No Link Between C-Sections And Autism, Study Says

Previous research has raised the possibility of a causal link between Cesarean delivery and autism spectrum disorders, both of which are on the rise. But a new two-part study should go a long way in reassuring parents whose babies are born via C-section that their children are not at any greater risk of developing the disorder because of how they were delivered. Researchers with the Irish Center for Fetal and Neonatal Translational Research analyzed data on deliveries and subsequent autism diagnoses among nearly 2.7 million children born in Sweden in the past three decades. Children born via elective C-section were roughly 20 percent more likely to be diagnosed with autism, which was in line with previous estimates. However, when the researchers further analyzed the mode of delivery among more than 13,400 pairs of siblings in which one child was diagnosed with autism and the other was not, the association did not hold up. They concluded that any link was likely due to unknown genetic or environmental factors and not because of how the children were delivered. "Based on our data, there is no evidence that birth by Caesarean section causes ASD," study co-author Ali Khashan of the Irish Center for Fetal and Neonatal Translational Research in Cork, Ireland, told The Huffington Post in an e-mail. His team's findings were published in JAMA Psychiatry on Wednesday. Previously, researchers have surmised that certain factors associated with C-sections, such as changes in the mi...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news