Boys are more likely to be diagnosed with neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism, because girls need more extreme genetic mutations to develop them, according to a study published in the American Journal of Human Genetics today.
Certain genetic variants are linked to a higher chance of a child being somewhere on the spectrum. Also, it takes fewer variants to predispose a boy to developing autism than it does a girl.
In 2023, the CDC reported that approximately 1 in 36 children in the U.S. is diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), according to 2020 data. Boys are four times more likely to be diagnosed with autism than girls.
Males are three times more likely than females to have autism. Although autism is strongly heritable, the male prevalence of autism must be due to more than just genes since autistic girls carry a much higher mutational load than autistic boys.
Research from 2021 found that autism is about 4.2 times more prevalent in boys than girls. This means that for every girl with autism, there are 4 boys with autism. A 2021 study looked at the differences in autism between males and females.
Advances in diagnostic capabilities and greater understanding and awareness of autism spectrum disorder seem to be largely driving the increase, the Rutgers researchers said. But there's probably more to the story: Genetic factors, and perhaps some environmental ones, too, might also be contributing to the trend.
1 in 100 children are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder as of 2021. Autism prevalence has increased 178% since 2000. The country with the highest rate of diagnosed autism in the world is Qatar, and the country with the lowest rate is France.
Does The Father Or Mother Carry The Autism Gene? Autism was always thought to have a maternal inheritance component, however, research suggests that the rarer variants associated with the disorder are usually inherited from the father.
ASD occurs in all racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups. It is more than 4 times more common among boys than among girls.
ASD is 3.8 times as prevalent among boys (4.3%) as among girls (1.1%). ASD is reported to occur in all racial and ethnic groups.
Autism is not caused by malnutrition or food-related challenges, but, for many people, there is a connection between autism and food. Research suggests that food-related challenges have a significant impact on many people who are diagnosed on the autism spectrum.
“Firstborn offspring of two older parents,” Durkin's study noted, “were three times more likely to develop autism than were third- or later-born offspring of mothers aged twenty to thirty-four and fathers aged under forty years.”
There are many myths about what causes autism. Over the years, scientists have debunked many of these myths. The claim that MMR vaccines or childhood neglect are responsible for autism is not based on medical science.
Inheritance. ASD has a tendency to run in families, but the inheritance pattern is usually unknown. People with gene changes associated with ASD generally inherit an increased risk of developing the condition, rather than the condition itself.
Summary. Determining pregnancy-related risk factors for autism is an ongoing area of research. Some risk factors have more evidence of an association than others. Taking certain antiepileptic drugs, being older parents, having a preterm birth, and developing gestational diabetes are believed to be risk factors.
The behavioral symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often appear early in development. Many children show symptoms of autism by 12 months to 18 months of age or earlier.
In the United States, prenatal genetic testing (PGT) for Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) is currently available via clinical genetic services. Such testing may inform parents about their unborn child's risk for ASD, prepare parents for the birth of an affected infant, and allow them to arrange for early interventions.
Autism genetics expert Ivan Iossifov breaks down recent research that sheds light on how unaffected parents can pass autism onto their child. Parents with no history of autism in their families have a child who is diagnosed with the disorder. It's a common and upsetting story.
Having a family health history of ASD makes you more likely to have a child with ASD, or to have ASD yourself. If you have a child with ASD, you are more likely to have another child with ASD, especially if you have a daughter with ASD or more than one child with ASD.
Globally, the World Health Organization estimates that the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is one per 160 children. The prevalence in the Middle East is still unknown, largely due to a lack of diagnoses or a lack of acceptance from parents.
Overall, the survey results suggest that lower reported cases of autism in India are likely due to lack of awareness rather than lower prevalence.