Causes  of autism spectrum disorders during pregnancy….Learning autism origin 

The infant's first environment, that is the wombs vital: Since the brain of the fetus is responsible for approximately 250,000 neurons per hour during pregnancies, events that disrupt this process may affect the developing brain in a way that lasts for a long time. Research has linked autism to various factors. a variety of causes during pregnancy, including those are the diet of the mother and the medications she is taking as well as her mental immunity as well as metabolic disorders such as preeclampsia (a type which is caused by high blood pressure) and gestational diabetes. Some preliminary research has also implicated the nature in the environment she is breathing as well as the pesticides that she is exposed to. There is some evidence that suggests birth complications and timing could also be a factor.

The link between many of these causes and autism is still uncertain. This is the case for research on environmental exposures and especially so with research on pregnant women. Researchers are not able to legally put pregnant women at risk of potentially harmful risk; studies using observation are able to only determine the correlations, not the causes The results of animal studies don't necessarily translate to humans.

Researchers are beginning to unravel the biochemical threads that connect certain prenatal exposures together. A lot of them affect biochemical pathways previously thought to be involved in autism, like ones that cause inflammation and abnormal immunity of both the mother and the baby. Each can "contribute a little bit of risk here and there," Lee states It is nevertheless crucial to know how the various pieces of the puzzle add to.

Inside The Womb

Autism has been linked to pregnancy-related events and even the initial days following the conception. Before a baby's blastocyst is attached in the dense nutrient-rich wall the uterus of the mother and begins to develop, the elements that will form the structure of its nervous system are playing out. In the weeks after conception, the genes that control brain wiring are switched on and off through a process that calls for folate, also known as vitamin B9. Folate could be essential in the development of brain structures in the future. as well.

If a woman's diet is low in folate, these processes could go wrong and increase the risk of neural problems, including spina bifida, and even autism. In a study from 2013, Norwegian researchers tracked more than 85,000 women from the time they went into their pregnancies to the age of six years after the birth in order to determine how often and when women were taking supplements of folic acid, a folate that is synthesized and the condition of their infants. The women who took supplements particularly between four weeks prior to conception or eight weeks post-conception were around forty percent more than likely to be parents of children with autism than those who didn't use the supplements. There have been other studies that have found vitamin D deficiencies among pregnant mothers who have autism and their children, however the consequences aren't clear.

The degree to which a blastocyst is attached to the uterine wall of mother after fertilization may influence the availability of the folic acid and other nutrients. In contrast, a weak pregnancy can cause restriction in the growth of the fetus as well as the birth weight being low as well as low birth weight. Both can be linked to autism.

A weak attachment may result in preeclampsia for the mother. Autism-related children have twice the chance than normal children to be affected by preeclampsia according to the study from 2015. If a woman has preeclampsia, blood vessels within the placenta "don't dilate as well, and they don't end up giving as many resources to that baby," says Walker who was involved during the investigation. This means that the brain of the baby could be deficient in nutrients that it needs to develop correctly.

The fetus's immune system may also hinder the development of its brain. Certain molecules, referred to as cytokines that regulate the movement of the immune cells system are also essential for the immune cells and neurons to be able to find their right places within the brain. "The two systems talk to each other in ways that we didn't realize they did," says Judy Van de Water, an immunologist in the University of California, Davis.

The pregnancy-related infection can disrupt the signaling. A healthy pregnancy requires an intricate immune process: Women's immunity must be weakened to prevent it from target the fetus as an intruder, but remain vigilant enough to protect away dangerous infections. If all goes according to plan, serious infections can speed the immune system of a woman and harm the child she is carrying. For instance, a study revealed a shockingly high rate of autism1 in 13in children born to mothers pregnant and infected by rubella. In a study in 2015, which monitored over 2.3 million babies born in Sweden between 1984 and 2007 found that women admitted to hospitals for infection during pregnancy experience 30% more of the likelihood to have children diagnosed with autism when compared with other women in the midst of pregnancy.

This risk is likely to be mediated at least partially by inflammation and a disruption in immune signaling within the mother. A study from 2013 that examined 1.2 million Finnish births showed that women who have those with the highest concentrations of C-reactive protein, which is a commonly used inflammation marker present in blood samples, are more likely by 80 percent for children to develop autism as compared to those who have those with the least levels. The previous year, Van de Water and her colleagues found that women who later went on to have children diagnosed with autism intellectual disabilities were found to have increased concentrations of certain cytokines during gestation.

Certain cytokines are especially important in influencing the risk of autism. In mice the immune system is activated and contributes to autism only when a small subset from immune cells referred to as T-helper 17 cells release a cytokine dubbed interleukin 17. In mice that do not have these cells, the inflammation that occurs during pregnancy is not thought to contribute to autism. T-helper 17 cells are created in response to certain gut bacteria This raises the possibility that women who have these bacteria are more susceptible to the type of inflammation that can cause autism. Eliminating the specific bacteria in pregnant women's guts could lower the risk of autism developing in their children, which is a possibility that researchers are studying.

Diabetes, obesity, and diabetes before as well as during the pregnancy period, and stress, and an autoimmune condition within the mother are connected to autism in the child too. All of them cause inflammation or hinder the immune system in different ways. These evidences combined, are known as the maternal immune activation hypothesis. The meta-analysis that included 32 research papers released earlier this year revealed the fact that mothers who were overweight or obese prior to the time of pregnancy have a higher risk of being 36 per cent more likely who are at an ideal size to bear children who are later identified with autism.