News story Autism Linked to Parents' Mental Illness

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http://news.aol.com/health/story/ar/_a/autism-linked-to-parents-mental-illness/20080505104509990002

Autism Linked to Parents' Mental Illness
Reuters
Posted: 2008-05-05 16:37:11
Filed Under: Health News
CHICAGO (May 5) - In another sign pointing to an inherited component to autism, a study released on Monday found that having a schizophrenic parent or a mother with psychiatric problems roughly doubled a child's risk of being autistic.

"Our research shows that mothers and fathers diagnosed with schizophrenia were about twice as likely to have a child diagnosed with autism," said Julie Daniels of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, who worked on the study.

"We also saw higher rates of depression and personality disorders among mothers, but not fathers," she said in a statement.

The study of families in Sweden with children born between 1977 and 2003 involved 1,227 children diagnosed with autism. They were compared with families of nearly 31,000 children who did not have autism. Sweden's detailed health registry provides a wealth of data for such studies.

Autism, which is marked by impaired social interaction and communication, or a related disorder like Asperger's syndrome, affects an estimated one out of every 150 U.S. children, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates. Asperger's is marked by mild social awkwardness.

No one knows what causes autism, but researchers think it is likely that several genes and possibly environmental factors contribute. Some autism advocates believe childhood vaccinations play a role, although most medical experts say it is extremely unlikely.

Which genes lie behind various mental illnesses are also poorly understood, according to the researchers, whose study appeared in the journal Pediatrics, published by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

"Earlier studies have shown a higher rate of psychiatric disorders in families of autistic children than in the general population," Daniels said.

The association between a child's autism and mental illness in the parent was strongest with schizophrenia, and was less powerful when the mother suffered from depression or personality disorders. There was little association between autism and parental addiction to alcohol or drugs or some other types of mental illness.

It was not clear if it was significant that having a mother, but not a father, with certain mental illnesses, raised the risk of autism.

"Establishing an association between autism and other psychiatric disorders might enable future investigators to better focus on genetic and environmental factors that might be shared among these disorders," Daniels said.


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I think it should say if you have an autistic parents your more likely to have a child with autism. Unfortunately quite often our parents as for ourselves are damaged by being totally misunderstood from birth and treated so badly by society in general, this often leads to OCD, anxiety, depression etc...
also see my last thread on this subject, which I feel is a more accurate account:
http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt64919.html

Because autism was previously diagnosed as schizophrenia, I'm wondering how accurate these results are. If a parent was actually autistic, but misdiagnosed as schizophrenic, this would mean that autism is inherited, not morphed from other psychiatric disorders.

I'm offended on behalf of my (perfectly normal) mother!!

I've seen this story a few times on various sites, and the way it's being written is that 'all autistics have parents with mental problems', rather than a few may have an increased risk.

I have a lot of Aspergers in my family on both sides, but neither of my parents have any mental problems of any kind, not even any history of mild depression or similarly common and mundane afflictions. So I take offense at the way it's being portrayed... hardly helpful for any parent trying to cope with their child's issues and learn to deal with them the best they can.

The article is very explicit. It does not say "that all autistics have parents with mental problems". It says precisely the opposite. Therefore, you cannot take offense at this article.

Not this version in particular, just the spin I've seen various mainstream news sites and agencies putting on the same story...

Those other stories have no standing in this thread, whatsoever.

It is a case, but not the big picture.

It's the same story with slightly different wording - surely the story itself rather than the source should be the issue, regardless of which version you read and whichever the OP posted? I mean, I saw it elsewhere and so didn't bother reading the OP's version as it's the same story in essence and probably comes from the same press release from the researchers...


But ok.

Here is the original paper:

Sorry error trying to edit last post

It's talking about our parents, not us, having mental disorders.