Could Autism Be Caused by Lack of Vitamin D?
The Autism News | English By Nancy Shute Could autism be caused by low levels of vitamin D? That’s a new idea that’s just starting to emerge, sparked by the large number of autism cases among children of Somali immigrants living in Sweden and Minnesota. The mothers and young children are exposed to much less sunshine in their new homes than they were back in Somalia. Lighter-skinned people make more vitamin D than dark-skinned people do when exposed to sunshine, so it’s easy to imagine that the Somalis are getting relatively little vitamin D. And because most of the Somali immigrants are Muslim, they cover themselves when going outside, reducing their sun exposure even more. But there’s as yet no clear connection to autism. Gabrielle Glaser does a great job of exploring this big question in an article posted today at Scientific American online, explaining what scientists know about possible links between autism and vitamin D—and the many things that are still unclear. For instance, the
