What are the causes of autism in children?

Nowadays, many parents are worried about their babies developing autism, but there are indeed many children who are susceptible to autism. Generally, after getting the disease, parents should try their best to determine whether it is related to genetic factors, including immune dysfunction and brain nerve damage, which may lead to autism.

The cause of autism in children has not yet been fully elucidated. It may be related to the following factors, or it may be caused by the combined action of multiple factors.

1. Genetic factors: Some children are related to genetic factors. The role of genetic factors in autism has become clear. 2% to 6% of the siblings of children with this disease suffer from this disease, and the concordance rate of monozygotic twins is as high as 36%.

2. Organic brain damage: such as birth trauma, intrauterine asphyxia, poisoning, infection, etc. 15% to 50% of children have epileptic seizures, abnormal EEG, and non-specific changes in brain CT and MRI. Some are accompanied by neurological signs, body deformities, etc. Congenital rubella virus infection and cytomegalovirus infection may be related to the onset of autism.

3. Abnormal immune function: The number of lymphocytes with immune function decreases, the activity decreases, and the ability to resist infection decreases.

4. Neuroendocrine and neurotransmitters: Children's behavior is closely related to neurotransmitters. Research data suggests that the activity of serotonin and/or dopamine in the central nervous system is reduced. Autism may occur when accompanied by hypothalamic dysfunction. Some people also believe that the symptoms of this disease, such as loneliness and inability to build relationships with others, are caused by abnormal action of endorphins, a neurotransmitter.

5. Cognitive deficiency factors: Some people have proposed a theory that cognitive functions are related to social functions. They believe that psychological cognitive defects impair the ability of autistic children to understand the mental state of others, leading to a lack of social interaction skills, and even treating people like inanimate objects, and often misunderstand the conscious behavior of others.

6. Multiple causes: Many studies have shown that autism often coexists with certain diseases, such as fragile X syndrome, tuberous sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, congenital rubella, phenylketonuria and ergotamine metabolism disease, so autism is considered to be a neurological syndrome with multiple causes.

It can be seen that many scholars have explored the causes of autism from different perspectives, and a few have achieved certain biological basis, but the nature of the cause of autism is still not very clear and needs to be clarified by research. Although there has been no substantial breakthrough in the research on the causes of autism in children. But the idea that autism is caused by environmental factors has been disproven. It is now generally believed that the brain damage of the child has already occurred before birth or during the delivery process.