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Medicine Science

High Levels of Oestrogens In the Womb Linked To Autism, Study Finds (sciencedaily.com) 185

Posted by BeauHD from the connecting-the-dots dept.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from ScienceDaily: Scientist have identified a link between exposure to high levels of oestrogen sex hormones in the womb and the likelihood of developing autism. The findings are published today in the journal Molecular Psychiatry. In 2015, a team of scientists at the University of Cambridge and the State Serum Institute in Denmark measured the levels of four prenatal steroid hormones, including two known as androgens, in the amniotic fluid in the womb and discovered that they were higher in male fetuses who later developed autism. These androgens are produced in higher quantities in male than in female fetuses on average, so might also explain why autism occurs more often in boys. They are also known to masculinize parts of the brain, and to have effects on the number of connections between brain cells.

Today, the same scientists have built on their previous findings by testing the amniotic fluid samples from the same 98 individuals sampled from the Danish Biobank, which has collected amniotic samples from over 100,000 pregnancies, but this time looking at another set of prenatal sex steroid hormones called oestrogens. This is an important next step because some of the hormones previously studied are directly converted into oestrogens. All four oestrogens were significantly elevated, on average, in the 98 fetuses who later developed autism, compared to the 177 fetuses who did not. High levels of prenatal oestrogens were even more predictive of likelihood of autism than were high levels of prenatal androgens (such as testosterone). "This new finding supports the idea that increased prenatal sex steroid hormones are one of the potential causes for the condition," said Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, Director of the Autism Research Center at the University of Cambridge and author of the study. "Genetics is well established as another, and these hormones likely interact with genetic factors to affect the developing fetal brain."

The team cautioned that these findings cannot and should not be used to screen for autism.
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High Levels of Oestrogens In the Womb Linked To Autism, Study Finds More

High Levels of Oestrogens In the Womb Linked To Autism, Study Finds

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  • The last sentence (Score:4, Insightful)

    by The Evil Atheist ( 2484676 ) on Friday August 02, 2019 @08:19AM (#59028118)
    The last sentence should be the headline.

    • The last sentence should be the headline.

      Fear not - it will take more than this to shake the anti-vaxxer's opinion.

  • 14-16 week amniocentesis (Score:3)

    by bill_mcgonigle ( 4333 ) * on Friday August 02, 2019 @08:27AM (#59028176) Homepage Journal

    Read the paper, but if you're looking for data vis-a-vis oral ethinylestradiol, there's the timeframe. Actually isolating mother/child/placenta sources is currently further research.

    • Ethinyl estradiol is an artificial estrogen used in birth control pills. Since birth control pills are 99% effective, it's not going to be linked to very many of the cases under study, especially since when it fails to prevent pregnancy both the abortion pill and regular abortion are the most likely outcome of an unwanted pregnancy.

  • Contraceptives? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by ardmhacha ( 192482 ) on Friday August 02, 2019 @08:32AM (#59028206)

    I don't see a mention of contraceptives in either link but would prior use of contraceptives containing oestrogen be responsible for the elevated levels?

    • No, estrogen in pill form gets flushed out of the body pretty quickly. Most is gone within 2 days.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Anonymous Coward

        Regular exposure to a chemical may have effects beyond "is the chemical still there"

    • How about exposure to plastics? A combination of contraceptives & plastics?
      Estrogenic chemicals in plastics - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/p... [nih.gov]

  • The word "causes" should be banned or at least highly regulated from medical studies. This study just identifies an association.

    First, if high levels of estrogen are a "cause", then why did it just cause a likelihood instead of a 100% certainty?

    The fetus regulates the amniotic fluid content. If the hormone levels are high, the question should be what is wrong with the regulation mechanisms for it. A possibility would be a genetic defect that effects the regulation mechanism. It would then be possible that t

    • Re:but why are they increased (Score:4, Interesting)

      by sinij ( 911942 ) on Friday August 02, 2019 @08:46AM (#59028272)

      The fetus regulates the amniotic fluid content. If the hormone levels are high, the question should be what is wrong with the regulation mechanisms for it. A possibility would be a genetic defect that effects the regulation mechanism.

      My non-expert guess would be that the hormone levels are high as a result of external sources introducing them or inducing their over-production. Spike in autism coincides with modern pharmacology, it is possible we failed to fully understand side effects of some common treatments/supplements.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by jythie ( 914043 )
        It could also be something non-medical. Besides pharmacology, all sorts of things have changed over the last few decades including diet, lifestyle, and environmental pollution (remember all that lead gasoline giving people in certain age ranges permanent brain damage?).. so there are any number of things that could be tweaking hormone levels.

      • Spike in autism coincides with modern pharmacology

        https://jamanetwork.com/journa... [jamanetwork.com]

        Results For Danish children born during the study period, 33% (95% CI, 0%-70%) of the increase in reported ASD prevalence could be explained by the change in diagnostic criteria alone; 42% (95% CI, 14%-69%), by the inclusion of outpatient contacts alone; and 60% (95% CI, 33%-87%), by the change in diagnostic criteria and the inclusion of outpatient contacts.

        It's like how suddenly with modern diagnostic methods cancer rates skyrocket due to early detection.
        Then morons start popping out with ideas like "It's the TVs...", "It's the computers...", "It's the mobile phones...", "It's the vaccines...", "It's the doctors..." [voanews.com]

        And that's all without taking in account how Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) [wikipedia.org] simply redefined autism and a bunch of other disorders.

        Using DSM-IV, patients could be diagnosed with four separate disorders: autistic disorder, Asperger's disorder, childhood disintegrative disorder, or the catch-all diagnosis of pervasive developmental dis-order not otherwise specified.
        Researchers found that these separate diagnoses were not consistently applied across different clinics and treatment centers. Anyone diagnosed with one of the four pervasive developmental disorders (PDD) from DSM-IV should still meet the criteria for ASD in DSM-5 or another, more accurate DSM-5 diagnosis. While DSM does not outline recommended treatment and services for mental disorders, determining an accurate diagnosis is a first step for a clinician in defining a treatment plan for a patient.

        The Neurodevelopmental Work Group, led by Susan Swedo, MD, senior investigator at the National Institute of Mental Health, recommended the DSM-5 criteria for ASD to be a better reflection of the state of knowledge about autism. The Work Group believes a single umbrella disorder will improve the diagnosis of ASD without limiting the sensitivity of the criteria, or substantially changing the number of children being diagnosed.

        That's from Autism Spectrum Disorder

        • You've actually got it backwards.

          Flashback 50+ years, and it was all labeled under retardism and/or insanity.

          We had insane asylums and loonie bins, and stuck the retarded kids in special non-schools, if they got let out of the house at all.

          Now we've advanced medicine enough that we can start to parse these disorders quite a bit more. We separate issues into Intellectual Disabilities, Cognitive Disabilities, Autism, Emotional-Behavioral Disorders, Learning Disorders, etc.

          We're not quite at the point of being

      • Re:but why are they increased (Score:5, Insightful)

        by CrimsonAvenger ( 580665 ) on Friday August 02, 2019 @10:16AM (#59028826)

        Spike in autism coincides with modern pharmacology

        Does it? Admittedly, I don't keep up with medical research all that much, but isn't it possible that the "spike in autism" is just a case of "more autism is being identified as such, as opposed to just calling the kid "retarded" and forgetting about him/her/it"?

        • Spike in autism coincides with modern pharmacology

          Does it? Admittedly, I don't keep up with medical research all that much, but isn't it possible that the "spike in autism" is just a case of "more autism is being identified as such, as opposed to just calling the kid "retarded" and forgetting about him/her/it"?

          Not even close. The current levels of autism are much higher than just "we're getting better at diagnosing them" could ever account for. Of course there are other groups who only recently came into large numbers but since they are a protected class we can't call it a birth defect even though the evidence suggests it. I'm sure in the future they will wonder how people ever thought a small fringe becoming over 100 times more common could not be considered an obvious problem and warning sign.

          • Not even close. The current levels of autism are much higher than just "we're getting better at diagnosing them" could ever account for.

            You better get yourself a cite for that. Because in the he said, yes, but the other dude said no, you're not going to win anyone to your side without some backup.

            • Not even close. The current levels of autism are much higher than just "we're getting better at diagnosing them" could ever account for.

              You better get yourself a cite for that. Because in the he said, yes, but the other dude said no, you're not going to win anyone to your side without some backup.

              Things are obviously changing. Think peanut allergies. If you're over 40 you don't have them ... pretty much period. Now peanuts are just this side of a weapon of mass destruction in a school. Use your brain, trust your own intelligence for a moment when it clearly doesn't add up. The number of kids on the spectrum now doesn't even begin to correlate with what has been seen in living memory. Citations: http://behaviorismandmentalhea... [behavioris...health.com]

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      The word "causes" should be banned or at least highly regulated from medical studies. This study just identifies an association.

      First, if high levels of estrogen are a "cause", then why did it just cause a likelihood instead of a 100% certainty?

      Smoking causes cancer right? Yet plenty of people smoke and don't get lung cancer.
      Driving recklessly causes accidents, but not all people who drive recklessly get in an accident.

      Not all A leads to B have a 100% certainty.

      You can play Russian Roulette and live to see another day.

    • "This new finding supports the idea that increased prenatal sex steroid hormones are one of the potential causes for the condition," said Professor Simon Baron-Cohen

      He didn't say it is a cause, just that it might be - or might not be.

  • Not too surprising (Score:3)

    by hey! ( 33014 ) on Friday August 02, 2019 @08:50AM (#59028294) Homepage Journal

    Given that links were previously found between androgen exposure and autism.

    Androstenedione and testosterone, which are androgens, and estrodiol and estrone, which estrogens, are all nearly identical molecules. In fact the normal biosynthesis pathway for estrogens in the ovary starts with androstenedione.

    All these steroid hormones are readily converted to each other in the body, which is why men who take testosterone hoping to look more manly end up growing breasts. If a fetus is exposed to abnormally high levels of androgen at some point in its development, there's a good possibility it will be exposed to high levels of estrogen at some other point.

  • Autism is Underdiagnosed in Females (Score:4, Interesting)

    by BrendaEM ( 871664 ) on Friday August 02, 2019 @09:52AM (#59028642) Homepage
    Many of you want a geek girl, and they are out there, but know why. My take on Tony Atwood's book, is that he felt that autism was under-diagnosed in females as well.

  • Slashdot used to be exciting, now it is mostly full of ignoramuses with nothing to say, but say it anyway.

    • The group composition has changed over time, but it is mostly due to attrition.

      Ignoramuses are more likely to stick things out to the end. For various reasons.

  • Food additive hormones? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by QuestorTapes ( 663783 ) on Friday August 02, 2019 @10:03AM (#59028726)

    Hormones are added to animal feed, and other chemical additives in food can affect hormone levels.
    I wonder if these additives could account for the higher Estrogen* (Oestrogen) levels responsible for this.

    * In know, it's a UK study, so Oestrogen is correct; but I'm from the US, and it just ain't right here ;)

    • and other chemical additives in food can affect hormone levels.

      That's why I make sure I buy food with only non-chemical additives.

      Quark matter. Little known fact, it's good for the eyesight.

    • There have been articles in the US for the past few decades about the hormones given to dairy cows causing girls in the US to hit puberty at younger ages, to develop a bit more than they normally would, etc.

      It kind of makes you wonder if all those "Got Milk?" ads in the 80's and 90's pushed out by the dairy industry had something to do with the recent round of autistic children.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Deaddy ( 1090107 )

      Hormonal contraception has long lasting hormonal effects in the range of years and is much more likely to be the culprit, as it became more and more popular over the years for familiy planning.

      Also the accumulation of active steroids in tissue, especially after cooking it, is a very unlikely event.

    • Hormones are added to animal feed, and other chemical additives in food can affect hormone levels. I wonder if these additives could account for the higher Estrogen* (Oestrogen) levels responsible for this.

      * In know, it's a UK study, so Oestrogen is correct; but I'm from the US, and it just ain't right here ;)

      That would be a popular reason ... hipsters would get a little shiver of happiness.

      Now, what if it's instead because millions of women started, er, simply taking oral estrogen in the 70s? Uh oh.

  • So do the highly toxic chemicals in vaccines cause high oestrogen levels? Asking for an anti-vaxer friend.

  • It would be interesting to see a statistical comparison between incidence of autism and exposure to various pesticides, herbicides, and plasticisers that are known to mimic estrogen.

  • We've seen a huge rise in its use as a filler in processed food as well as an active 'healthy' lifestyle choice.

    Phytoestrogen acts like estrogen in the body.

    Proof, no; but certainly worth of much more extensive study.

  • That's really what's important no? You have a correlation (who's usefulness is quickly downplayed) and a promise to explore the correlation further. No mention of exploring something more meaningful ie, why are the hormone levels elevated (if in fact they are)?

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