Fertility treatment may raise risk for autism

BE cautious when planning fertility treatment as it may increase the risk of autism in your child, a new study has suggested.

The researchers found that the odds of having a child on the autistic spectrum for those who underwent fertility treatments were 1.5 times higher than for those who opted out of it, in the case of progesterone hormone therapy.

Progesterone is an embryonic steroid hormone needed for brain development.

There is a hypothesis that it may activate a genetic mechanism for the development of autism, .

For the study, the researchers, from the University of Haifa in Israel, included 108 548 boys, as boys have a higher risk of developing autism than girls.

The researchers also found that progesterone delivery before pregnancy may affect critical stages in foetal brain development.

In recent years, efforts have been made to identify the environmental factors that influence the development of autism.

One of the directions that has not been thoroughly tested is the effect of fertility

treatments, the report said.

Today there is a scientific and medical controversy. Some studies have found that there is no connection between fertility treatments and autism, especially in vitro fertilisation treatments.

Other studies have linked individual hormones and autism, the report added.

Autism, or autism spectrum disorder, is a condition related to brain development that affects how a person perceives and socialises with others, causing problems in social interaction and communication. – IANS