‘Game changer’ study finds environmental links to autism

Autism rates are increasing for some reason. My sense is the increase is not a selection effect or artifice but something real. These studies, there are two, in the November issue of Archives of General Psychiatry may be the first step down a new road towards figuring out what is going on:


http://bit.ly/nxGKLn

LAURIE TARKAN      
New York Times     
 
A new study of twins suggests that environmental factors, including conditions in the womb, may be at least as important as genes in causing autism.

The researchers did not say which environmental influences might be at work. But other experts said the new study, released online on Monday, marked an important shift in thinking about the causes of autism, which is now thought to affect at least 1 percent of the population in the developed world.