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Some of the increase in autism rates among minorities is due to more awareness and better detection, but it's likely that other factors are involved, according to the researchers.https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2019...68322989/?sl=4
Autism rates among U.S. children are rising fastest among blacks and Hispanics, researchers say.
"We found that rates among blacks and Hispanics are not only catching up to those of whites -- which have historically been higher -- but surpassing them," said study author Cynthia Nevison, a research scientist at the University of Colorado Boulder.
"These results suggest that additional factors beyond just catch-up may be involved," she added in a university news release.
Among children born between 2007 and 2013, autism rates at ages 3 to 5 rose 73 percent among Hispanics, 44 percent among blacks and 25 percent among whites, the analysis of national data revealed.
In 30 states, rates among blacks were higher than among whites by 2012. In states with high autism rates, 1 in 79 whites, 1 in 68 blacks and 1 in 83 Hispanics born in 2013 was diagnosed with autism by ages 3 to 5.
"There is no doubt that autism prevalence has increased significantly over the past 10 to 20 years, and based on what we have seen from this larger, more recent dataset it will continue to increase among all race and ethnicity groups in the coming years," said study co-author Walter Zahorodny, an autism researcher and associate professor of pediatrics at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School.
Known risk factors for autism include: older parent age, immune system challenges during pregnancy, genetic mutations, premature birth and being a twin or multiple.
More research is needed to identify other factors that could be driving the increases, Nevison and Zahorodny said.
The study was published recently in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.
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