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Increase In Autism

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While most people seem to want to blame vaccines for the increase in autism, recent studies and evidence has shown there are actually multiple reasons that could be contributing to the increase. The change in definition and heightened awareness, parents who come from highly educated communities and the large amounts of awareness that is present there, the heightened amount of folic acid present in prescription prenatal and pediatric vitamins and immune system dysfunctions are also being looked into as a cause for the amount of children being diagnosed rising. It has not been until recently that autism has been such a trend. Due to the recent increase in autism an urgency to develop a cure or cause has pushed researchers to look at more causations. …show more content…

When it comes to information diffusion and autism, there has been a link seen. In an investigation done by the Columbia University research team over a study that was done in California the investigators found that a child without autism lived next to a child who was diagnosed with autism was much more likely to be diagnosed themselves. There was a 16 percent increase seen due to the social influences and heightened awareness (What). The reason for this is that parents share traits and signs of their child’s autism with other parents which heightens the parent’s awareness, even if their child is not autistic. This awareness makes the parent with the child who does not have autism want to go and get their child checked out. Awareness of autism is very prevalent in communities where parents have high incomes and good educations. There have been multiple studies done in California over why there is such a prevalence of autism in some communities than in others. It was seen that in places where parents were making a lot of money that they were accounting for 3 percent of the state’s autism cases. This was baffling to researchers because these places, such as Beverly, West Hollywood and nine other locations in California, have only 1 percent of the population (Beck). A study done at UC Davis believes it is because of the amount of people who …show more content…

Folic acid has been added to our food supply for almost 30 years now and is seen to reduce the risk of deficiencies that cause neural tube defects in babies. Folic acid is the synthetic form of folate which is naturally found in fruits and vegetables such as spinach, citrus fruits, peas and dried beans. In the article “Folic Acid Is Good but Too Much Is Bad” researchers say that “Folic acid is required by the body for periods of rapid cell growth and division, such as during pregnancy” (Folic). While folic acid has been seen to have positive effects, too much of something can cause problems. When a pregnant woman takes prenatal vitamins the amount that she receives in 100 percent of what she needs. So if she proceeds to eat foods that are fortified with folic acid and folate she will get more than the recommended amount daily. Respiratory problems such as asthma and wheezing have been seen from too much folic acid during pregnancy. Too much folic acid has not been completely linked to the increase in autism rates, it is simple just another option out there for parents and specialist to look at as a cause. Immune disorders are also being looked at as a reason for the increase. “Many autistic children also have allergies or intolerances to certain foods and chemicals, which could be a sign of a

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