Introduction
Autism is defined as a disability during the development of a child mostly under the age of three years that is characterized by stereotyped behavior patterns, abnormalities in speech and impairments in social interaction. The rates of autism among children attending school are on the increase. One out of sixty tested children has got the disorder according to a study conducted across eleven communities within the country. Since the year 2000, the autism rates have increased by 150% (Nevison, 2017). Children with autism experience a number of challenges and communication is one of them. Due to these rising rates and the challenges experienced by these children, several studies have been conducted to determine the factors associated with autism. The studies have revealed that autism is commonly caused by an interaction between genetic and environmental factors. There a number of genetic factors known to cause autism. Not so many studies have been done to investigate the particular environmental risk factors associated with autism, however. Environmental risk factors include anything which is not a direct outcome of a DNA sequence (Wong et al., 2015). According to the few conducted studies, autism is caused by the interaction of environmental factors including exposure to mercury, air pollution, socio-economic status of the family, parental age and maternal use of medication.
Exposure to mercury is one of the causative agents of autism. According to research, consuming fish is one way of being exposed to organic mercury. A study in the year 2013 examined individuals in the Seychelles republic where fish is almost stable food. According to this study, there is a relationship between the behaviors of autism and potential exposure to mercury. Scientists also test for recent organic mercury expose using blood tests. Researchers have found out that adjusting mercury sources especially diet helps lower the chances of autism (Sealey et al., 2016). Children without autism have got levels of mercury that are less than those of the children with autism. Researchers investigating other contaminants like pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls flame retardants, heavy metals, Bisphenol A and phthalates to determine if they have an impact of the early development of the brain and therefore play any role in autism have also found the same relationship (Grabrucker, 2013). Also, there is a link between autism and those vaccines that have thimerosal which a compound that is mercury based has been revealed.
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Maternal prenatal use of medication is also associated with about 40% of the risk of autism. According to research, prenatal vitamins can assist in lowering the risk of autism in children. A woman is less likely to give birth to a child with autism if she takes a prenatal vitamin pill daily during three months before the pregnancy period and even during the first month of the period of pregnancy. This is unlike those women who do not take these supplements. This is more revealed in the genetically susceptible individuals and this shows that the interaction of the genes and the environment could be responsible for autism (Grabrucker, 2013). A study has identified that folic acid is one of the sources of the protective impact of the prenatal vitamins. A woman that consumes the dose daily during the first or even three months of pregnancy are less likely to have autistic children.
In addition, research shows that exposure to air pollution during the early days of life is a factor that could contribute to autism. A study conducted in the year 2014 indicates that a child that lives close to a freeway at birth is twice more likely to be affected or develop autism as compared to a child away from a freeway (Wong et al., 2015). This involves a distance of less than three football fields or 1015 feet whereby less than this is considered being nee a freeway and could develop autism. Building on the results, the researchers also reported a high autism risk associated with being exposed to air pollution related to traffic and regional air pollutants in the year 2015 (Modabbernia et al., 2017). Other studies point out the effect to the possibility of a gene-environment interaction. A child whose genetic makeup makes him or her be more susceptible to health impacts of high air pollution levels shows a higher risk of autisms as compared to those children whose genetic makeup does not make them be more susceptible to the same.
Prenatal age has also been revealed as one of the most significant factors that increase the risk of autism in children. In several researchers, paternal and maternal age equal or more than thirty-four causes a high risk of autism in children. In particular, research was conducted among the Iranians in the year 2013 to explore the absence or presence of a relationship between the risk of autism and the age of the parents (Nevison, 2017). According to this research, the risk of autism goes high by thirty percent for every elevation by ten years of the age of the father. In other words, the fathers between the age of thirty-four and thirty-nine rears have got a twice greater risk of fathering autistic children. Those above the age of forty years, on the other hand, have got about three times greater likelihood of fathering a child with autism. In several other studies in China and Japan, the same relationship was revealed between the age of the parents and an increased autism risk (Sealey et al., 2016). However, there was no relationship that has been revealed between the age of the mother and the likelihood of autism. The advanced age of a father also impacts the nervous system development and the functionality of the immune system.
The socioeconomic status of the family is another environmental factor that can be associated with autism. Considering the psychological, educational, economic and social aspects of the family life of a child, children with autism come from poor families. Basically, the families experience inappropriate sociality, unhealthy and unrehabilitated conditions of life due to financial problems, psychological stresses, and occupational stresses. Inaccessibility to care and recreational facilities leads to impaired physical health and infection in children from poor families (Modabbernia et al., 2017). In addition, being exposed to anxiety such as shared living places with the families of couples and stress causes psychological tension a parent particularly a pregnant mother and this increases the susceptibility of a child to autism during the period of pregnancy. Also, communication breakdown and mother isolation during pregnancy can affect the state of the mother psychologically which could endanger both the health of the embryo and the mother (Nevison, 2017). There are also other several studies investigating the relationship between the risk of autism and parental education, these studies have confirmed that low parental education level can increase the risk of autism.
Conclusion
In conclusion, none of the environmental risk factors can yield autism on its own but rather an interaction of several of them or interaction with genetic factors. Environmental factors like exposure to mercury, air pollution, socioeconomic status of the family, parental age and maternal use of medication when interacted with each other or with genetic factors can cause autism. Further research should be done to determine how these factors should be detected. This would help parents to avoid the autism danger in their children.
References
Grabrucker, A. M. (2013). Environmental factors in autism. Frontiers in Psychiatry , 3 , 118.
Modabbernia, A., Velthorst, E., & Reichenberg, A. (2017). Environmental risk factors for autism: an evidence-based review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Molecular autism , 8 (1), 13.
Nevison, C. D. (2017). A comparison of temporal trends in United States autism prevalence to trends in suspected environmental factors. Environmental Health , 13 (1), 73.
Sealey, L. A., Hughes, B. W., Sriskanda, A. N., Guest, J. R., Gibson, A. D., Johnson-Williams, L., ... & Bagasra, O. (2016). Environmental factors in the development of autism spectrum disorders. Environment international , 88 , 288-298.
Wong, C. T., Wais, J., & Crawford, D. A. (2015). Prenatal exposure to common environmental factors affects brain lipids and increases risk of developing autism spectrum disorders. European Journal of Neuroscience , 42 (10), 2742-2760.
