Fine particulate air pollution linked to risk of childhood autism

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Exposure to fine particulate air pollution during pregnancy through the first two years of the child’s life may be associated with an increased risk of a child developing autism spectrum disorder, a condition that affects one in 68 children, according to an investigation of children in southwestern Pennsylvania.
SOURCE: Children’s Health News — ScienceDaily – Read entire story here.

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Related Posts

Hodgkin’s lymphoma treatment can cause late sequelae

Hodgkin’s lymphoma–cancer of the lymph nodes–arises in more than 150 children and adolescents in Germany each year. Nine out of ten patients survive the disease, thanks to the highly effective treatments that are now available. Depending on the type of treatment given, however, there may be late sequelae, as discussed by Wolfgang Dörffel and colleagues in an original article in the current issue of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2015; 112: 320-7).

New studies contradict earlier findings on Rett syndrome

Bone marrow transplant does not rescue mouse models of Rett syndrome, a severe neurological disease that affects very young girls, a new study shows. The findings contradict seemingly promising results published in 2012, which initiated a clinical trial for human patients. Rett syndrome is caused by mutations in the X-linked MECP2 gene and affects about 1 in every 10,000 girls (it is most often fatal in boys at or near birth). Rett syndrome causes many disabilities, both intellectual and physical.