Scientists might have just discovered the root cause of Autism

Till now medical theories have linked autism with vaccines but this has now been proven a myth because a new study is leading scientists to believe they may have finally discovered what causes the disease that affects 1 in 68 children to be born with autism spectrum disorder. Experiments on rodents have observed that the root cause of autism may be excess synapses or brain connections which result in miscommunication among neurons in the developing area of the brain that is linked to learning impairments.

The study published in the journal Nature communications by senior author Azad Bonni head of the Department of Neuroscience at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, felt that "An increased number of synapses creates miscommunication among neurons in the developing brain that correlates with impairments in learning, although we don’t know how,”

1Earlier studies associated autism to poor immunity

Besides probing the vaccine angle, earlier studies have linked autism to the decline of the autoimmune system where autism tested children were found to have inflammation in the brain. However, the recent study of the root cause of autism will provide more in-depth understanding and knowledge of how the disease actually works. Studies also liked how neuron switches called cytokines were always in ON mode. It is the immune system that produces cytokines whose job is to organize attacks against disease-causing pathogens. The studies deeply felt that autistic children had inflamed brains. 

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2What is autism?

Autism or autism spectrum disorder as it is also known as a neurodevelopment disease that affects the neurons in the brain. Although one of the causes were attributed to poor lifestyle during pregnancy or brain inflammation at birth or that it is genetically hereditary. Poor environmental conditions and influences such as medication, food, chemicals, stress, and hormones are also considered prime factors of causing the disease during the stage when the child is in the womb.

Autism has been linked with almost 1000 gene mutations in the body. It was only last year that research at the University of North Carolina found for the very first time how a mutation turned off and on a gene switch linked autism. The study discovered an enzyme called UBE3A or Ubiquitin-protein ligase E3A necessary for brain development which was constantly being switched o in children with autism. The autism mutation was destroying the regulatory mechanism resulting in the enzyme constantly switching on making UBE3A hyperactive causing abnormal brain development. This also could explain the reason why autistic children tend to be smarter. This was also proved by studies that child prodigies had autistic traits. 

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