In recent years, many supposed causes for autism were exposed. First, there’s the link between autism and mercury and vaccines. Then, there’s the link between autism and the low levels of antioxidants in an autistic child’s body. Now, there are very recent studies claiming that another possible cause for autism could be the lack of the sunshine vitamin in one’s body—or, in short, the lack of Vitamin D. Previously, many experts and doctors believe that Vitamin D is nothing but a minor vitamin that helps the bone in the body develop. However, research from the Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology journal tries to prove Vitamin D is more important than what people initially thought.
So how did the study claim the connection between Vitamin D and autism, and is there logic behind the claim?
The study in the hour involved the review of 2,437 Somali children in Sweden and Minnesota, born from 1988 to 1998. The research yielded an interesting discovery: Somali children both locations suffer from autism more than the children in their native land. The reason: Somali people get more exposure from the sun compared to the ones who migrated in Sweden and Minnesota. Simply put, people of the same race develop autism in a location with less sunlight compared to their native country. So much so that the Somalis actually call autism in Sweden as Swedish disorder; needless to say, this means the Somalis do not generally encounter autism in Somalia. The fact that race could factor in here can also be discounted since the research made use of reviews of people from the same race. Same race, different environmental factors—an idea that adheres to the accepted medical concept that autism is caused by genetics and environmental factors. Needless to say, the lack of Vitamin D is an environmental factor.
Unlike other claims in the cause of autism, the theory that lack of Vitamin D can cause autism is something both those who believe autism is a biomedical disorder and those who believe autism is a genetic disorder can agree with. Those who believe autism is a biomedical disorder agrees that Vitamin D deficiency is among the causes of autism, while the other side believes that the genetic aspect of autism is triggered by certain factors. Lack of Vitamin D can be one of these factors.
This theory also makes sense if one considered the statistics. For one, the number of children being born with autism and the fact that Vitamin D deficiency has soared in the country are two facts pointing to one general direction. Also, the study as published in the Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology journal claim that Somalia has less autism cases compared to Sweden and Minnesota—two places in high latitude countries. It has been a long stated claim that countries in high latitude experience more autism cases.
Also, an earlier study in the Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care cites the fact that Vitamin D during gestation is actually important for the brain development of the child. Again, everything points to one thing.
Of course, while the medical world has not decided on the actual truthfulness of these claims, this theory remains to be a theory. Still, Vitamin D, as cited earlier, is important in brain development. Isn’t it only natural that children with autism take Vitamin D, in this case?
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