Autism is a developmental disorder that has increased markedly in recent years among children, and about which many questions remain unanswered. Researchers look for possible risk factors to contribute to its prevention and among the latest research, evidence has been found that autism could originate in pregnancy.
In the same line, A new study relates preeclampsia, a complication with a high incidence in pregnancies, with an increased risk of autism in the child.
Researchers from the MIND Institute of the University of California-Davis (USA) have studied more than 1,000 children between two and three years of age and found that children who had an autism spectrum disorder were twice as likely to that their mothers had had complications in pregnancy related to preeclampisa.
The children were divided into groups: 500 children diagnosed with autism, almost 200 had been diagnosed with developmental delay and 350 children had normal development. All had been diagnosed with preeclampsia in their pregnancies, but the focus has been on the degree of severity they presented and the complications caused by the disease.
They found that mothers of children with autism and children with developmental delay were significantly more likely to have had placental insufficiency, severe preeclampsia or both, compared to mothers of children who were developing normally. Children with autism of mothers with preeclampsia were also more likely to have cognitively inferior functioning.
According to experts, preeclampsia could limit the availability of nutrients and oxygen to the fetus thus affecting their brain development.
Following the latest research, it is beginning to be valued the role of preeclampsia as a possible risk factor for autism, therefore, measures are sought to prevent it and reduce the complications that it entails.
