The World Health Organisation's official causes of autism is interesting reading as Robert F Kennedy Jr readies a potentially game-changing announcement.
According to family doctor Leonard Sax, who has worked in the profession for over 30 years, autism diagnoses in children aged between five and eight have tripled in just 11 years (as of 2022).
But what are the scientific truths being the autistic spectrum and its millions of inhabitants around the world?
Per the WHO website, a summary reads: "Available scientific evidence suggests that there are probably many factors that make a child more likely to have autism, including environmental and genetic factors."
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Studies show that 'exposure to certain environmental factors appears to occur more frequently' in autistic kids or their parents.
Parental age, prenatal exposure to air pollutants, severe birth complications, and diabetes during pregnancy are just some of the proposed catalysts.
"In addition, research studies have looked into possible association between use of various medicine during pregnancy and increased risk for autism," the WHO further writes.
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"For example, prenatal exposure to valproate and carbamazepine, which are used for seizures, appears to occur more frequently in children with autism."
Partly using his fallen political comrade Charlie Kirk's funeral as a press conference, US president Donald Trump teased how 'an answer to autism' may have been found whilst up on stage yesterday (September 21).
The imminent announcement digging into this topic will be 'one of the most important things that we will do', he added, referring to his administration.
Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that the president's health secretary Kennedy Jr was gearing up to declare that Tylenol usage among pregnant women was possibly linked to the neurodevelopmental condition.
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In a cabinet meeting back in April, the 71-year-old shared (per Newsweek): "We've launched a massive testing and research effort that's going to involve hundreds of scientists from around the world. By September, we will know what has caused the autism epidemic and we'll be able to eliminate those exposures."
Four sources for The Washington Post revealed how officials are about to warn US women not to take Tylenol (known as paracetamol in other countries) during pregnancy unless they're struck with a fever.
They'll reportedly allude to limited research pointing to a potential link between the common drug and an increased risk of autism in children. This, however, has not been confirmed by any known or published scientific study at the time of writing, and goes directly against the WHO's insights, who concur that autism isn't caused by any one thing, but is rather a product of multiple environmental and genetic factors.
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"I think you're going to find it to be amazing," said Trump of these new scientific 'insights' at Kirk's funeral.
Topics: Health, Donald Trump, US News, Politics, Science
Dan Seddon