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November 15, 2007Largest Study to Investigate Risk Factors of Autism to Begin Enrolling Families |
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From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Researchers from Kaiser Permanente and the California Department of Public Health, as well as from five other sites nationwide, today will begin enrolling families in the largest study to date investigating the genetic and environmental factors that may cause autism and other developmental disabilities. The five-year research study, called the Study to Explore Early Development, will involve 2,700 children and their parents from six areas around the nation, including Santa Clara and Alameda counties. "We hope this study will help us learn more about the factors that may lead to autism and other developmental disabilities, and how genes and the environment may affect child development," said Lisa A. Croen, PhD, the study's local principal investigator and an epidemiologist with Kaiser Permanente's Division of Research in Oakland, Calif. "The results may also contribute to better services and treatments for affected children and to prevention strategies." For reasons not fully understood, autism is on the rise, affecting on average about one in 150 children born in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which also is involved in this study. "The new national recommendation for regular screening of children for autism has raised the community awareness of the importance of early diagnosis of autism in order to help children and families," said Dr. Marc Lerner, MD, FAAP, the American Academy of Pediatrics' Chair of State Government Affairs for California. Kaiser Permanente's Northern California Regional Program for Autism Spectrum Disorders provides evidence-based care and specializes in early detection and treatment. Planning for the Northern California regional program began in 2001 and clinicians began opening centers of excellence in 2004.
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