How Mom and Dad Cause Autism

Autism, a developmental disorder that has its roots in both genetic as well as environmental factors is characterized by learning and social behavior impairments. According to recent research, the environmental factors may be more entangled with the genetic factors than was thought previously. As you might expect, the behavior and lifestyle of an expecting mother has a lot to do with the risks of autism for her unborn child. Less understood, however, is the effect the father has on a child’s risk of developing autism.
Some important environmental factors linked with the mothers health are immune system abnormalities and zinc deficiency. Immune system abnormalities is obviously a negative thing for a pregnant woman as any deficit in her immune system can lead to things like viral infections that can damage the fetus’ neurodevelopment. It can be caused by various different things such as prenatal stress, toxins, melatonin deficiency, and even the age of the mother.
Zinc deficiency may be a little more ambiguous to someone not familiar with studies on autism. Zinc is a metal ion used in many processes in your body and competes for absorption with calcium ions. Low zinc levels have been associated with not only autism but patients with bipolar disorder, eating disorders, and depression as well. Low zinc levels are usually caused by abnormal eating habits such as pica, or the eating of non-nutritive substances.  Zinc deficiency and immune system abnormalities are linked by many different factors and are correlated with the genetic factors of autism as well.
Not to put all the blame on mothers, fathers also have some say in the genetic makeup of a child. It was found that the age of the father could have some relation to the risk of autism in the child. As the father ages, genetic mutations in the sperm cells become more and more prevalent. Because autism has a very real genetic component as well as environmental, these mutations don’t bode well for developing fetuses.