There is no one factor that causes autism — or explains its growing prevalence. Researchers are seeking explanations for the surge. Here are some possibilities.
Always important to consider an improvement in detection
From TFA:
They attribute most of the surge to increased awareness of the disorder and changes in how it is classified by medical professionals.
That’s important
I’ve seen so many depictions of historical figures that I’ve been like “yep, they’re on the spectrum” that I can’t doubt this.
And a reduction of the stigma associated with medical disorders in general. JFK had a sister with learning disability and mild disagreeableness, which they treated by cutting out part of her brain, leaving her requiring lifelong care. They sent her away and pretended she didn’t exist.
Also worth noting that people tend to refer to autism as if it’s a singular set of phenotypes, when really there’s a bunch of ways that autism can manifest; hence autism spectrum disorder.
Better testing, and people are getting their kids tested more instead of beating the fuck out of them until they “behave” might have something to do with it.
The typical human has the same amount of plastic in their brain as there is in a credit card as a result of the relatively newly ubiquitous presence of plastic nanoparticles in our environment.
Frankly I’d be shocked if jamming a credit card into a human brain wouldn’t cause some measurable difference to how the brain operates.
Edit: I guess the specific reference of a credit card is still undergoing peer review! There are many published papers showing polystyrene in the frontal cortex, though.
That is not true (link is in Dutch, here it is Google translated)
That link says we don’t EAT that much plastic per week.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/aug/21/microplastics-brain-pollution-health
This is saying that our brains are at this point 0.5% plastic by weight.
That is figuratively no, the amount. I do think microplastics are probably the new lead and asbestos. Future generations will be like: “WTF, how did they ignore that”.
I’ve heard this too, but I have only seen news articles about this…are there any other sources that confirm this, say, like a research paper or a fact-check group?
Wow what a fuckin surprise, thankfully this came before the next US admin takes office. I’m sure RFK Jr will adjust his informed stance any day now……
Lots of plastics in carpet and furniture. Wouldn’t be difficult for them to be disturbed and enter the nose
Natural selection?
