Over the last decade, autism has gone from a rare and misunderstood condition to a disorder that may affect as many as 1.5 million Americans. Without a clear explanation in sight, parents and doctors have worked tirelessly to pinpoint the cause of autism, but the answer remains elusive. Are vaccines the missing link?
If only the answer to autism were so clear-cut as vaccines. However, there is no difference in autism rates among vaccinated and unvaccinated children. One thing is clear though, and that is that genetics play an overwhelming role in autism. Autism runs in families and studies of twins show that identical twins have up to a 95% chance of both having autistic spectrum disorders compared to less than 25% in fraternal twins. Boys are 4 times more likely to have autism than girls. Several genes corresponding to autism have been identified and more may be discovered.
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