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Jaundice in Newborns Could Be Linked to Autism, Researchers Say
Filed under: Medical Conditions, News, In The News, Weird But True, Research Reveals: Babies, New In Pop Culture
Danish researchers say jaundice in newborns could be related to autism. Credit: Getty Images
Literally.
They claim newborns who have jaundice might face a higher risk of the developmental condition. Others say it is the researchers' conclusions that are jaundiced.
BusinessWeek.com reports Danish researchers analyzed data from some 734,000 children born in Denmark between 1994 and 2004. And, while something may not be rotten in Denmark, it's certainly suspicious.
At least 67 percent of the babies who developed serious jaundice shortly after arrival were eventually diagnosed with autism and were more likely to develop other types of "psychological development" delays, according to the study.
Dr. Gary Goldstein, a professor of pediatrics and neurology at Johns Hopkins University, tells BusinessWeek this doesn't really prove a whole heck of a lot.
The authors of the study didn't confirm the children had autism either by looking at their medical charts or doing actual exams, he says, nor did they measure the bilirubin levels in the children's blood.
Jaundice occurs when bilirubin, a byproduct of the breakdown of red blood cells, builds up in the blood. This is what gives the skin and whites of the eyes a yellowish tinge.
Bilirubin is usually broken down by the liver and excreted as bile through the intestines. However, some babies don't have livers mature enough to do the job.
Measuring bilirubin would be essential for connecting jaundice with autism, Goldstein tells BusinessWeek.
"Bilirubin is a neurotoxin that can impact the speech, language and hearing pathways of the brain," he says. "So you can imagine why, if someone was genetically prone to autism, it could be a trigger."
The incidence of autism in the study also seem to ebb and flow depending on the season. Jaundiced babies were more likely to develop autism if they were born in the fall or winter or if their mothers had given birth before. First-born children born in the spring and summer were less likely to be autistic.
The study will be published in the November edition of the journal Pediatrics.
Given all the variables, Alycia Halladay, director of research for environmental sciences at Autism Speaks, tells BusinessWeek more work needs to be done.
"It's an interesting finding that should be followed up with more mechanistic studies," she says.
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 2)
10-13-2010 @ 8:19PM
DD said...Interesting, my little boy has Aspergers and he had juandice at birth. It took him a few days to rid it. He had reflux and so he had to take smaller feedings. The more they intake they quicker they get rid of juandice.
He was 3 weeks early too.
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10-14-2010 @ 1:22AM
Traci said...I have a 4 yr old son with Autisum and he didnt have jaundice. I did a research paper on Autisum and it said 1 in 110 children and 1 in 70 boys have autisum and it is growing 10-17% anually. We need more funding and research done to findout why this is happening
10-14-2010 @ 2:05AM
madness said...that's kinda funny...I have 4 kids and the ONLY one who did NOT have jaundice is my only autistic one. Seems like someone is grasping at straws...but hey, at least it is on their minds and that is what will get something done someday...even bad ideas are good because they will get someone else to thinking and then someone else and eventually someone will get it right. Until then...keep trudging on...and if you have little ones newly diagnosed, it DOES get better!
11-11-2012 @ 12:44PM
a person said...You say that 67% of babies in the study with serious jaundice developed autism. The other articles you site say that the babies just had a 67% higher risk. The actual percentages, I saw in another article, were 9% of autistic kids and 3% of the rest of the kids in the study had jaundice. This is the kind of irresponsible reporting that causes unneccessary panic..
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10-13-2010 @ 8:27PM
cj said...What a crock of crap. I have 2 grandchildren that are autistic. One was born with brain cancer the other had a heart condition. It took the trauma of each of their experiences and the predisposition genetics to make them low fuctioning and high functioning autistic. Neither one of them had jaundice or baby shots.
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10-13-2010 @ 8:47PM
Elizabeth said...My daughter was jaundice for the first week of her life she will be turning 5 in Febuary. She is also my 1st and only child. I was worried being a new first time mom, but she is highly intelligent for a 4 year old. She said her first words at 4 months old, starting walking at 10 months and knew her abc's and could count to 10 by 12 months. So I don't agree with this study at all. No one really knows what causes this problem. SO please stop scaring parents!!!
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10-13-2010 @ 9:37PM
mimi said...My son, the same like your daughter + 2 foreign languages. In 2nd grade he was diagnosed with ADHD.
10-13-2010 @ 8:59PM
kim said...interesting my son had jaundice, and is a mild autistic. obviously need more research, but still interesting.
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10-13-2010 @ 9:17PM
Lori said...I had juandice as a baby, as did 2 of my 3 kids...none of us have any traits of Austism.....don't buy it
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10-13-2010 @ 9:23PM
pplkitten said...This is a load of crap! All three of my boys were jaundiced and not a single one is autistic! There are many causes of jaundice and no one knows the real cause of autism. Don't scare parents with this kind of nonsense.
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10-13-2010 @ 10:00PM
jetmet001 said...Wow..this strikes a nerves with me my son is diagnosed PDD and he spent his first 4 days under lights with a very high Jaundice level, he is now 8.
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10-13-2010 @ 9:38PM
babymonsta said...They dont know what theyre talking about! My daughter 24 yrs. ago had jaundice and does not have autism!!! Autism is cause by the immunizations they give the babies!!!!!!
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10-18-2010 @ 2:38PM
Alicia said...There's no scientific proof linking vaccines and autism. The woman who produced that theory has absolutely no medical training and way too much money to spend on PR. Medically, the theory makes very little sense.
And following the logic of many people here, that theory can also be disproved because I (born 20 years ago) and all my little cousins (born between 1998 and 2004) have all had all our shots and none of us (12 in total) are Autistic.
10-13-2010 @ 9:50PM
dave parsons said...Our daughter was 2 lbs when born as a result of the worst placenta previa documented. She became deathly ill at 5 weeks with the Worst documented NEC virus (crp of 42.2) and had MASSIVE IV intervention, massive steroids, addiction to morphine, along with many more side effect problems as a result of her condition. She had jaundice briefly and was diagnosed with mild autism at the age of 2. Later was diagnosed Gluten intollerent which also share many of the same symptoms. I feel as though many of the studies done have clout but there needs to be the perfect coctail of variables with this mystery condition. Every baby in the NICU gets jaundice, are they all autistic?? Despite all that our daughter went thru and be given her final blessings many times, she is now 5 and in school and you would have to study her to see autistic moments. Doctors are quick to label but respect needs to be given to these Practicing professionals, they learn new stuff everyday. what research have you done to find why autism exists?
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10-13-2010 @ 11:41PM
dubeze said...My third child was born with jaundice and Autism in October. She developed several food allergies and sensitivities as an infant and had to follow a special diet. Like Elizabeth's child, she could count to 10 forward and backward at 12 months and could read at 3 years old. She is high functioning but still Autistic.
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10-13-2010 @ 10:07PM
Lisa said...If the jaundice-autism link holds up to further data and scrutiny, there's a partial easy fix. In most of the United States, prenatal care includes blood typing and a maternal blood antibody screen. If all type O mothers (regardless of Rh) and all Rh negative mothers had the baby's blood bilirubin levels tested at birth and at the appropriate intervals, these babies could be treated for bilirubinemia before jaundice and/or kernicterus were potential problems.
I did have neonatal jaundice, probably caused by a combination of being slightly premature (6 weeks) and being a type A baby born to a type O mother. I also have behavioral traits consistent with Asperger's syndrome, although it's not clear whether I have full-up Asperger's or not.
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10-13-2010 @ 10:27PM
Niels said...Causation is a tricky thing. How can we be sure that autism doesn't raise the probability of infant jaundice rather than the other way around? Understanding autism will require all the best of science and there are many dedicated and serious scientists working to that end. Sadly, it's studies like this one that are reported.
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10-13-2010 @ 11:00PM
Kathy Murray said...Very very interesting! What a crock of crap! My oldest daughter had jaundice and guess what? She eXtremely intelligent, skipped grades in school has 2 Masters degrees, and works with autistic and other mentally handicapped children! I don't believe this study has much relevance.
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10-13-2010 @ 11:19PM
Edna said...It seems like they are throwing wet noodles (#$%@) in the air and hoping one sticks sooner or later. My daughter who is 13 has aspergers, and I can relate to the vaccine theory but I`m not jumping on that bandwagon myself. There are so many spectrums of Autism that I am sure there can be so many reasons or speculations as to why our children are part of the Autism epidemic we are seeing in our lifetime.
With all the advancements we have today in the medical field our government needs to step in and not stop looking into this until a cure is found.
These children will grow into adulthood sooner or later and will need the governments help at some point because of their condition and lack of mobility to live on their own. This is going to cost more money in the long run than putting to work a plan of action for our children and those who have yet to be born.
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10-13-2010 @ 11:37PM
Norene said...Jaundice in a neo-nate could be caused by a blood-type incompatibilty, such as bilirubin. A mom with type O-Positive blood type giving birth to a baby who is A or AB-Pos will have a newborn who may show jaudice symptoms. TIME will allow it to dissipate, or if not, some time under the bililight may help. Last if nothing else works, an exchange could be performed on the baby, giving him a new blood type.
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