What does an expert say about the risk of autism after infections?

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This week we talk to Dr. Renee Gardner from the Karolinska Institute who utilizes large datasets to understand the link between pregnancy exposures and later diagnoses in children – including the diagnosis of autism. She has identified several rare infections during pregnancy that have a strong link to an autism diagnosis in children. Much like “rare” and “common” genetic variations, there is likely to be “rare” and “common” environmental exposures that have different influences on an autism diagnosis. What does this mean for pregnant women? The same as anything a good doctor would tell you: wash your hands, stay away from sick people, and try not to share food with your sick child.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2853867

https://ki.se/en/research/research-areas-centres-and-networks/research-groups/epidemiology-of-psychiatric-conditions-substance-use-and-social-environment-epicss-emilie-agardhs-renee-gardners-research-group

What is the problem getting to the bottom of biomarkers and gene x environment interactions

Outcome measures for clinical trials and understanding and determining gene x environment interactions have been two (of many) challenging questions for scientists. In the first study, we explain a new study that looks at the feasibility of three potential biomarkers that have the potential to look at presence of a diagnosis as well as effectiveness of an intervention. In the second half, we describe some new research that shows novel approaches to better understand the presence of an environmental factor with genetic influences, or a new method to describe them in different communities. You can read the studies by clicking below:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36000217/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35974006/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35992618/