|
|
Autism - Psoriasis Link News Release
| |
New study finding increased autism in kids whose mothers have psoriasis underscores dramatic need for more psoriasis research
(February 7, 2005) A new study in the February issue of the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine found a troubling association between a mother’s psoriasis and her children’s autism. The study, which reviewed more than 88,000 children born between 1995 and 1999, found that only one immune disorder present in the mother, psoriasis, was “significantly associated” with an autism spectrum disorder. Psoriasis Cure Now!, a psoriasis patient advocacy group, responded to the troubling new findings.
“Given that there are roughly 3 million women of child-bearing age with psoriasis across America, this new study is of great concern to us,” said Michael Paranzino, president of Psoriasis Cure Now! “We need Congress to support additional research to study this association further, including to determine if it is the psoriasis, or one or more psoriasis treatments, which may be leading to this increased risk of having a child with autism.”
While funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is up 148% over the last decade, psoriasis research funding at NIH’s skin institute has actually been cut by 13%. Today, the federal government spends just $5 million annually, or 77 cents per patient, researching psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis.
Psoriasis Cure Now! is calling on Congress to support emergency research to examine several important questions raised by this study, including:
• Can these finding be replicated by other researchers?
• Which psoriasis treatments have been used by the mothers whose children have autism? Are certain psoriasis treatments associated with this finding?
• Does psoriasis severity play a role in this; i.e., do women with mild psoriasis have the same rate of children with autism as mothers with severe psoriasis?
• Do fathers with psoriasis produce a higher rate of children with autism than fathers without psoriasis?
The letter to Congress can be found here.
“Expectant mothers with psoriasis already have so much on their minds,” Paranzino continued, “in part because psoriasis treatment options for pregnant women are so limited. Parents with psoriasis also have to contend with the fact that their children will be at increased risk to develop psoriasis. We urge women with psoriasis to speak with their physicians about this new study. These women deserve answers.”
|
|
|
