Why do they have autism in the first place?

There’s no answer to this question yet? We all wonder why and what causes Autism? Research has been going on for years but still there’s been no reason singled out to determine the cause of Autism. Autism Research is one of the most challenging researches in medical science. Medical Science has found a number of causes that lead to Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Despite the research and the findings a way to prevent or cure autism is still not found. The absence of an understanding about the cause makes it hard to find effective therapies and interventions. Now that there’s been more improvement in detection and diagnosis of autism it is estimated that 1 in 110 people has an autism spectrum disorder.

When the term autism is mentioned it depicts connection to the brain. Scientists have found relatedness in brain and autism in different ways. Their research shows that mechanism of a brain’s formation gives implications to understand diseases like mental illness, epilepsy, schizophrenia, and autism. The cerebral cortex and cerebellum of the brain suggest to autism, these areas are which control movement, concentration and mood regulation. It has been discovered that brain cells need to create links early on in their existence, when they are physically close together, to ensure successful connections across the brain throughout life. The number of connections between nerve cells in the brain can be regulated by an immune system molecule, according to studies.

Genetic component-as cause of autism are accepted more today. About 40% of autism cases have been identified as genetically inherited. A number of genetic causes are being associated to autism. Some may affect the brain development, some affect the way brain cells communicate some make a child defenseless to the disorder while some conclude the severity of symptoms. Each problem related to genes may be minor in few cases but altogether the influence is substantial. Some genetic components are inherited while others depend on changes in genes.

Pregnant women who are given Labor inducing drugs or who have yeast infection or poor diet or hormonal or immune system changes during pregnancy have a higher possibility for giving birth to children with ASD.

Babies exposed to high testosterone and certain pharmaceuticals in the womb, have been found to have a higher risk to babies developing autism disorder. Also a second child born within twelve months of their siblings is three times more likely to be diagnosed with Autism compared to those born three or more years apart

Older parents- Have a higher risk of having children with autism; A study shows that women who are 40 years old have a 50 percent greater risk of having a child with autism than women who are between 20 and 29 years old. The age may relate to genetic mutation which occurs in the sperm or egg as the parent grows older.

Environmental factors cause many health problems hence autism might also be a consequence of it. Scientists are researching whether viral infections or air pollutions have any connection to autism.

Vaccines -Measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccination linked with autism found no base to it. No study has proved that vaccines have anything to do with autism but lot of speculations and controversies have happened regarding the subject. The1998 study done by Andrew Wakefield turned out to be a fraud. Other studies have also been done and no evidence has been found as yet relating to vaccines.

Mercury poisoning could be a reason for incurable diseases and there is no cure for autism also so mercury exposure and pesticides are also linked to autism.

Once a myth about lack of affection in the child's mother was assumed to lead autism. Thankfully refrigerator mother is no longer considered as a cause of autism.

My son was also exposed to some of the causes above and he is also vaccinated for MMR but unless a definite resolution is found how will we know what happened to our children? Where did we go wrong or what was that went wrong?