Trump, RFK, and the Autism Dilemma
Whatever you may think of Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., let’s give them credit for being essentially the only politicians to invoke an alarming and shadowy topic few want to acknowledge: the crisis of America’s rising rates of autism.
And with the news that Kennedy is going to be Trump’s nominee to head the Department of Health and Human Services, there will be an opportunity for them to act upon their concern. But the peril is that, given Trump and Kennedy’s history of blaming vaccines, they might continue down this discredited path.
The once-rare diagnosis of autism now consumes the lives of ever-growing numbers of U.S. families — including mine. But autism has become so mired in controversy that wary politicians tend to look away. When comedian Dave Smith recently asked this unfunny question about Trump and Kennedy — “Why are they the only ones who are talking about this?” — his remarks on Instagram were viewed 3.7 million times.
Children Exposed to Antiseizure Meds During Pregnancy Face Neurodevelopmental Risks, Study Finds
Children born to mothers who take antiseizure medications to manage seizures and psychiatric conditions during pregnancy may face increased risks of neurodevelopmental conditions, according to new data from researchers at Drexel’s Dornsife School of Public Health.
The current work — using data from more than three million children from the United Kingdom and Sweden, including 17,495 who were exposed to antiseizure medications during pregnancy — found that children exposed to the antiseizure drug lamotrigine in utero were at no additional risk for autism or intellectual disability compared with those exposed to other antiseizure medications. However, children exposed to valproate, topiramate, and carbamazepine were linked to specific neurodevelopmental issues. The findings were published this month in the journal Nature Communications.
Breathing Dirty Air Might Raise Eczema Risks
Cases of the autoimmune skin condition eczema appear to rise in areas most plagued by air pollution, new research shows. Since data has long shown that rates of eczema — clinically known as atopic dermatitis — increase along with industrialization, dirty air might be a connecting link, according to the team from Yale University.
“Showing that individuals in the U.S. who are exposed to particulate matter [in air] are more likely to have eczema deepens our understanding of the important health implications of ambient air pollution,” wrote researchers led by Yale School of Medicine investigator Gloria Chen. Her team published its findings Nov. 13 in the journal PLOS ONE.
According to the National Eczema Association, over 31 million Americans have the skin disorder, “a group of inflammatory skin conditions that cause itchiness, dry skin, rashes, scaly patches, blisters and skin infections.” The exact causes of eczema aren’t clear, but it’s thought to originate in an overactive immune system that responds to certain environmental triggers.
Could air pollution be one of those triggers?
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Standardized Screening Finds More Young Children Likely to Have Autism
New research from Drexel University’s A.J. Drexel Autism Institute found that the use of standardized autism screening during pediatric well-child visits identifies more children with high autism likelihood at a younger age, including those presenting with more subtle symptoms. This is the first large-scale, randomized trial to test the impact of standardized autism screening on early detection of autism in pediatric primary care.
Recently published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychology, the multi-site study tested whether using standardized autism toddler screening — the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers, Revised, with Follow-Up (M-CHAT-R/F) — during pediatric well-child visits would result in a higher number of children receiving an autism diagnosis at a younger age compared to usual care.
Nearly 260 Million Americans Could Be Overweight or Obese by 2050
Four out of five men and women in the U.S. will be overweight or obese by 2050 if current trends hold, a new study warns. About 213 million Americans aged 25 and older will be carrying around excess weight within 25 years, along with more than 45 million children and young adults between the ages of five and 24, researchers reported Nov. 14 in The Lancet journal.
Worse, obesity is projected to increase at a more rapid rate than overweight, researchers say. By 2050, two in three adults, one in three teens and one in five children in the U.S. are expected to be obese, researchers estimate.
All these extra pounds will create a crisis of chronic illness in the nation, said lead study author Emmanuela Gakidou, a professor with the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington.
