A study in 2005 of children born in California, Oregon and Washington state between 1987 and 1999 has found that there is a correlation between the amount of precipitation in those areas and autism, reports Boston.com. Despite the fact that autism is on the rise in several locales--with one out of every 150 children being diagnosed with autism or related disorders such as Asperger's Syndrome--the doctors involved tend to gravitate more toward the notion that something in the environment and womb conditions "trigger the condition."
Dr. Michael Fitzpatrick, a physician from London, disagrees with the study's results, saying in a statement: "In recent years autism has been blamed on everything from discarded iPod batteries to mercury from Chinese power stations, from antenatal ultrasound scans to post-natal cord clamping, from diet to vaccines."
For more:
- check out this article from Boston.com