Mother's blood test predicts a sub-type of autism • Hacker News Board

Re: Mother's blood test predicts a sub-type of autism

#81

Post by throwaway2245 » Wed, Jan 27, 2021, 9:20 AM UTC

iujjkfjdkkdkf wrote: post #42

alisonkisk wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"behavioral impairment" is a social judgement, not a biological flaw. Homosexuality was long considered a psychiatric disorder, so be careful putting blind faith in psychiatric judgements.

I feel obliged to point out that when people try and equate behavior that is completely within the bounds of what society considers normal (being gay) with what can be a crippling and life affecting condition, it does nobody a service. Anymore than e.g. saying red hair used to be a sign of weakness, outdated views have no bearing on this discussion. Just because outdated views once existed and that normal behavior is…

> completely within the bounds of what society considers normal (being gay)

Feedback at your request -

This rubbed me the wrong way because homosexuality was classed as a disorder in my lifetime. (And that has an impact on me, still today - and it is still used as justification for criminalisation in 72 countries). So, there is fair reason to equate them.

If we were having this discussion in 1973, would you be saying "it does nobody a service to see homosexuality as normal"? Because a large proportion of psychiatrists and people were saying that.

What makes those people (in the past) wrong to say that, while you (in the present) are right to say this?

Re: Mother's blood test predicts a sub-type of autism

#82

Post by valarauko » Wed, Jan 27, 2021, 2:38 PM UTC

lc9er wrote: post #38

JPKab wrote: post #7

Something that has struck out to me for many years now is the rather striking lack of reporting on the incredibly strong correlation between parental (both maternal/paternal) age at time of conception and ASM. My nephew is autistic. He is my sister's youngest, and is 10 years younger than his sibling. This isn't a coincidence. Parents who have their children in their mid 30s and later are orders of magnitude more lik…

> Something that has struck out to me for many years now is the rather striking lack of reporting on the incredibly strong correlation between parental (both maternal/paternal) age at time of conception and ASM. I thought this was common knowledge? I’ve certainly read this frequently and it’s something that is brought up (anecdotally) by OB/GYNs as women enter their 30’s. My wife and several family members ruefully w…

>“advanced maternal age” when they hit 35

I'm old enough (ironically) that I was taught the term as "geriatric pregnancy"

Re: Mother's blood test predicts a sub-type of autism

#83

Post by d0mine » Wed, Jan 27, 2021, 7:33 PM UTC

tokai wrote: post #4

nicoburns wrote: post #2

> Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by social and behavioral impairments, along with restricted interests and repetitive behaviors. This seems like a very negative view of autism.

Seems neutral to me. If there wasn't any impairment it wouldn't be a subject for medical psychiatry.

By this logic being a screwdriver is an impairment in a world of hammers.

A neutral approach would acknowledge that hammers are good at certain tasks, while screwdrivers are good at others.

Re: Mother's blood test predicts a sub-type of autism

#84

Post by SubiculumCode » Wed, Jan 27, 2021, 10:44 PM UTC

msandford wrote: post #59

sjg007 wrote: post #55

This is mind blowing... if I understand correctly basically it’s moms immune system that induces autism, is this the correct interpretation? I’d imagine it’s more complicated but still... it gives hope that early intervention and maybe prenatal and postnatal treatments to reduce the incidence.

What's super crazy is that if it's an autoimmune problem then the idea that vaccines cause autism might actually be right for a very small percentage of the population. If that were to be true (a HUGE if) and we could figure out the precursor markers then we could exempt the folks who need exemption and still keep herd immunity by vaccinating all the folks who wouldn't be harmed.

As usual, while scientists cannot prove a negative, in terms of vaccine causing autism in a subset, all I can say that there is no proposed mechanism, nor evidence of that mechanism, for vaccines to cause autism in anyone.

Re: Mother's blood test predicts a sub-type of autism

#85

Post by SubiculumCode » Wed, Jan 27, 2021, 10:46 PM UTC

sjg007 wrote: post #55

This is mind blowing... if I understand correctly basically it’s moms immune system that induces autism, is this the correct interpretation? I’d imagine it’s more complicated but still... it gives hope that early intervention and maybe prenatal and postnatal treatments to reduce the incidence.

A growing body of evidence has implicated that a portion of the autism spectrum is probably produced my maternal infection and subsequent immune response during pregnancy. However, this cause of autism is not thought to account for all forms of autism.