> However, the team cautioned that these findings cannot and should not be used to screen for autism. "We are interested in understanding autism, not preventing it," added Professor Baron-Cohen.
I don't understand why not?
High levels of oestrogens in the womb linked to autism
21–30 of 190 posts
Re: High levels of oestrogens in the womb linked to autism
#22Maybe so, though equally could just be a small part in a larger puzzle or even a red herring. However, as somebody who is on the autistic spectrum, I have noted that my index and "ring finger"[edit thanks to comment] are of equal lengths, a trait more common in females than males who tend to have one longer - see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digit_ratio Another aspect/theory from personal experience is that my earli…
> index and forefinger are of equal lengths Those are two names for the same finger. Did you mean index and ring ringer?
I did, thank you, my bad. Glad I dug up a relevant link to dispel my confusion there.
Re: High levels of oestrogens in the womb linked to autism
#23BPA mimics estrogen, so does that mean that plastics are causing autism? https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/publichealth/...
I wonder if birth control (which spikes estrogen) has a lasting impact on levels after a mom goes off to have a child.
I'm wondering that as well, could be an unintended side effect of some forms of hormonal birth control.
Re: High levels of oestrogens in the womb linked to autism
#24Something like 1 in 4 transgender women are also autistic. If this study holds any water that might be an interesting investigation.
Interesting, I had no idea the rate was so high. I’ve seen one study[1] that sampled for ~7%, but not 25%. Do you have a link I could read? [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2904453/
Not parent, but closest thing I can find is the Kaltiala-Heino et al. study [1], found from p7 in this literature review [2]. There it's summarized as "26% of those who had experienced gender dysphoria had previous diagnosis of ASD". But that study has only 47 people (none adults), all drawn from a pair of Finnish hospitals. It looks like an outlier among the others, which suggest something more like 5%.
[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4396787/#!po=0.... [2] https://www.smr.jsexmed.org/article/S2050-0521(15)00004-9/pd...
Re: High levels of oestrogens in the womb linked to autism
#25Would be interesting to see what causes high estrogen in the studied women. My guess would be obesity, and potentially plant-based diet high in soy products.
Re: High levels of oestrogens in the womb linked to autism
#26Maybe so, though equally could just be a small part in a larger puzzle or even a red herring. However, as somebody who is on the autistic spectrum, I have noted that my index and "ring finger"[edit thanks to comment] are of equal lengths, a trait more common in females than males who tend to have one longer - see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digit_ratio Another aspect/theory from personal experience is that my earli…
Same story here: same length of those 2 fingers, complications at birth, damn good memory for things when I was child, and Aspie to the bone.
Re: High levels of oestrogens in the womb linked to autism
#27Maybe so, though equally could just be a small part in a larger puzzle or even a red herring. However, as somebody who is on the autistic spectrum, I have noted that my index and "ring finger"[edit thanks to comment] are of equal lengths, a trait more common in females than males who tend to have one longer - see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digit_ratio Another aspect/theory from personal experience is that my earli…
if I could go back in time and become normal I don't know if this is good news, or bad news but... there is no normal . I know what you meant, what it would be like without ASD. But I'm not sure that would give you any particular insight into anything other than simply being a different person.
Agreed and yes, normal is a perception based upon a mode average. After all, if the majority of people were psychopaths, normal would take on a whole new meaning.
Equally it is hard to evaluate such a different timeline as you are evaluating from a different perspective/timeline.
Re: High levels of oestrogens in the womb linked to autism
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
I read an article somewhere claiming that estrogen via Hormone Replacement Therapy actually reduces the symptoms of autism. It wasn't a scientific study, but it was written by someone who claimed to personally know several people who had observed this effect.
I find that difficult to believe. Estrogen isn't known to cause large behavioral changes like you've described. The changes in hormones can result in some emotional changes, but I cannot see how they would reduce symptoms of autism.
Symptoms of being a high-functioning autistic—as perceived by others—include an inability to empathize with peers or with hypotheticals of “natural” human responses. But one obvious confounder for this symptom is that you’re comparing with the wrong peers. Being a woman but not liking the things women like or having the same emotional responses that women tend to have (because, instead, you like the things men like and have the same emotional responses that men have), could get you (incorrectly) labelled as autistic, when all you’re actually experiencing is gender dysphasia.
Re: High levels of oestrogens in the womb linked to autism
#29Something like 1 in 4 transgender women are also autistic. If this study holds any water that might be an interesting investigation.
I read an article somewhere claiming that estrogen via Hormone Replacement Therapy actually reduces the symptoms of autism. It wasn't a scientific study, but it was written by someone who claimed to personally know several people who had observed this effect.
As a trans woman, I agree this needs more study, and I have experienced something similar.
And I'd like to have a word with whoever downvoted this.
Re: High levels of oestrogens in the womb linked to autism
#30BPA mimics estrogen, so does that mean that plastics are causing autism? https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/publichealth/...
Not just bpa, all plastics emit equally harmful estrogen producing chemicals as bpa per recent studies. Plastics in sun and hot water are a big no.