Part In The Development Of Autism example essay topic

Development of Autism The human body and mind are amazing things. While correctly carried-out functions take place every day, they can occasionally go off track. This can be caused by several different factors. Both genetics and environment play a part in the development of autism.

Autism is a brain function disorder that appears in early life (infancy to three years old) (WebMd para. 1). An autistic child lives in a world all of his own. He avoids eye to eye contact, dislikes cuddles or other warm approaches, and does not relate to the outside normal world by speech.

Commonly, repetitive movements or habits develop (Oppenheim p. 3 - 11). The cause of this repetitive and narrow behavior is unknown (Domain p. 187). Some autistic children recover from their illness, while others carry it with them throughout their lifetime (West and Dodds p. 153). Autistic traits continue into adulthood, but each case varies in severity.

Some adults with autism function well on their own. Others never develop the basic daily living skills and may be diagnosed incorrectly with a variety of psychiatric illnesses (WebMD para. 2). Autism belongs to a family of brain conditions affecting the behavior in early life.

Physicians refer to autism and these other related conditions as pervasive developmental disorder (WebMD para 3). While autism is an illness that occurs in young children, the cause is not exactly known. From various studies on the disease, scientists have agreed that autism is a factor of the child's genetics, environment, or both. Autism can run in families. If a child has autism, each of his parents' later children has an 8% to 9% chance of being born with autism. This is one hundred to two hundred times greater than the chance of someone in the general population developing the disease.

When Autism runs in families, the reason can be environment (nurture) and / or heredity (nature) (WebMD para. 4 - 5). Studies of twins provide the clearest view into the importance of genes and environment. Researchers evaluated forty -five pairs of twins. Within these pairs, at least one of the twins had autism. Of the twenty-five pairs of identical twins, 92% (twenty-three out of twenty-five), both children had autism.

Of the twenty pairs of non-identical twins, 10% (two out of twenty), both twins had the disease (WebMD paras. 7 - 10). If autism were only a component of genes, every set of identical twins would contain two autistic children since identical twins carry the same genes. Sine the pairs or not both autistic or both non-autistic, this shows autism deals with environment (WebMD para. 7). This study of family clearly shows both factors of genetics and the child's environment play a part in the development of autism.

Researchers have not found the exact individual genes that contribute to autism. However, they have made preliminary scans of the entire genome. This led to the finding of several candidate areas. These areas are the long arms of chromosomes two, seven, and thirteen and the short arms of chromosomes one, sixteen, and nineteen. These specific regions are being examined in further detail in ongoing studies (WebMD para 11). Estimations have been made that 5% to 14% people with the symptoms of autism have a separate, known genetic disorder such as Fragile X syndrome and Tuberous sclerosis.

Although these are commonly associated disorders, it is not known how they cause the development of autism (WebMD para. 12 - 14). Autism can result from specific events, such as infection of the brain with the herpes virus and infection of the rubella virus in the pregnant mother, before or shortly after birth. Large-scale brain structure problems, such as hydrocephalus (water on the brain) and a rarely found brain tumor, are often associated with autism.

These different things form part of the child's brain environment. From a study on vaccines, researchers concluded that there is no vaccine, which is a part of the child's medical environment, proven to cause autism (WebMD paras. 15 - 17). With the environmental factors, not all family members will necessarily have autism. Members of a family do not have the same height, weight, or appearance.

They also do not have the same diseases and conditions (WebMD para. 18). There are environmental and genetic differences that explain the differences in one's appearance and health. Some family members will be exposed to environmental factors that trigger a certain disease while others will not.

Some family members will inherit specific genes that regulate the development of autism while others will not (WebMD para. 19). A person will develop autism due to their individual environments and genetics. New discoveries about DNA and genes in autism can help in two major ways. For someone to diagnose autism, he needs specific training as well as sufficient experience with the disease. Presently, there are no special tests than can confirm or exclude the diagnosis of autism.

Further discoveries dealing with DNA could lead to a certain gene testing for the disease. This would help parents to be able to understand what is happening to their child and why the child acts in such bizarre manners. Also, this would help to accelerate the pace of research on autism (WebMD para. 19) There are many mysteries involved in autism. Knowing exactly what happens to the brain of autistic people is the biggest of all. To pinpoint the biological roots of the disease, the exact identification of genes is necessary.

This identification of genes would allow the design of treatments to assist children with the disease as well as aide in the foundation of possible methods for the prevention of autism (WebMD para. 20). Autism is studied as in depth as possible for the time being. Further investigations could find the exact genes or environmental factors that cause autism. Autism can be a result of heredity or one's environment.

Different cases can result from one or both factors. Autism can run from generation to generation, or start as a random first generation disease. People with autism require more care, but give the surrounding normal people and family members a better sense of the luck they had in receiving their own life (Catalano p. 65 - 67). With extensive investigation into the development of autism, the disease can be diagnosed and treated properly.

Treatment may lesson the symptoms and help autistic people function better ("Autism" para. 10). If given the chance, one who is introduced to a person with autism should indulge in giving as much affection and attention that would be positively received. Making this special person smile and feel more attached to others could make a big difference, at least from the autistic person's point of view, which really is all that matters..