some doctors are more willing to provide a diagnosis for autism so that the children can be qualified for intensive treatment and special education protocols in many areas.

Frankly, there is so much we don't know about the disorder and what triggers it to happen that the junk science and outlandish claims continue to persist, and those claims can have significant public health consequences, particularly in the vaccination of preventable diseases.

UPDATE:
USA Today notes the skepticism of the president of the Autism Society of America:

But Lee Grossman, president of the Autism Society of America, says he's skeptical. "It just does not seem plausible," says Grossman, who got a summary of Waldman's findings from a reporter but hadn't yet read the journal article. "It does not match up with any of the demographics that we follow."

Grossman says his organization has 170 chapters and "what's striking is the similarity … in terms of the prevalence and incidence of autism."

It makes does make sense that environmental factors play a role, Grossman says, but no one yet has pinpointed what they are and whether exposure before birth or afterward matters. "I'm really surprised that the AMA is publishing such studies," he says.

Mrs. Lawhawk wondered whether there was evidence of higher autism rates in the Pacific Northwest, which is known for its bad weather.

I suspect that there's something to the environmental hypothesis, and it might have to do with molds or other environmental elements that are present in some areas but not others, which could explain why New Jersey has a higher autism rate than other areas. The problem is equalizing for screening competency. Some areas do a better job screening for autism than others.