Ann of Seven Diseases
2012-04-10 14:16:53 UTC
https://encrypted-tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTGw7y13_WxkD-CJrkbHLoQNm4bJayKi7txK_81JARb7bjFtiLuwQ
Emerging from Nordstrom in Los Angeles, where she said she'd just been
fitted for a new publicly acceptable straitjacket, one-time sedated
girlfriend of Jim Carrey and nut-case Jenny McCarthy told reporters
that a new study links autism to obesity and possibly to sharing
silverware with African Americans.
=====
"Study links autism to obesity during pregnancy"
By Lindsey Tanner
Associated Press
April 09, 2012
CHICAGO — Obesity during pregnancy may increase chances for having a
child with autism, provocative new research suggests.
The study is among the first linking the two conditions. Although it
does not prove that obesity causes autism, the authors say their
results raise public health concerns because of the high level of
obesity in this country.
Women who were obese during pregnancy were about 67 percent more
likely than normal-weight women to have autistic children, according
to the study, released online Monday in the journal Pediatrics. They
also faced a doubled risk of having children with other developmental
delays.
On average, the chance of having a child with autism is 1 in 88; the
results suggest that obesity during pregnancy would increase that to 1
in 53, the authors said.
Since more than one-third of U.S. women of childbearing age are obese,
the results are potentially worrisome and add yet another incentive
for maintaining a normal weight, said Paula Krakowiak, one of the
study’s authors and a scientist at the University of California at
Davis.
Previous research has linked obesity during pregnancy with
stillbirths, preterm births and some birth defects.
Daniel Coury, chief of developmental and behavioral pediatrics at
Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, said the results
“raise quite a concern.”
He noted that U.S. autism rates have increased along with obesity
rates, and he said the research suggests this may be more than a
coincidence. More research is needed to confirm the results. But if
mothers’ obesity is truly related to autism, it would be only one of
many contributing factors, said Coury, who was not involved in the
study.
Genetics has been linked to autism, and scientists are examining
whether mothers’ illnesses and use of certain medicines during
pregnancy might also play a role.
The study involved about 1,000 California children, ages 2 to 5.
Nearly 700 had autism or other developmental delays, and 315 did not
have those problems.
Mothers were asked about their health. Medical records were available
for more than half the women and confirmed their conditions. It is not
clear how mothers’ obesity might affect fetal development, but the
authors offer some theories.
Obesity, generally defined as being about 35 pounds overweight, is
linked with inflammation and sometimes elevated levels of blood sugar.
Excess blood sugar and inflammation-related substances in a mother’s
blood may reach the fetus and affect the developing brain, Krakowiak
said.
The study lacks information on blood tests during pregnancy, and there
is no information on the women’s diets and other habits during
pregnancy that might have influenced fetal development.
There were no racial, ethnic, education or health insurance
differences between mothers of autistic kids and those with unaffected
children that might have influenced the results, the researchers said.
— Associated Press
http://www.washingtonpost.com/todays_paper?dt=2012-04-10&bk=A&pg=3
Emerging from Nordstrom in Los Angeles, where she said she'd just been
fitted for a new publicly acceptable straitjacket, one-time sedated
girlfriend of Jim Carrey and nut-case Jenny McCarthy told reporters
that a new study links autism to obesity and possibly to sharing
silverware with African Americans.
=====
"Study links autism to obesity during pregnancy"
By Lindsey Tanner
Associated Press
April 09, 2012
CHICAGO — Obesity during pregnancy may increase chances for having a
child with autism, provocative new research suggests.
The study is among the first linking the two conditions. Although it
does not prove that obesity causes autism, the authors say their
results raise public health concerns because of the high level of
obesity in this country.
Women who were obese during pregnancy were about 67 percent more
likely than normal-weight women to have autistic children, according
to the study, released online Monday in the journal Pediatrics. They
also faced a doubled risk of having children with other developmental
delays.
On average, the chance of having a child with autism is 1 in 88; the
results suggest that obesity during pregnancy would increase that to 1
in 53, the authors said.
Since more than one-third of U.S. women of childbearing age are obese,
the results are potentially worrisome and add yet another incentive
for maintaining a normal weight, said Paula Krakowiak, one of the
study’s authors and a scientist at the University of California at
Davis.
Previous research has linked obesity during pregnancy with
stillbirths, preterm births and some birth defects.
Daniel Coury, chief of developmental and behavioral pediatrics at
Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, said the results
“raise quite a concern.”
He noted that U.S. autism rates have increased along with obesity
rates, and he said the research suggests this may be more than a
coincidence. More research is needed to confirm the results. But if
mothers’ obesity is truly related to autism, it would be only one of
many contributing factors, said Coury, who was not involved in the
study.
Genetics has been linked to autism, and scientists are examining
whether mothers’ illnesses and use of certain medicines during
pregnancy might also play a role.
The study involved about 1,000 California children, ages 2 to 5.
Nearly 700 had autism or other developmental delays, and 315 did not
have those problems.
Mothers were asked about their health. Medical records were available
for more than half the women and confirmed their conditions. It is not
clear how mothers’ obesity might affect fetal development, but the
authors offer some theories.
Obesity, generally defined as being about 35 pounds overweight, is
linked with inflammation and sometimes elevated levels of blood sugar.
Excess blood sugar and inflammation-related substances in a mother’s
blood may reach the fetus and affect the developing brain, Krakowiak
said.
The study lacks information on blood tests during pregnancy, and there
is no information on the women’s diets and other habits during
pregnancy that might have influenced fetal development.
There were no racial, ethnic, education or health insurance
differences between mothers of autistic kids and those with unaffected
children that might have influenced the results, the researchers said.
— Associated Press
http://www.washingtonpost.com/todays_paper?dt=2012-04-10&bk=A&pg=3