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Article: Is there more autism ?: Scientists, parents struggle to find explanation
- Article from:
- Sunday Gazette-Mail
- Article date:
- March 2, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2003 Sunday Gazette-Mail. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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CHICAGO - Mention autism to parents, doctors and scientists these
days, and among an earful of different theories will emerge a common
nod of agreement: The perplexing condition is not nearly as rare as
once was thought.
As recently as a decade ago it was estimated that only about 4 per
10,000 children were affected. Research now suggests the rate may be
at least 10 times higher.
The numbers have fueled debates over whether there's been a true
surge of cases and whether environment or genetics could be the
cause. Some parents and research advocates blame vaccines, despite
recent evidence to the contrary.
But many mainstream scientists point to two much less worrisome
explanations: The ...