PREGNANCY, AUTISM AND THE FLU

The study released yesterday out of Denmark should not raise fear in women who are pregnant. The researchers followed mother's in Denmark and the nearly 97,000 children they had between 1997 and 2003. During the study, 976 children in the study were diagnosed with autism. That is only 1%. The study actually says that the risk for autism doubles in women that have the flu during pregnancy, but the key here is that it doubles from 1% to 2%. What does that mean? It means that 99% of women who have the flu or prolonged high fever during pregnancy do NOT have children with autism.

At Braverman IVF & Reproductive Immunology we do believe that there is a possible link between inflammation during pregnancy and autism, but that much of this is very new research and that the percentages are very small. Scientists & researchers know a lot more than they did five years ago, but discovering the causes of autism is still very much in its infancy.

At Braverman IVF & Reproductive Immunology we are taking steps to try and understand autism and its relationship to pregnancy more clearly. Here is what we recommend to our patients:

1. Have a screening if you have any of the following conditions:

• A child that is on the autism spectrum or showing delays in development
• A sibling or family member that is on the autism spectrum
• If you have an autoimmune disease (MS, Lupus, Rheumatoid Arthritis, etc.)

At our practice, the only Center in New York State, to date, to have been authorized to use "reproductive" and "immunology" in its name, we specialize in studying the immune system and its relationship to pregnancy. We are all-too-familiar with doing immunological screenings. Over the past 20 years we have developed our own immune panel testing to help us pinpoint and treat the underlying conditions that adversely affect pregnancy. We have expanded our immune panels over the past few years to include screening for the markers that we believe are underlying factors in causing autism.

We will look very closely at the science and the research related to the testing in Denmark and see where the science leads. If you have questions, please join our forum!