Autistic boys exposed to higher levels of hormones in womb, study finds

Study of amniotic fluid shows boys with autism had raised levels of testosterone, cortisol and other hormones in the womb

theguardian.com, Ian Sample, science correspondent, Tuesday 3 June 2014

Results may help scientists unravel some of the underlying causes of the
autism. Photograph: Alamy

Research on children in Denmark has found that boys with autism were more likely to have been exposed to higher levels of hormones in their mother's wombs than those who developed normally.

Boys diagnosed with autism and related disorders had, on average, raised levels of testosterone, cortisol and other hormones in the womb, according to analyses of amniotic fluid that was stored after their mothers had medical tests during pregnancy.

The findings add to a growing body of evidence that the biological foundations of autism are laid down well before birth and involve factors that go beyond the child's genetic make-up.

The results may help scientists to unravel some of the underlying causes of the autism and explain why boys are four to five times more likely to be diagnosed with the condition, which affects around one percent of the population.

Amniotic fluid surrounds the baby in the womb and contains hormones and other substances that they pass through their urine. The liquid is collected for testing when some women have an amniocentesis around four months into their pregnancy.

Scientists in Cambridge and Copenhagen drew on Danish medical records and biobank material to find amniotic fluid samples from 128 boys who were later diagnosed with autism. Compared to a control group, the boys with autism and related conditions had higher levels of four "sex steroid" hormones that form a biological production line in the body that starts with progesterone and ends with testosterone.

"In the womb, boys produce about twice as much testosterone as girls, but compared with typical boys, the autism group has even higher levels. It's a significant difference and may have a large effect on brain development," said Simon Baron-Cohen, director of the Autism Research Centre at Cambridge University.

Because boys are naturally exposed to more testosterone in the womb, even a small rise in the hormone might put them in the risk range for autism. Levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, were also higher in the autism group. "From this study we can't say this is causal, but it is telling us that part of the biology of autism begins prenatally," Baron-Cohen added.

Previous work in animals has shown that testosterone plays a major role in shaping the male brain in the womb. The latest study, published in Molecular Psychiatry, will now be followed up, to answer whether high levels of hormones lead to more autism in girls, and why levels might rise in the womb in the first place.

The work does not aim to produce a prenatal test for autism, Asperger's syndrome, or milder, related conditions. In the study, some boys exposed to high levels of testosterone in the womb developed perfectly normally, while others exposed to low levels were diagnosed with autism. The results cannot indicate whether an individual will go on to develop autism or not.

Even if a test could predict autism, it would raise serious ethical issues. "A prenatal test that is used to make a decision to terminate a pregnancy could effectively be a form of eugenics. A prenatal test that is used for early detection, with a view to starting intervention in early postnatal life may be less ethically contentious, and would need to be evaluated for its benefits. But we are a long way from that at present," said Baron-Cohen.

He went on to warn that the study does not justify the use of drugs that block sex hormones as a treatment for autism. Drugs that do this have already been offered, inappropriately, to people with autism, but they could have damaging side effects and may do nothing to alter the brain once it has been shaped in the womb.

Richard Sharpe at the MRC Centre for Reproductive Health at Edinburgh University described the work as "pioneering".

"We now know that subtle variations in foetal development are an important determinant of later disease, which may be lifelong. Researching this in humans is incredibly difficult because of the obvious limitations in accessing what is happening in the foetus inside the womb," he said.

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Human Evolution –  27 Sep 2008 (a message from Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll)

“.. What do you think the Human brain can really do? What do you think it's built to do? Let me give you an example of what your society has come to accept as an "unbalanced person." Some of you think it's a "sick person." Let me talk about the autistic one. Let us talk about autism in what you call the most severe case.

Blessed is the autistic one who has come to this earth to show you what future Human evolvement looks like! They spend a lifetime trying to figure out linearity and it frustrates them. Blessed is the savant who the earth looks at and calls unbalanced. For the Humans who do this cannot see what they don't understand. The autistic one is able to get up off the paper and be in color! Many of the autistic ones can do what your calculators can do on your desks, did you know that? And they don't need a calculator! Give them a problem - two digits multiplied by three digits. Now watch how fast they give you the answer. Because they're not linear! Ask them what weekday the 13th of August will be in 2012, and they'll tell you, and they don't need a calendar. You might say, "What kind of a mind can do that?" I'll tell you - a nonlinear one without the walls in the brain that you have.

Have you ever thought about that? The autistic have a nonlinear mind. The barriers are dropped. Can you imagine the frustration of this Human? Here he is in a world of black and white while he is in color. Not only that, you want him to go in a straight line when he is used to all directions at once. This also explains why the only energies that will work to calm him are interdimensional ones - music, art, and love. Does this start to make sense to you? (see below)

What is taking place, dear ones, for all to know and see and understand, is that very, very slowly you have the linearity of the Human brain starting to be reduced. Unlike the autistic, it will be in ways that will still be balanced and make sense. In other words, you will be able to move in and out of quantum thought any time you wish in order to live in a linear, 3D existence, but have quantum consciousness. It will be a return to a form of consciousness that Lemurians had, but with the wisdom of the ages that you have collected. This will not be fast, but the forerunners of that are already here.

I'm going to give you some attributes of Human evolution in a moment, but let's return to the autistic ones. Many reading this are very concerned about autism. You wish to know why there are so many autistics being born. You say it's beyond coincidence that there are suddenly so many! There's more autistic children being born today than there ever have been on this planet. Humans are scurrying around wanting to know what's wrong. Is it the chemistry of the food? Perhaps it must be vaccinations! Some are saying, without any proof, "Yes, that's it - vaccinations must be it." You are grasping at almost anything to solve the puzzle of why so many autistics are arriving.

Yet very few Humans, if any, have looked at the puzzle and said, "Perhaps we're evolving, and this is the first wave of what we're going to see?" Not mentally unbalanced, but nonlinear thinking! This is, indeed, the case. You are seeing a form of evolution and you are calling it odd and unusual. It's simply those who are coming in early with activated quantum DNA. This early forerunner has DNA activated in an uncontrolled way, and so learning is needed to know how to make sense of it all. This is what they are doing, and each generation of savant will have a better time of it, figuring out what is linear and what is not.

Watch the autistic child go through what they must do (autism in its most severe form). They are so nonlinear that there is incredible frustration in trying to linearize even the Human voice as you speak to them. They will do the same actions over and over and over, trying to linearize the nonlinear. The linear walls are gone in their brain, and they have to learn to build the ones that they need. Humans then see them as a problem, and it's not a problem. It's a form of gifted children who are helping this planet to grow. Blessed are those who come into Earth as the new wave of consciousness to show you where it's going. They are setting the stage for a new kind of Human. For this quantumness will develop in a balanced way where many will have the autistic talents where they want them, and the linear when they want that. That's what the Human mind is capable of - being quantum when they wish to be. That's a return to the way it was given to you.

Let me tell you something that's nonlinear in your life. We have said this so seldom. You're given two quantum things as a Human Being, two things that pass between the other side of the veil and this side of the veil that are absolutely quantum, not linear. They have structure, but they are not linear. Perhaps you haven't even thought about them? I'll tell you what they are - art and music. There is no limit to the number of notes that you can hear at the same time, which your brain can listen to and put together. There's no limit to the number of symphony orchestra players that can come together in harmony on one stage. The more you add, the better it gets! Try that with lecturers [smile]. Did you ever think about that? There's no limit to the number of colors that you can comprehend and resolve in certain patterns. They are beautiful and have communications within them all. Music touches your heart. Now you know why. It's interdimensional. It's quantum. It was designed to do that. Now, apply that same scenario to communication and you'll see where you're going. This is Human evolvement. It's beginning on this planet. It will go slow, but that's what's going on. ...‘’

"Soul Communication" - Feb 22-23, 2014 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text version Part 1, Text version Part 2)

"... There's an attribute of a nonlinear mind that you call autism that you should study. There are many autistic Human Beings who can tell you the day of the week for any year within any month. If you were to ask that person, "What is the day of the week for the 15th of the month in May of 2035?", many would know the day instantly. Most Humans would gasp at what appears to be their computational efforts. But the truth is that computation has nothing to do with it. You see, it's not a formula, and it's not math. The answer already exists, so it is known. You can go to almost any personal computer that is calendar friendly and find that information, because it already exists. It's a concept that has already been developed, produced, and stored.

The nonlinear mind works this way. Many with the autistic mind are able to interpret this information almost instantly, because they see the concept. They're not calculating anything. Now you know the difference between linear and nonlinear. The autistic mind is the forerunner of things to come and an anomaly of future Human development. These are the savants of the day, and many of their difficulties stem from their inability to work in a linear world. ..."