Smoking linked to Autism, says study

MOTHERS who smoke regularly during pregnancy are 40% more likely to have autistic children, new research claims.

Studying more than 2,000 children, researcher Dr Christina Hultman from the Department of Medical Epidemiology at the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, said there was already thought to be a link between the growth of the foetus in the womb and autism.

She said because smoking also restricts growth it could have a similar effect.

“We have tested the hypothesis of reduced growth in utero related to other psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia and anorexia nervosa and there might be similar early risk factors.

“As smoking during pregnancy, maternal age and mother’s country of birth is all known to influence children’s birth weight and foetal growth we included these variables. However, we were surprised that smoking during early pregnancy was an independent risk factor for autism, which has not been shown earlier.”

She said similar studies on animals had shown that exposure to nicotine while in the womb had physical and behavioural effects and could lead to problems with the function of the brain.

Autism is a developmental disability that affects the way a person communicates and interacts with other people. Sufferers have trouble making sense of the world at large and often find it difficult to understand colour, gestures and language and have a hyper-sensitivity to contact.

Dr Hultman said there was now a need for further extensive studies to separate the effects of smoking from other environmental and genetic factors.

Chief executive of the Irish Society for Autism Pat Matthews echoed this need for more research. He said every one is looking for links to try and establish the cause of autism and while he had not seen this particular study, he felt every clue was worth following.

Mr Matthews welcomed all research on autism because it helped to highlight the issue, which he said is rapidly increasing.

“Autism is substantially increasing. Many people simply put that down to better diagnosis and awareness, which probably is swelling the numbers, but the incidence is definitely on the rise. For what reason, we don’t know. That is why we need more research,” he said.

He warned the Department of Health to start planning ahead for the future needs of the rising number of autistic babies, who need specialist teaching to help them “decode” the language and contact barriers in order to make their world more fulfilling and less stressful.