Baby teeth link autism and heavy metals, NIH study suggests

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Baby teeth link autism and heavy metals, NIH study suggests

Baby teeth from children with autism contain more toxic lead and less of the essential nutrients zinc and manganese, compared to teeth from children without autism, according to an innovative study funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of the National Institutes of Health. The researchers studied twins to control genetic influences and focus on possible environmental contributors to the disease. The findings, published June 1 in the journal Nature Communications, suggest that differences in early-life exposure to metals, or more importantly how a child’s body processes them, may affect the risk of autism.

The differences in metal uptake between children with and without autism were especially notable during the months just before and after the children were born. The scientists determined this by using lasers to map the growth rings in baby teeth generated during different developmental periods.

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11 Chemicals Creating ‘Global, Silent Pandemic’ of Autism, ADHD and Dyslexia, Study Finds

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11 Chemicals Creating ‘Global, Silent Pandemic’ of Autism, ADHD and Dyslexia, Study Finds

Children today may be at a greater risk of developing cognitive and behavioral issues including autism, ADHD and dyslexia, due to exposure to “new” chemicals, reveals an unsettling new study.

The study, published in The Lancet Neurology, finds a list of common chemicals are likely contributing to what the researchers are calling the “global, silent pandemic of neurodevelopmental toxicity” in children, reports Forbes.

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A New Target in Fighting Brain Disease: Metals

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Research into how iron, copper, zinc and other metals work in the brain may help unlock some of the secrets of degenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

Iron and copper appear to accumulate beyond normal levels in the brains of people with these diseases, and a new, Australian study published Sunday shows reducing excess iron in the brain can alleviate Alzheimer's-like symptoms—at least in mice.

A genetic mutation related to regulating iron is linked to ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease. Zinc, on the other hand, appears to impair memory if its levels get too low or if it gets into a brain region where it doesn't belong, as it can with traumatic brain injury.

Research into the complicated, invisible roles these metals play in brain diseases has lagged behind study of the more-visible proteins that are damaged or clump together in the brains of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's sufferers. But better understanding metals' role in the brain could help shed light on a range of medical conditions and might offer a new route for developing treatments, scientists say.

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