Possible Link between autism IVF/fertility drugs

[HopeandDreamG]

Studies Link Infertility Treatments to Autism - TIME (http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1990567,00.html)

Also put this in the HT section. Because it also addresses clomid I thought some of you would be interested in reading this article. It seems to raise more questions then anything else but interesting nonetheless.

[atomic sagebrush]

People who need to go HT for infertility do so for some reason - advanced age, poor health, medical conditions, male factor infertility, etc. People who take Clomid also are prescribed that for a reason, like PCOS. Age, bad maternal health, poor sperm quality, and PCOS are all linked to higher rates of birth defects, autism, losses, and so on. This is a coincidence and nothing more than that.

[Wanting-a-girl]

Everything is linked to autism! It drives me nuts! I have autistic kids and I'm a healthy extremely fertile woman in my mid twenties

[rainbowflower]

not read that link, but the one study I heard about that found a clomid-autism link didn't even check if the babies with it were multiples or premature, and both of those things are thought to increase the risk of autism too.

[BeadinMom]

I read that article, too Rainbow...it said clomid causes lower cholesterol levels & thats what causes autism. But I know a TON of ladies that took clomid & none of them have autistic children.
Wish we did know what caused it!!

[atomic sagebrush]

I have seen that article too and I want to kick that "doctor" in the nuts and test his cholesterol levels before and after I do so. QUACK.

That is ridiculous because most people are on Clomid for 5 days for no longer than 6 months (and usually much less) and then are pregnant for 40 weeks during which they are not on Clomid. If Clomid was some magic medication that could dramatically lower cholesterol levels for 40 weeks after taking it for 5 days, to such an extent that it causes birth defects, then doctors everywhere would be prescribing it for people with high cholesterol. "Here take this for 5 days and it will lower your cholesterol for 40 weeks."

The only people who take Clomid long enough to worry about it lowering cholesterol are weight lifters.

[Wanting-a-girl]

That's why they point their fingers to everything because they don't know what causes it... And when yu put all these studies together they just contradict themselves... For instance there's studies that going overdue causes it so you get induced but then an induction can cause it.... Then you delay cord clamping so the baby gets the stem cells and the baby doesn't get cut off oxygen prematurely but them delaying cord clamping increases jaundice and jaundice is linked to autism lol I could run around in circles all day lol

My ds2 who has classic autism... Not the kind that looks so fascinating on tv shows lol...(another thing I hate! How tv and media portray it lol ask a parent to compare classic autism to aspbergers and we will laugh and say ya we wish!) anyways he was overdue a week not induced he cam 2 hours before my induction his cord was cut right away and he had trouble breathing he had jaundice but didn't need photo therapy the. I got preg with ds3 and wanted to do anything that I could to give him a fighting chance... I got induced 39 weeks delayed cord clamping he got jaundice he needed photo therapy and I'm pretty sure he's another classic autism guy... I'm Rh- and I know a study was just released on antibodies... I havnt read much of it cause it might just irritate me and make me blame myself...

Could be genetics? I don't know I was told if it was genetic then the stem cell treatment we got ds2 wouldn't have worked well within 10 days my mute son started talking now he doesn't shut up which is great I'm thankful for that... I hate when people say they just want their kids to shut up...cause I never thought I would hear mine talk...

I put my money n environmental elements... Like pollution, hormones in food etc... It's really the only way to explain the crazy boom of autism


Anyways I ramble... Lol sorry

[Hopeful1]

People who need to go HT for infertility do so for some reason - advanced age, poor health, medical conditions, male factor infertility, etc. People who take Clomid also are prescribed that for a reason, like PCOS. Age, bad maternal health, poor sperm quality, and PCOS are all linked to higher rates of birth defects, autism, losses, and so on. This is a coincidence and nothing more than that.

Yes, I agree. I know someone with 4 kiddos. Triplet girls conceived thanks to Clomid and a surprise boy conceived when the trips were 9 months old. All 4 have autism. I do not think a 5 day dose of ANYTHING will cause birth defects in a child conceived 18 months later. That's absurd. Even if you are doing IVF and taking shots of hormones every day for a few weeks, that stuff doesn't stick around for years and years. I think that there is something underlying the REASON people are taking fertility drugs that is the cause of increased risk of autism. And if we could find that link and FIX THE PROBLEM we may have many more women able to get pregnant without fertility treatments.

[rainbowflower]

I have seen that article too and I want to kick that "doctor" in the nuts and test his cholesterol levels before and after I do so. QUACK.

That is ridiculous because most people are on Clomid for 5 days for no longer than 6 months (and usually much less) and then are pregnant for 40 weeks during which they are not on Clomid. If Clomid was some magic medication that could dramatically lower cholesterol levels for 40 weeks after taking it for 5 days, to such an extent that it causes birth defects, then doctors everywhere would be prescribing it for people with high cholesterol. "Here take this for 5 days and it will lower your cholesterol for 40 weeks."

The only people who take Clomid long enough to worry about it lowering cholesterol are weight lifters.
I read somewhere that clomid stays in the body for 8 weeks after taking it, so I guess could still be around in early pregnancy and in the first few weeks when the brain is first forming? noone knows, of course. personally I think clomid has been taken for decades - 40+ years? I don't know how long exactly. But it's been so widely used for such a long period you'd expect any links to be more obvious long before now.

[Mum23boys]

My oldest son is autistic and he was conceived naturally I was 24 hubby 22 so no link for us ! I really don't see a real link

[HopeandDreamG]

It's pretty much what the article
Is saying- there are so many confounding variables that they didn't weed out!

[atomic sagebrush]

I read somewhere that clomid stays in the body for 8 weeks after taking it, so I guess could still be around in early pregnancy and in the first few weeks when the brain is first forming? noone knows, of course. personally I think clomid has been taken for decades - 40+ years? I don't know how long exactly. But it's been so widely used for such a long period you'd expect any links to be more obvious long before now.

Even the most absolutely dangerous things known beyond a shadow of a doubt to cause serious harm during pregnancy only do so a small % of the time WHEN people are actually taking it when they are pregnant. It strains reason for me to think well, because some smidgeon of effects are still being seen from the Clomid 8 weeks later then it could possibly be having some effect. One of the most dangerous drugs for pregnancy, Retin A, only causes issues 20% of the time when taken daily throughout pregnancy.

I agree that if it was the Clomid we'd know it by now.

I just mentioned this in another thread but if the effects of Clomid for 5 days lowering cholesterol were so overwhelming, then doctors would simply prescribe Clomid for 5 days and say, ok you're good for the next 8 weeks. It jsut doesn't add up. Weightlifters take Clomid daily for years on end but that doesn't mean that us taking it for 5 days will ahve anywhere like that effect.