A study has found that kids who have a particular shape in the airways in their lungs all have autism, (or an autism spectrum disorder). Some parents may find this to be a relief, because it would mean that they didn’t do something that “caused” their child to have autism. There are some questions about the results of this small study.
Is autism a disease, or a disability? This question has been debated for quite some time. There are people who will insist that certain types of vaccines “cause” autism, (which hasn’t been proven). You can find things online that imply that the reason why your child has autism is because he was born in a certain season of the year, or was born too close to an older sibling.
A study that has been presented at the Annual Meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians suggests that children who have autism also have a unique shape to their airways. It means that there is something that has to do with a child’s anatomy that relates to autism.
Parents of kids who have an autism spectrum disorder might take this as a relief. It would mean that they didn’t do something that made their child become autistic. He or she was born that way.
Barbara Stewart, MD, discovered the connection between autism and airways when she was examining patients at the Nemours Children’s clinic, in Pensacola, Florida, for their persistent coughs. The kids had a bronchoscopy done. This involves placing a tiny camera into the windpipes of the child, so that the doctor can get a look into the child’s lungs.
She noticed that many of her patients had a specific shape to their airways. She used the word “doublets” to describe the divisions that some of the kids had in the airways of their lungs. Upon further investigation, it turned out that all of the kids who had “doublets” also had autism, (or an autism spectrum disorder).
Parents need to know that there is no good reason to rush out and get a bronchoscopy done on your child. This is not intended to be a diagnostic tool for autism. Instead, it indicates that autism occurs embryologically.
The study was small, and only included 49 children who had autism or an autism spectrum disorder. This group might be too small for doctors to make the conclusion that they came to. The study needs to be replicated before it can be considered to be accurate. This might be difficult, because bronchoscopy can be uncomfortable for patients to experience.
Image by Spectacles on Flickr