Etiology Flashcards
1
Q
Autism
What causes ASD?
A
- Its a mix of genetic predisposition combined with an environmental impacts.
- we know that ASD is highly heritable: {concordance rate in monozygotic twins is 36-91%, while dizygotic twins rate is 0-5%}
- Its 4x more common in males {could be due to the bilogy being related to male development}{or, it simply manifests differently in females}
- With a growing number of genes (close to a thousand) involved, specificts are hard to say.
- No single environmental factor is sufficient to influence the predisposition to ASD; combination of factors.
2
Q
Autism
What are some possible environmental factors?
A
- Maternal diet: deficient in essential nutrients and fatty acids
- Maternal smocking, exposure to alcohol or other drugs during pregnancy
- Exposure to air polluants
- Poor socioeconomic status
- Low maternal education level
- Advanced maternal and paternal age
- Folic acid status
- Vaccines ruled out {more corolational than causal}
3
Q
Autism
What are some possible genes involved in ASD?
A
- Genes involved in intelectual desability + neuropsychiatric disorder
- common pathway genes
- ASD-risk genes
- multigenic contributions
- de novo mutations
