Link Between Breast Milk, Autism?

HOUSTON - It's certainly a sensitive subject. Even the Neuroscientist, who questions the thought that breast milk could pass on harmful toxins to a baby, realizes it's a tough subject to bring up. However, he's trying to figure out if those harmful toxins could disturb brain development of an infant and lead to autism.

First of all, Dr. Michael Merzenich studied rats... not humans. What he found is a high rate of chemical poisons, like PCB's and PCBE's ... in breast milk.

PCBE's are a flame retardant found in many products from pj's, computers, to cars and many plastics.

He says medical research shows chemicals like this can scramble a developing brain. American women are believed to have the highest rates of PCBE's.

They collect in fatty tissues, like breast milk. He says these toxins easily transferred to breastfeeding rat pups, and he thinks the same would be true for human breast milk.

Even though Dr. Merzenich is studying this, he definitely supports the benefits of breastfeeding He says he does not want to disrupt a maternal bonding experience, but he's highly alarmed about chemicals in our environment. He's urging the government to study human breast milk.

We wanted to find out what local doctors and parents of children with autism think about it.

Dr. Diane Treadwell-Deering is an autism expert with Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital. She believes autism is caused mostly by genetics.

"I think it can be very distressing and frightening with families when they see a study that they're not sure about -- Did I do the wrong thing?" Treadwell-Deering says. "Should I get my child vaccinated? Should I have had a c-section? Aught I be breastfeeding?

"I agree there is much more evidence to support the benefits of breastfeeding and not really the evidence that breastfeeding would be a cause of autism."

With hundreds of studies out about autism, this researcher suggests families find a medical adviser they know well and trust, to help separate fact from fiction.

As for new mothers... "They can only provide the milk that their body is producing, and if their body shows a great deal of chemical or environmental exposure, then they may not realize they have it, because our immune system is able to tolerate it better, perhaps," says Lisa Graham Garza.

She's a mom we met up with to talk about some of the latest studies. Both of her sons have been diagnosed on the autism spectrum.

Lisa encourages other parents of autistic children to work with a DAN doctor.. which stands for Defeat Autism Now.

"Their knowledge for treating these kids for the medical conditions they have, not just the symptoms they're showing," says Lisa.

It's made a big difference for her family, and she hopes it will do the same for others.

The American Academy of Pediatrics Journal "Pediatrics" reports one out of every 91 children, between the ages of 3 to 17, has autism... it's one in 58 boys! They say this makes it the most prevalent childhood developmental disorder.

Baylor College of Medicine is studying the genes of parents who have one child with autism.

This is some information they provided to us:

"This study will be a very important resource for treating autism in the future, and assessing the disorder, both from the standpoint of genetics and observed symptoms," said Dr. Diane Treadwell-Deering, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at BCM and co-chief of the Clinic for Autistic Spectrum Disorders at Texas Children's Hospital.

Treadwell-Deering will co-direct the local part of the study with Dr. Arthur Beaudet, chair of molecular and human genetics at BCM.

"This is an important extension of recent discoveries about genetic causes of autism," said Beaudet.

To be eligible families must have:

• Only one child with an autism spectrum disorder between the ages of 4 and 18 years.
• One or more other children at least 4 years old who does not have an autism spectrum disorder.
• Both biological parents who are willing to participate.

Researchers will assess the behavior and symptoms of children in the study and ask members of their families for blood samples.
Contribute to research

"This is a wonderful opportunity for families to contribute to research that will have a profound impact on our ability to study autism," said Dr. Robin Goin-Kochel, assistant professor of molecular and human genetics at BCM and co-investigator on the project.

Funding for this study comes from the Simons Foundation, a philanthropic organization based in New York City, which seeks to advance the frontiers of research in the basic sciences and mathematics.

For more information about the Simons Foundation, visit: http://www.simonsfoundation.org/ .

Families interested in enrolling in this study can contact Dr. Goin-Kochel at 832-822-4299 or kochel@bcm.edu.

For a list of dangers of PCB's, you can check out this Health and Human Services link:
www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/phs17.html#bookmark06

For a lot more about what Dr.