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Showing 3 comments
S1 on
What the article on autism *doesn’t* mention is that it is impossible to say something has been proven without a true experiment. It is the same reason that no one can say that they’ve “proved” that smoking causes cancer; you would have to randomly assign subjects to smoking and non-smoking groups, which means a probability of making those who don’t smoke start smoking and possibly making those who do stop. It’s unethical and can never be done. In the same way, to prove this theory about autism, it would be impossible to have a control group and a test group for a true experiment without unethically requesting subjects make significant changes to their lifestyle. As such, these types of experiments would never receive IRB approval.
mary on
It seems like every week there is a new article on autism, pointing to something but never really concrete, like the latest Mutations in Three Genes Linked to Autism Spectrum Disorders which I am more likely to believe than the obesity claim.
Personally, I still think the jury is out and unless I read it in the NEJM or the AMA publications with proof, I will believe that we still don’t have answers. I just don’t want false claims out there and people getting their hopes up because someone gives them false hope. Which I am told happens all too often.
Amanda K on
Ridiculous. One of my girlfriends who weighed all of 90 lbs when she got pregnant and only gained in her belly area gave birth to an autistic child.
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