Autism: nature vs nurture


 RFK Jr claims he will discover the “cause” of autism by September 2025. He will fail, for the simple reason that we already know that autism is a genetic disease. 


Poor RFK Jr. His vaccine-autism connection has been a fail, so he’s grasping desperately for something that won’t force him to admit he’s either a dupe or a liar. 

“Genetic markers alone are not going to dictate your destiny. You need an environmental toxin,” he said.

 

“Kennedy said his study is going to look into food additives, mold, water, medicines and ultrasounds as potential causes [of autism].”

Autism, like cleft palate, hypertension, schizophrenia and a number of other diseases, is a multifactorial disease with multiple genetic inputs. There’s zero evidence that autism is *caused* by environmental factors or could be prevented by eliminating environmental factors. In fact, studies suggest that approximately 80% of the risk for autism can be attributed to inherited genes. It is not a preventable disease, full stop.

Don’t get me wrong. There are environmental factors that do cause disease. Ultraviolet light causes skin cancer. Asbestos causes mesothelioma. Tobacco smoke causes lung cancer. Helicobacter pylori infection causes gastric cancer. There are also genetic mutations that cause increased risk of skin, lung and gastric cancer. But in the case of autism, genetics is by far the dominant factor, based on the published scientific evidence to date.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/rfk-jr-blames-environmental-toxins-for-autism_n_67ffd344e4b0b0977ad63dd7?ncid=NEWSSTAND0001

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