Lowered vitamin D levels would come from not playing outside and “burning off” excess childhood energy.
There is also a chemical relationship between Vitamin D and the stress hormone cortisol and Vitamin D may lower the damaging effects of cortisol.
Granted, a lot of kids don’t go outdoors the way kids used to. However, in the late 1980’s the medical community started recommending that pregnant women avoid direct sunshine and that they also keep their babies out of direct sunshine. Pregnant women and young mothers are the most likely patient group to pay close attention to what their doctor is telling them. Sunscreen lotions have also become much more effective over that time, due primarily to the advice to avoid direct sun.
Since then, autism cases have increased significantly. Some of that might be due to shifting diagnostic criteria, but a lot of it is due to a real increase in the number of cases.
Dr. Cannell’s theory that vitamin D deficiency underlies the increased incidence of autism also manages to incorporate a number of other perceived causes, including the suspicion that vaccines have something to do with the increase. His paper is well worth reading by anyone interested in autism.
Granted, a lot of kids don’t go outdoors the way kids used to. However, in the late 1980’s the medical community started recommending that pregnant women avoid direct sunshine and that they also keep their babies out of direct sunshine. Pregnant women and young mothers are the most likely patient group to pay close attention to what their doctor is telling them. Sunscreen lotions have also become much more effective over that time, due primarily to the advice to avoid direct sun.
Since then, autism cases have increased significantly. Some of that might be due to shifting diagnostic criteria, but a lot of it is due to a real increase in the number of cases.
Dr. Cannell’s theory that vitamin D deficiency underlies the increased incidence of autism also manages to incorporate a number of other perceived causes, including the suspicion that vaccines have something to do with the increase. His paper is well worth reading by anyone interested in autism.