( Everyday Life with Autism )

Boys are 4 to 5 times likely to be diagnosed with autism than girls are. Why?

Maybe because of their camouflaged symptoms?

Or maybe because her biology (by nature) protects her from developing autism?

Researchers always wondered.

A new study lead by researchers at Harvard Medical School supports the idea of a “female protective effect“. They propose that it takes girls more risk factors for their development to be affected to the point of placing them on the autism spectrum.

In most cases of autism there is more than one risk factor responsible for the condition. One factor could be gentic, another could be environmental, or a combination of both. Also parents’ age when pregnant. Maternal infection during pregnancy, and more.

Read the finding below:

“The researchers looked at nearly 10,000 sets of 12-year-old fraternal (nonidentical) twins. In particular, they looked at the siblings of boys and girls who scored high on a scale of autistic traits – high enough to be considered on the autism spectrum. Overall the twin brothers or sisters of the highly impaired girls themselves had greater autism impairments than did the siblings of the boys. This suggested that the girls were more likely to come from families with a strong inherited risk for autism and that this higher risk was necessary to overcome a possible female protective effect.”

Even if this reasearch hasn’t exactly pinpointed the reason behind this ration 1:5 (1 girl to 5 boys) are diagnosed with autism, Dr. Halladay from Autism Speaks adds, “is that it helps guide researchers in their search for other protective factors for autism.”

Read the full article here: www.autismspeaks.org/science/science-news/“female-protective-effect”

nadia shanab

Tags: autism, health, research