Low Birth Weight and Autism

A new study that hasn't yet been published but the abstact is available and showed an association between extreme low birth rate and the later development of ASD.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19322106?
The Lead Author did inform me that 219 low birth weight babies were followed up at age 5 - 8 and 8 were described as having a pervasive developmental disorder (Autism or Asperger Syndrome). The study had a control group of typically developing children. 1 case out of 179 of typically developing children were described as having a pervasive developmental disorder.

Hi, RAJ, and thank you for bringing this article to our readers' attention.

It is appearing more and more that many types of suboptimal pregnancy or birth factors are associated with autism. In "The Epidemiology of Autism Spectrum Disorders" -- Annual Review of Public Health, 2007, Vol. 28 -- Newschaffer and colleagues write:

"Recently, larger studies have evaluated individual perinatal events. Uterine bleeding, caesarian section, low birthweight, preterm delivery, and low Apgar score are among the few factors that have been more consistently associated with autism... Methodologic issues continue to challenge the synthesis and interpretation of this body of evidence. The underlying cause of a measured obstetric factor or set of factors is rarely known, nor is the temporal relationship between the obstetric event and the actual biological onset of autism."

We are continuing to work here at IAN on a "Pregnancy & Birth Questionnaire" that will, with the help of IAN participants, provide researchers with more data on these crucial issues.

A correction of typos in my original post.

"A new study that hasn't yet been published but the abstact is available and showed an association between extreme low birth rate and the later development of ASD".

Should read 'extreme low birth weight' not 'extreme low birth rate'

The control group was children born with normal birth weight.