ETHNICITY

   It is generally claimed that all populations suffer from ASD equally. However, this is not really the case.

   For example, the prevalence for autistic disorder in Goteborg children born to mothers who were born in Uganda was 15% which is almost 200 times higher than in the general population of children(Gillberg et al, 1995).

There are differences in biochemistry:

   Mean serotonin levels were higher for both male and female, autistics and family members, in four black families than in the 10 Caucasian families (Abramson et al, 1989).

  White children had significantly lower 5-HT levels than black or Latino children, regardless of diagnosis (McBride et al, 1998). Postpubertal subjects had lower 5-HT concentrations than prepubertal subjects.

  • “The data underscore the importance of matching for race and pubertal status in neuropsychiatric research and suggest that the prevalence of hyperserotonemia in autistic individuals may have been overestimated because of a failure to control for both variables.

   In a CDC study investigating contribution of developmental disabilities to childhood mortality it was found that developmental disabilities were the fifth leading cause of nontraumatic death for children between 1 and 14 years of age and the third leading cause of non-traumatic death for children between 15 and 19 years. Developmental disability-related mortality rates were highest among children aged 1-4 and 15-19 years, highest among blacks and lowest among racial groups other than blacks and whites, and higher among males than females (Boyle et al, 1994).

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Abramson RK, Wright HH, Carpenter R, Brennan W, Lumpuy O, Cole E, Young SR - "Elevated blood serotonin in autistic probands and their first-degree relatives" J Autism Dev Disord 19(3):397-407 (1989) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/htbin-post/Entrez/query?uid=2793785&form=6&db=m&Dopt=r

Boyle CA, Decoufle P, Holmgreen P - "Contribution of developmental disabilities to childhood mortality in the United States: a multiple-cause-of-death analysis" Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol 8(4):411-22 (1994) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/htbin-post/Entrez/query?uid=7532859&form=6&db=m&Dopt=r

Gillberg C, Schaumann H, Gillberg IC - "Autism in immigrants: children born in Sweden to mothers born in Uganda" Intellect Disabil Res 39 ( Pt 2):141-4 (1995) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/htbin-post/Entrez/query?uid=7787384&form=6&db=m&Dopt=r

McBride PA, Anderson GM, Hertzig ME, Sweeney JA, Kream J, Cohen DJ, Mann JJ - "Serotonergic responsivity in male young adults with autistic disorder. Results of a pilot study" Arch Gen Psychiatry 46(3):213-21 (1989) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/htbin-post/Entrez/query_old?uid=2919950&form=6&db=m&Dopt=r