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art New Study found a higher risk of autism spectrum disorder in children born to pregnant women with higher levels of the two traps.
About 1 in 36 US children are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) each year, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Scientists still do not know the exact cause of autism, A Developmental Disorder. Genetics may be a factor, but some are looking at potential environmental factors, too.
Charges may arise, but that is also unclear. A Study Published this year in cases in the New York-New Jersey Area found that the diagnoses of Autism Autism in age groups between 2000 and 2016. A 2021 report found a similar increase in cases, but the CDC said the increased cases were likely linked to more screening doctors for the condition.
Lithium is a alkali metals It is found naturally in some foods and ground water. It is used in batteries, grease and air conditioners, as well as in the treatment of bipolar disorders and certain blood disorders. Its levels in drinking water in the US are not regulated, According to the US Geological Survey.
art A new study, Published Monday in the journal JAMA PEIATIATRICS, found a small association between lithium and Autism Diagnosis in Denmark, where the researchers said that the level of drinking water is the same as water in the tap water.
The researchers analyzed a database of people with psychiatric disorders for children born between 2000 and 2013 that found information on 8,842 cases of ASD and 43,864 participants who had not yet wanted. They measured the concentration of lithium in 151 public waterworks serving more than half of Denmark’s population and reduced pregnant women living in relation.
As the level of lithium in the water increases, there is a modest increased risk of an ASD diagnosis. Specifically, compared to people with the lowest exposure levels, those with the second and third highest exposures during pregnancy had a 24% higher risk of ASD diagnosed in children. The group with the highest exposure had a 46% higher risk than the lowest exposure level.
The researchers can’t say how much water pregnant women drink, but they chose Denmark because residents there consume some of the lowest amounts of bottled water in Europe.
Experts say it’s important to note that research can’t show that lithium exposure leads to an autism diagnosis.
More studies are needed, said Study Co-Author Dr. Beate Ritz, a professor of neurology at UCLA, and health of Epideology and Environmental Health at the Ucla Fielding School of Public School of Public School.
“Any contaminants in drinking water that may affect human brain development deserve serious scrutiny,” Ritz said in a news release. He added that the research should be reviewed in other countries to look for similar connections.
The implications of the findings are complex as far as public policy is concerned, according to an editorial published alongside the study. Levels of lithium in water, at concentrations that the study related to a potential risk of ASD, were also linked Health Benefits such as lower hospitalization rates for psychiatric disorders and suicide.
“If all the associations are valid, Solomon’s genius should develop guidelines for lithium in drinking water that is better for the population,” a professor of neurology and psychology at Harvard Medical School. “Until the basic biology of ASD is better understood, it will be difficult to identify causal associations.”
Max Wiznitzer, Director of the Rainbow Autism Center in the villages of the university and the hospital of Clevants in pregnant people who take for mental health disorders. Those studies – which looked at people exposed to much higher levels than found in drinking water – did not show a connection with autism spectrum disorder.
“It’s an interesting association, but causation is definitely not proven,” said Wiznitzer, who was not involved in the new research. “We need to see if there is a biologically viable and biological mechanism that is a little bit of lithium in the water supply of women with a significant risk of ASD.”
Other studies have also suggested connections between ASD and environmental exposures to substances such as pesticides, air pollution and Phthates. But none of them point to any of the factors as a direct cause of the disease.
A link between environmental exposures and ASD is difficult to prove, Wiznitzer said. Research shows that increased exposure to air pollution increases the risk of giving birth to a child with a person living in polluted areas.
“There is a lot of speculation about environmental factors, but how many of them are actually involved?” Wiznitzer said. “We are bombarded with various environmental stresses in our daily lives. We need to know how to safely navigate them, and this is probably not high on our list.”