Dr. Philip H. Levy, CEO & President of the YAI Network was quoted in today's edition of The Wall Street Journal, commenting on the new CDC autism prevalence study. Check it out.
About one in every 110 U.S. children has been diagnosed with an autism disorder, according to a new government study, a significant increase from recent years.
The rise was driven partly by better detection of the brain disorder, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. But the study also said the possibility that children face an increased risk of developing autism symptoms "cannot be ruled out."
The CDC data showed a 57% rise in autism spectrum disorders in 2006 over a 2002 study that found autism in one in every 150 U.S. children.
Boys were diagnosed with autism four to five times more often than girls, according to the latest report, which concluded that autism-spectrum disorders should be considered an "urgent public health concern." Overall, about 1% of 8-year-olds are estimated to have an autism-spectrum disorder, according to the study.
Dr. Philip H. Levy, CEO and President of YAI Network, a New York-based nonprofit that serves people with disabilities, including autism disorders, said the report confirmed that autism is "a continuing national health crisis." He added that some societal factors were helping to increase the risk of diagnosis. "With fathers in particular, there's a stronger correlation that has been made between older fathers and autistic children," Dr. Levy said.
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Did Dr. Levy mention any environmental based studies he has done, or is aware of? Every time the CDC announces another sharp jump in autism diagnoses, this time approximately 57% over a 2-4 year period "experts" like Dr. Levi mention societal factors but make no mention of the mercury, lead, aluminum, arsenic and hundreds of other environmental chemicals that the CDC had identified and measured in human bodies. It it long past time that serious environmentally based autism research was conducted.
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