Jaundice at Birth Increases Autism Risk

Danish research involving 733,826 children has linked having jaundice at birth to a 67% increased risk of developing Autism spectrum disorders¹.  Among autistic children, almost 9 percent had jaundice as newborns, compared with 3 percent of other children.  The risk is actually more than double for a child with jaundice born between October and March, and the risk disappears for jaundice children born between April and September – as the sun is needed to help clear the excess bilirubin of jaundice.

Bilirubin is a yellowish pigment in the bile that is produced by your liver.  Jaundice in a newborn baby results when bilirubin builds up faster than the liver can break it down.  About 5% of babies in the U.S. are treated with phototherapy lights while up to 60% of babies have some degree of the problem.  Excess bilirubin can easily cross the blood brain barrier, wherein it has an inflammatory effect on the developing circuitry in the brain.  Technically speaking, it is no surprise at all that jaundice is linked to autism spectrum disorders – especially in more severe cases. 

Researchers will never find a single cause for Autism spectrum disorders because so many factors influence the brain’s potential inflammatory state.  Some of these issues are obvious, such as exposure to alcohol and other toxins while in the womb combined with an inability to clear such toxins with adequate methylation reactions (which require B vitamins).  Stress is highly problematic during pregnancy, programming epigenetic changes in nerve settings during development that tilt the brain towards inflammation.  There are many other possibilities, some under parental control and many that are not.

This new study adds more weight to the idea that a combination of inflammatory factors creates an inflamed brain environment that interferes with brain development and may disrupt that development to the point of what has been defined as Autism spectrum disorders.  For example, the study also showed that the combination of jaundice and a mother who had given birth to a previous child also more than doubled the risk.  This speaks to the importance of a mother fully recovering from her previous pregnancy before getting pregnant again – as a mom’s wear and tear state has an impact on the baby’s developing nerves.

Thankfully, a newborn’s brain has tremendous potential to heal and rejuvenate and so for most the jaundice issue will be dealt with as a form of “stress” and the nerves will recover.  However, if the jaundice is severe or the baseline nerve stressors are already high, then there is more potential for injury. 

During the early years issues such as infections, digestive problems, and the use of antibiotics are other highly inflammatory brain situations.  Likewise, an unstable home environment or poor nutrition are also brain inflammatory.

Good parenting involves recognition of a child’s potential inflammatory health issues while in the womb, especially in the first few weeks of life, and in the first few years.  Almost always any of these inflammatory issues can be improved.  If a child is struggling with inflammatory issues (such as asthma, allergies, rashes, digestive problems, etc.) or has a health history of these then parents should be very cautious of immunizations, especially early in life, as immunizations contain adjuvants that are intended to be inflammatory so as to theoretically help boost the immune response to a weakened or deadened pathogen.  Unfortunately, they are also inflammatory to the nervous system.  The million dollar question is “How much inflammation can nerves handle before there is a problem?” 

It is difficult to predict with clear foresight what the straw might be that breaks the camel’s back regarding the factors that could trigger a decline into Autism spectrum disorders.  The jaundice issue is simply more evidence that too much inflammation for the developing nervous system is never a good thing.