Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is characterized by impairment in communication and social behavior and by repetitive behaviors. Like most any other disease that affects someone for the majority of their life, a large portion of the cause of autism is due to genetic factors but genetics is unable to account for all cases of autism. So this brings up the effects that our environment has and its implications in the onset of autism. The most critical time for the environment to have it effects on an individual causing autism is while the mother is carrying her child during pregnancy. Recent research has shown many imbalances due to environment during pregnancy lead to autism and in particular the mother being stressed.
Normally during pregnancy a woman has elevated levels of cortisol which is the body’s natural stress hormone, but this slight elevation during pregnancy is important for a normal pregnancy. If, for some reason, the cortisol levels of the pregnant woman were to increase to abnormally high levels research has shown that cortisol from the mother that is able to reach the fetus may potentially alter fetal development and growth, which in the case of neurodevelopment could be extremely detrimental. It has been shown that the cortisol levels of pregnant women can increase to abnormally high levels during particularly stressful situations such as major storms or natural disasters. Research has also shown that the placenta is also affected by stress by releasing Corticotropin releasing factor that can cross the blood brain barrier and cause damage to the function and integrity of the hippocampus of the developing fetus. Another stress to the mother that could be harmful to the fetus is sickness. Research has shown that if the mother contracts a virus or bacteria that are able to reach the fetus likelihood of the fetus developing autism is much higher.
After reading this article I think that it is very important to make sure that the environment that a fetus is developing in is as stable and safe as possible to ensure the healthiest offspring possible, but at the same time I don’t think that it is something to be so worried about that people start to panic and quarantine their pregnant woman to prevent disease. If you think about it the fact that there aren’t more diseases or incidence of autism is amazing because there are so many things and ways that things can go wrong in the development of a fetus that a completely healthy newborn is in itself a miracle. I think that is just a testament to how amazing the human body is and well it does what it does.
Incidence of Autism linked to Stress?
