The Autism Risk With Stress And Pregnancy

By Katrina Kaleesy

Stress and pregnancy don't mix well. One of the concerns arising from this mix has been the risk of autism. Acknowledging this danger should not trigger a vicious cycle of stressing about stress. That counter-productive process can and needs to be counter-acted. Nonetheless, knowledge is essential for a safe pregnancy.

Pregnant woman and their partners are better served by awareness of recent research drawing connections between pregnancy stress and autism risks. It is essential though to not overreact and maintain a broader perspective on the evidence.

First, right now the evidence is derived from the study of mice. Mice studies have been an important contributor to understanding human disease. However, it would be a mistake to automatically assume that any finding among mice automatically and immediately translates into human experience.

The second consideration is being aware of the proportionality dilemma. There is no doubt valuable insight from pumping mice full of some toxin vastly out of proportion to its use by most humans. Predicting effects from actual human use, though, isn't likely one of them.

This is important to remember when we observe that the researchers characterize the stress imposed on the mice as mild. This term though reveals nothing precise about the stress level of the mice. Nor does it reveal whether such findings do (or don't) translate to human experience. The resulting knowledge gap should not be filled with baseless assumptions fueled by our worst fears.

Bearing in mind such qualifications, we can observe the significance of research findings to the effect that the placenta of pregnant mice transmits biochemical effects of stress to the fetus. The essential element involved appears to be an enzyme called OGT. The relevant research indicates that OGT is what's inhibited in the placenta of mice who are subjected to what researchers describe as mild stress.

As suggested above, it is here that we need to be cautious. This mouse stress was generated by means of exposing them to both unfamiliar noises and to the scent of foxes. It is though well known that scent reaction can be wired into the evolved neural structure through natural selection. How then is it valid to characterize exposure to existential threat of a natural predator as a mild stress?

In any event, despite this serious flaw in the presentation of the research findings, it does appear clear that at some level of stress, mice do experience significantly reduced OGT levels. These reductions trigger alternations of over 370 of the mice's brain genes.

These changed neurons are critical to neurological development, including regulation of energy use, protein development and nerve cell connections. It appears likely then that OGT helps protect the brain in pregnancy.

This discovery points to an important difference between boy and girl fetuses. Males have a naturally lower level of OGT. Thus, stress in pregnancy that is sufficient to reduce OGT will likely have a greater impact on boys. This might explain the higher frequency of autism and schizophrenia documented among males.

To repeat, this is valuable knowledge that expecting mothers and their partners should understand. As with all information, though, the correct response is not increased stress! Rather it is yet further reason to be proactive in reducing pregnancy stress. See our suggestions for solutions that work .

About the Author:

Pregnant women and their partners who want to keep up on all the relevant news need to follow the Stress and Pregnancy site. Also, for more great information about healthy life-choice, check out the info at our sister project, the Getting Rid of a Headache Without Medicine blog.

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Everything You Need To Know About Autism Spectrum Quotient

By Jack Morgan

Autism Spectrum Quotient is a questionnaire which was published in the year 2001. This questionnaire is commonly abbreviated as AQ. It was published by Simon Baron-Cohen and his colleagues. They published the questionnaire at autism research center which is based in United Kingdom at a place called Cambridge. It contains fifty questions which aim at establishing as to whether adults of average intelligence have got symptoms of autism.

Within the preliminary trials from the check, the standard rating inside the management group of people was 16.4, with males rating somewhat higher than girls (about seventen versus about fifteen). 80% of adults diagnosed with autism variety disorders scored 32 or more, compared with only 2% of the manage group.

The format of autism spectrum quotient test has usually 50 sets of statements that will allow the subject to answer either definitely agree, or slightly agree, or slightly disagree, or definitely disagree. There are five different types of questions that will test the communication skills, social skills, attention to detail, imagination, and switching attention (tolerance of change).

The test was first tried on students from Cambridge University plus a group of British Mathematical Olympiad winners who totaled to sixteen. The aim of this teat was to establish as to whether there was there was a link between the student's talent for scientific disciplines, mathematical disciplines and the traits which are associated with the autism spectrum.

Students that appear to have Asperger syndrome have average mathematical aptitude. Although some appears to be totally slow or worse in mathematics, but there are some also that gifted in mathematics. People with Asperger syndrome are likely to excel due their deep passion in their interest. For example, some adults with Asperger syndrome have accomplished in winning Nobel prizes.

The questions deal with five different internet domain names associated with the autism range: social skills; conversation skills; imagination; focus on detail; and interest switching/threshold of change. Element analysis of test results have been inconsistent, with various studies discovering two, three or four aspects instead of five. Recently, versions have been released for children and adolescents.

Before the subject reach of three years, autism is characterized by delays functioning of communication, social interaction, stereotyped behavior or repetitive activities. There are two developmental courses to follow. First course is a gradual onset and parents usually reported the issue on the first two years with having early signs of avoiding looking at faces, failure to show any interest or failure to respond when the name is called. The second course has a sign of regression or loss of skills in the first three years. However, there are individuals show improvements when they get older. The two favorable outcomes in autism are: communication before five years old and intellectual disability.

Autism spectrum quotient, Mathematics, physical sciences and architectural students were identified to score significantly higher, e.g., 21.8 generally for mathematicians and 21.4 for computer scientists. The typical score for the English Mathematical Olympiad winners was 24. Of your students who scored 32 or more on the test, eleven agreed to be interviewed and seven of these have been reported to meet the DSM-Intravenous criteria for Asperger syndrome, although no formal diagnosis was developed as they were not suffering any problems. The test have also been taken by a small grouping of subjects who had been told you have autism or Asperger syndrome by a professional, the average score being 35 and 38 for girls and males, respectively.

About the Author:

There is a lot of information to learn when it comes to Aspergers in Adults. An excellent starting point for learning more about the autism spectrum qotient would be to visit the following website at aspergersinadults.net.

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