Autism rates have tripled. Is it now more common or are we just better at diagnosis? – AutismSTEP

Autism rates tripled among children in the New York and New Jersey metropolitan area from 2000 to 2016, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Pediatrics.

The authors, a team from Rutgers University, calculated the trend by analyzing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates of the number of children who’ve been identified as having autism spectrum disorder by age 8.

Although there is no medical test for autism, the CDC has established a network of 17 sites across the country that estimate autism rates based on a combination of formal medical diagnoses and records from schools and health care providers.

Nationally, the rise in autism rates has been similar to the trend in New York and New Jersey, according to a 2021 CDC report. One in 54 children had been diagnosed with autism by age 8 in 2016, compared to 1 in 150 in 2000.

Advances in diagnostic capabilities and greater understanding and awareness of autism spectrum disorder seem to be largely driving the increase, the Rutgers researchers said. But there’s probably more to the story: Genetic factors, and perhaps some environmental ones, too, might also be contributing to the trend.

Precisely what those other factors are is still unknown, but researchers are at least clear on one fact: Autism has nothing to do with vaccines.

“We know for sure, for so many years now, that vaccines don’t cause autism,” said Santhosh Girirajan, an associate professor at Pennsylvania State University who studies the genetic underpinnings of neurodevelopmental disorders and wasn’t involved in the new study.

“On the other hand, what we really don’t know is: What are the real, clear environmental factors that you should be avoiding?”

The Rutgers study found that in New York and New Jersey, the share of 8-year-olds diagnosed with autism who don’t have intellectual disabilities rose more sharply than the share of those who do — a fivefold increase from 2000 to 2016, compared to a twofold increase.

For full article, please visit: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/autism-rates-rising-more-prevalent-versus-more-screening-rcna67408