Possible Increased Risk For Autism, Freeways?

I will not even pretend to understand,,,

Hey folks,

You see it all the time. From being portrayed on TV, in movies, and even in print. Loving Families with a Child born with Autism, and their struggles to deal with it. The situation, not the Child.

Go from the screen to the Supermarket. The Mom shopping, the teenager, standing staring out into space, talking to a bag of chips, wandering around in circles. Some you can see in their faces, such as Down Syndrome. Some you just get the feeling that they are a bit different.

In an ever growing increase in frequency, the Families are torn apart. Most couples you talk to say it simply is too much. Some blame the other. Some feel the other is ashamed of their Child. Some are just not mature enough to deal with it.

I will not even pretend to understand what it would be like. Joshua is 5 and doing GREAT. He is documented to actually be quiet advanced in many areas. He was trying to crawl at just sixteen days, and he is now showing above average intelligence. You can tell just by spending a bit of time with him. His understanding is amazing. If you are not careful, you may forget that you are talking to a 5 year old.

I remember when Laura was Pregnant. I was terrified, just being honest here, that there might be something wrong with him. When he was born, I've shared this before, he had Torticollis. I said this.

My boy, Joshua, the love of my life, has always been a source of great pride. The fact he is so cute, advanced in his intellect (Documented), and just a source of joy that is indescribable, I walk around with him with my chest puffed out with pride. I love when we go somewhere, anywhere, and we are bombarded with strangers coming up to us and talking with us about how great he is. Then the medical condition became worse.

You see folks, Joshua was diagnosed with Torticollis which lead to Plagiocephaly. Because of this, he needs a helmet to be worn 23 hours a day for the next three to four months. As a proud and somewhat egotistical Father, I found and still find this hard to deal with. Now in the back of my mind, I, yes the one who couldn’t care less what people think about him on a normal bases, find myself upset and concerned what people are thinking when they see the helmet.

Well, he is doing GREAT now. No real signs of anything ever being wrong. He even did a stint as a Child Model with One Source Talent out of Miami. But I bring this up because I do remember those feelings. I really can not imagine how I would feel if he had Autism. That doesn't go away. For the most part anyway. Now with Eli due to bless the world with his presence in about three Weeks I find the Hope / Fear once again. As long as he is healthy, I will be, and make sure that he is, happy.

So I understand the need for people to find the Link. The Cause of Autism. Once that is discovered, a Treatment and or Cure , may be discovered. So whenever I see this type of Study, no matter how illogical it may sound, I pay attention. According to US News and World Report - Health Buzz: Autism Risk Linked to Freeway Proximity By Angela Haupt Angela Haupt – Fri Dec 17, 1:56 pm ET Living Close to a Freeway May Increase Autism Risk

Could where you live could increase your child's chances of developing autism? New research suggests babies born to mothers who live close to freeways have double the risk of becoming autistic compared to other kids, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

Researchers examined nearly 600 children ages 2 to 5--roughly half of whom had autism-- in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Sacramento. Those whose homes were within 1,000 feet of a freeway at birth appeared to be twice as likely to have autism, though the association didn't extend to major roads. Why freeways and not other highly-trafficked thoroughfares? Perhaps it's because of the type and quantity of the chemicals dispersed, the researchers speculated; in Los Angeles, for example, more than 300,000 cars cross some freeways daily, spewing pollutants. Past studies have linked autism to air pollutants, but the latest findings are the first to connect vehicular pollutants to the disorder.

"This study isn't saying exposure to air pollution or exposure to traffic causes autism," lead researcher Heather Volk of the Saban Research Institute at Children's Hospital Los Angeles told The Los Angeles Times. "But it could be one of the factors that are contributing to its increase." Reported cases of autism jumped by 57 percent between 2002 and 2006, and about 1 in 110 children now has the disorder.

I never thought living that close to a Freeway is good for ya at any age. Just like all the Studies that have been done, some of which we have talked about, that say those that live in more rural areas that are large and isolated areas of an open country with low population density, are happier than those that live in the Cities. Those that live in the "Countryside" which refers to rural areas that are open. Forest, wetlands, and other areas with a low population density are the Happiest. One of the Biggest reasons is pollution.

Lets face it. Would you rather walk out your front door, stretch out your arms and breath in a deep breath of a dose of fresh clean, Tree filtered Air, with a hint of Floral and or Pine? OR, walk out your front door, stretch out your arms and breath in a good dose of Car Exhaust. Along with many other pollutants that can be found in Big Cities and near Freeways? Yeah. Me too. Not to mention the safety factor.

So could all that pollution be a possible factor in Autism? Sounds Logical to me. But as we just discussed, I would recommend rural areas and Countrysides for a whole host of reasons.
Peter

Sources:

Opntalk - H.S. For Sunday 081207
US News and World Report - Health Buzz: Autism Risk Linked to Freeway Proximity

Health and Science 012509

In the Duh, I mean Health and Science Segment this Week

Hey folks,

I was so blown away with this, I had to share. I had NO IDEA that this could POSSIBLY even contribute to poor health. I mean, I really feel sorry for my friends in California and New York. You guys better be careful. According to the AFP - Reduced pollution increases life expectancy: study

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Reducing pollution produces measurable health gains, according to a new study that found cleaner air had lengthened life expectancy by five months in 51 US cities.

Researchers at Brigham Young University and Harvard School of Public Health found that average life expectancy increased by three years between 1980 and 2000 in those cities, and that approximately five months of that gain owed to cleaner air.

"Such a significant increase in life expectancy attributable to reducing air pollution is remarkable," said C. Arden Pope III, a BYU epidemiologist and lead author on the study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

"We find that we're getting a substantial return on our investments in improving our air quality. Not only are we getting cleaner air that improves our environment, but it is improving our public health."

The researchers compared data in 51 US cities on changes in air pollution between those 20 years and the life expectancies of residents during those years.

They applied advanced statistical models to account for other factors possibly affecting life spans, such as changes in demographics, income, migration, population, education and cigarette smoking.

Yeah I know. They pumped a bunch of man-made hypotheses into the computer to make things seem WORSE, even if some of those things are completely false, but I do not think anyone can deny that clean air is better for you than a bunch of man-made pollutants.

Cities that had previously been the most polluted and saw the most extensive clean-ups added an average 10 months to residents' lives.

By the end of the study period, life expectancy had increased by 2.72 years in the cities studied, with up to five months, or 15 percent of that gain owing to reduced air pollution.

Other studies have shown that these gains probably owe to a decrease in cardiovascular and cardiopulmonary diseases often linked to air pollution.

Pope and study co-author Douglas Dockery of Harvard teamed up with other researchers on studies published in the early 1990s that found that "PM2.5" -- pollutants less than 2.5 microns in diameter -- had negative health effects.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) used those and other studies as a basis to tighten air pollution standards in 1997.

Analysis in the latest study found that for every decrease of 10 micrograms per cubic meter of particulate pollution in a city, the average life expectancy of residents in the city grew by more than seven months.

The average PM2.5 levels in the 51 cities studied dropped from 21 to 14 micrograms per cubic meter during the 1980s and 1990s. Health gains were also found in cities that initially had relatively clean air but then made further improvements in reducing air pollution.

"There is an important positive message here that the efforts to reduce particulate air pollution concentrations in the United States over the past 20 years have led to substantial and measurable improvements in life expectancy," Pope said.

The study was financed by the EPA, the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, among others.

So of course, this will be used in the whole Global Warming Scam. We must do more, even with those cities that have relativity clean air. But in reality, I think pretty much ANY and EVERY one can agree, clean air is good.
Peter

Sources:
AFP - Reduced pollution increases life expectancy: study