Anemia in Early Pregnancy Linked to Autism, ADHD, Intellectual Disability in Kids
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Iron deficiency anemia early in pregnancy appears to increase the risk of neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and intellectual disability (ID) in offspring. Results of a large population-based study showed the risk of ASD and ADHD in children whose mothers had anemia in early pregnancy was 44% and 37% higher, respectively, compared with those children born to mothers without early prenatal anemia. The risk of intellectual disability was highest, at 120%. Interestingly, anemia diagnosed after the 30 weeks' gestation was not associated with an increased risk for any of these conditions.
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@udipta For the study, the researchers drew on data from the Stockholm Youth Cohort, a prospective, cohort study of individuals born between January 1, 1984 and December 31, 2011. The study included 532,232 children (51.3% male) between ages 6 and 29 years at the end of follow-up (mean [SD] age, 17.6 [7.1] years) and their 299,768 mothers. Among the women, 5.8% were diagnosed with anemia during pregnancy; of these diagnoses, 5% occurred before 30 weeks' gestation, while 90.9% occurred after 30 weeks' gestation.