New Study Suggests A Simple Step To Potentially Reduce Autism Risk
By Dr. Audra Foster, ND
New Hope for Parents?
Autism is a serious neurodevelopmental disorder that affects 1 in 110 children in the United States.1 And with no known cause of autism, parents can be left feeling powerless and that there is little more they can do than simply hope it does not affect their family. But a new study could help change that.
According to a study recently published in the scientific journal Epidemiology, something as simple as mothers taking a prenatal vitamin during the 3 months before pregnancy through the first month of pregnancy could substantially reduce the risk of autism in their child, especially in genetically susceptible individuals.2
Study Details
Participants in this study included children aged 24 to 60 months who were diagnosed as either having autism (288 children), autism spectrum disorder (144 children), or typical development (278 children). Researchers determined whether their mothers consumed vitamins and/or other supplements during the period spanning 3 months before conception through pregnancy and breast-feeding. Using that data, researchers then used statistical analysis to calculate odds ratios for associations between autism and maternal supplement intake.
According to the results, mothers of children with autism were less likely than mothers of typically developing children to report having taken prenatal vitamins during the periconceptional period (defined as the 3 months before pregnancy through the first month of pregnancy). This association was found to be particularly strong for children with genetic susceptibility for autism, as the combination of genetic susceptibility and no periconceptional prenatal vitamin intake was linked with significantly greater risk for autism than either factor alone.
Interestingly, the link between prenatal vitamin intake and a lower risk of autism was found to apply only to the periconceptional period. No associations were found for vitamin intake during months 2 through 9 of pregnancy.
Possible Explanations
Prenatal vitamins contain more iron, folic acid, and vitamins B6 and B12 than typical multivitamins, and the researchers speculated that those nutrients might be needed to reduce autism risk. Iron, folate, and other B vitamins are essential for neurodevelopment, and the higher levels of those nutrients in prenatal vitamins could help explain the link this study found between the use of prenatal vitamins and reduced risk of autism.
Of course more research is needed, and it is very unlikely that autism has a singular cause, but this new data helps shed new light on some of the complex factors involved in autism. Perhaps most importantly, it also empowers parents planning a pregnancy with a concrete step they can take to potentially protect against autism.
Choose Your Prenatal Vitamin Carefully
Based on these study results, it is advisable that women who are planning a pregnancy take prenatal supplements for a few months before conceiving. It is also important to know that not all prenatal vitamins offer equal quality or equal absorption.
To ensure that your body absorbs the important nutrients contained in your prenatal vitamin—nutrients that, as this study shows, could potentially protect against autism—I recommend choosing a high quality effervescent prenatal vitamin drink. Numerous scientific studies have shown that effervescent technology is both better and faster absorbed than tablets—not to mention how much more enjoyable it is to drink a delicious sparkling beverage rather than swallow pills or tablets. My favorite brand is Prenatal Oxylent from a company called Vitalah. It contains a strong panel of micronutrients, including all of the nutrients identified in this study, all in their most absorbable form. Prenatal Oxylent is also third-party tested for purity and potency.
References
- MMWR Surveill Summ 2009;58:1–20.
- Schmidt RJ, et al. Epidemiology 2011; 22(4):476-85
