Since we live in Oregon, I was obviously intrigued when I recieved the following email today:
Autism linked with rainfall in study
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Children who live in the U.S. Northwest's wettest counties are more likely to have autism, but it is unclear why, U.S. researchers reported on Tuesday.
Michael Waldman of Cornell University and colleagues were searching for an environmental link with autism, a condition characterized by learning and social disabilities.
They got autism rates from state and county agencies for children born in California, Oregon and Washington between 1987 and 1999 and plotted them against daily precipitation reports.
"Autism prevalence rates for school-aged children in California, Oregon and Washington in 2005 were positively related to the amount of precipitation these counties received from 1987 through 2001," they wrote in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
Dr. Michael Fitzpatrick, a London physician who wrote "Defeating Autism: A Damaging Delusion", expressed doubt, noting that autism diagnoses are on the rise in all climates.
No one know what causes autism, whose symptoms range from severe social avoidance to repetitive behaviors and sometimes profound mental retardation.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about one in every 150 children has autism or a related disorder such as Asperger's Syndrome. Rates in many countries have been rising, although that may be partly due to increased reporting and diagnosis of the condition.
Doctors agree there is a genetic component to autism. They also theorize that something in the environment and possibly conditions in the womb can trigger the condition.
The researchers said their study supports this idea.
Perhaps infants and toddlers are kept are kept indoors in front of the TV more in rainy climates, and that somehow causes brain changes, they said. Or perhaps they breathe in more harmful chemicals while indoors.
Vitamin D deficiency caused by insufficient time in the sun might also be a trigger, they said.
"Finally, there is also the possibility that precipitation itself is more directly involved," they wrote. Perhaps a chemical or chemicals in the upper atmosphere are transported to the surface through rain or snow.
"In recent years autism has been blamed on everything from discarded iPod batteries to mercury from Chinese power stations, from antenatal ultrasound scans to post-natal cord clamping, from diet to vaccines," Fitzpatrick said in a statement.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has launched a long-term study to find the causes of autism and other childhood conditions.
(Reporting by Maggie Fox; Editing by Michael Kahn and Alan Elsner)
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Where has the year gone?!
It seems like just yesterday I was posting about our trip to visit daddy last spring - and to my horror I just realized that I haven't provided an update for my loyal readers for half a year!
2008 has been a little rough for us; life without daddy has been difficult and living apart for so long has started to take it's toll. But despite the obvious hardships, I'm so happy to share with you that Jacobi has made some great strides this year, and continues to grow into an amazing young man.
Last week was Halloween, and we were blessed with a visit home by daddy. Jake was very excited to see his dad, and started planning for the reunion by shopping for Halloween decorations whenever we went to the store. By the time Randy got here we had indo
or decorations, out door decorations, costumes, and candy buckets. Jake was ready to go!
This year when I asked Jake what he wanted to be for Halloween, I was a little surprised by his answer. I had expected him to say he wanted to be Sponge Bob, or maybe a pinata (after his favorite video game, Viva Pinata). But as we were looking through the costume catalog and I flipped to the super hero section, Jake spotted a picture of the new dark batman and shouted with glee "Batman! Jake is batman!"
"Really?" I asked, "Are you sure?"
"YES! BATMAN!," Jake replied.
"But Jake, if you go as batman you have to wear the batman MASK - and that goes on your head like a hat. Are you SURE you're going to be able to do that?"
"YES!" he shouted.
I had my doubts. At nearly 7, he's never been able to tolerate anything on his head. In fact he has never been able to wear anything on his head other then a light hood. Even when dressing him, if I take too long getting his shirt over his head he freaks out, so I highly doubted he was going to put this batman mask ON, let alone wear it for an hour or two of trick-or-treating.
But after conferring with his dad it was decided that I would purchase the costume that Jake picked out, and we'd just see what happened.
Finally the big night arrived, and as the sun went down Jake and I started to get our costumes on. When I came down the stairs I was greeted by daddy helping Jake button his cape - with the Batman mask securely over his head. As soon as the cape was latched, he ran up the stairs to check himself in the mirror!
Not only did Jake wear his Batman costume, but he trick-or-treated for nearly an hour, skipping and running and singing, and joyously waiting for the next person to open their door so he could say "TRICK OR TREAT!"
His reward for his big Halloween adventure was some much needed time with his dad in a fairly social setting, and coming home with a great big bucket of candy. Of course he won't eat it, but he got it, darn it!
2008 has been a little rough for us; life without daddy has been difficult and living apart for so long has started to take it's toll. But despite the obvious hardships, I'm so happy to share with you that Jacobi has made some great strides this year, and continues to grow into an amazing young man.
Last week was Halloween, and we were blessed with a visit home by daddy. Jake was very excited to see his dad, and started planning for the reunion by shopping for Halloween decorations whenever we went to the store. By the time Randy got here we had indo
or decorations, out door decorations, costumes, and candy buckets. Jake was ready to go!This year when I asked Jake what he wanted to be for Halloween, I was a little surprised by his answer. I had expected him to say he wanted to be Sponge Bob, or maybe a pinata (after his favorite video game, Viva Pinata). But as we were looking through the costume catalog and I flipped to the super hero section, Jake spotted a picture of the new dark batman and shouted with glee "Batman! Jake is batman!"
"Really?" I asked, "Are you sure?"
"YES! BATMAN!," Jake replied.
"But Jake, if you go as batman you have to wear the batman MASK - and that goes on your head like a hat. Are you SURE you're going to be able to do that?"
"YES!" he shouted.
I had my doubts. At nearly 7, he's never been able to tolerate anything on his head. In fact he has never been able to wear anything on his head other then a light hood. Even when dressing him, if I take too long getting his shirt over his head he freaks out, so I highly doubted he was going to put this batman mask ON, let alone wear it for an hour or two of trick-or-treating.
But after conferring with his dad it was decided that I would purchase the costume that Jake picked out, and we'd just see what happened.
Finally the big night arrived, and as the sun went down Jake and I started to get our costumes on. When I came down the stairs I was greeted by daddy helping Jake button his cape - with the Batman mask securely over his head. As soon as the cape was latched, he ran up the stairs to check himself in the mirror!Not only did Jake wear his Batman costume, but he trick-or-treated for nearly an hour, skipping and running and singing, and joyously waiting for the next person to open their door so he could say "TRICK OR TREAT!"
His reward for his big Halloween adventure was some much needed time with his dad in a fairly social setting, and coming home with a great big bucket of candy. Of course he won't eat it, but he got it, darn it!
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