Study: Premature Babies 5 times more likely to develop Autism

Study: Premature Babies 5 times more likely to develop Autism

Premature babies, who are smaller, are 5 times more likely later on to develop autism, according to a newly released U.S. study that took over 2 decades to finish. The results of the study was released Monday suggesting premature babies to have heighted risk of developing more health problems including cognitive delays than babies born normally at 9 months.

Most of premature babies are smaller in weight as compared to normal born babies. Although it is known long before that premature babies are prone to health risks and mental problems, but the recent findings is the first to fully establish the relationship between autism and low birth weight, one of the characteristics of a premature baby.

The American researchers had to track 862 children from the day they were born up to young adulthood to successfully perform the study. The 862 children were born between the years 1984 to 1987 in 3 New Jersey counties. The 862 children weighed around 1.1 to 4.4 lbs at birth. Over the course of about 20 years, 5% of babies born with low birth weight developed autism as compared to 1% in the general population.

A specialist urged parents to get their children tested by experts once cognitive signs of autism seem visible. Early detection improves the condition of the child socially and mentally whether at school or at home.

Posted by James Fried on Tuesday October 18 2011, 3:13 AM EDT. Ref: Yahoo. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Nation. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0