When and where are often key clues for epidemiologists, medical sleuths who help solve the underlying mysteries of disease. The technology dates back at least to his 19th-century London, where a doctor named John Snow mapped cholera deaths and traced the origin of the outbreak to his one well in the city. The epidemic ended when the well was closed.
Taking this idea to a new level, health scientists at the University of Utah, using a unique combination of geographic and demographic data, recently discovered when and where the parents and grandparents of children in Utah were born and raised with autism. concluded that it may contribute to an increased risk of descendants.
Scientists believe that this new approach could be used to investigate the temporal and spatial aspects of any disease for which genealogical information is available.
The study, published in the International Journal of Health Geographics, is one of the first to assess the effects of time and space (when and where). beyond generations about increased risk of autism. Over time, the findings could lead to the identification of environmental factors, such as exposure to pollutants, that can have destructive effects on genetic information passed on from generation to generation, the researchers say.
James VanDerslice, an environmental epidemiologist in the Department of Public Health at U of U Health, said: Image Credit: Charlie Ehlert/Utah Health University.
“By looking back at families and where and when they lived, we were able to detect clusters of individuals who appeared to be at increased risk for autism among their offspring,” said U of U Health Public. said James VanDerslice, an environmental epidemiologist in the Department of Health. Senior author of the study. “Knowing that the parents and grandparents of children with autism shared space and time brings us closer to understanding the environmental factors that may have influenced this health condition.”
Transgenerational epidemiological studies are difficult and time-consuming, says Rebecca Richards Steed, the study’s principal investigator and a graduate student in the Department of Geography at the University of Utah. In fact, most of these studies have been done in animals, which reproduce quickly and can be followed for several generations in a shorter period of time than humans.
VanDerslice and Richards-Steed use existing technology in new ways to examine existing data available to parents and grandparents to identify locations and potential risk factors that increase disease risk in the next generation. By specifying the time period, we avoided this drawback.
Researchers used the Utah Registry of Autism and Developmental Disabilities in conjunction with the Utah Population Database (UPDB) to identify parents and grandparents of children with autism born between 1989 and 2014. Did.
UPDB’s birth certificates, driver’s license information, census and medical records helped scientists track when and where these individuals lived. UPDB is one of the few databases in the world that contains this kind of information.
For comparison, we randomly selected parents and grandparents of children not diagnosed with autism from the UPDB database. The individual’s name was withheld from researchers.
In all, VanDerslice and colleagues identified where 7,900 parents and 31,600 grandparents were born and raised. They identified 20 major clusters, or groups, scattered throughout the state. After analysis, 13 of the 20 clusters (9 grandparents, 4 parents) were associated with an increased risk of autism in their children or grandchildren. The odds of becoming autistic were about three times higher than expected.
Rebecca Richards Steed, principal investigator of the study and a graduate student in the Department of Geography at the University of Utah, said:Image credit: Charlie Ehlert / University of Utah Health
“What we see is consistent with current scientific understanding that paternal genetics is key to evolutionary change and adaptation,” says Richards Steed. In that case, it is quite possible that signals shaped by environmental experience come from paternal lineages that are passed down in the family.”
Seven clusters, all located in rural areas, had a low risk of association between autism and family history.
“I’m not sure why some rural areas seemed to have what’s called a protective effect,” says Richards-Steed. “It is certainly possible that urban parents and grandparents had different environmental exposures and experiences.”
“Based on our findings, we can say that what we are exposed to now probably affects not only us and our children, but also our children’s children. It means that there is
Going forward, researchers will delve deeper into factors such as lifestyle that may help explain these results.
“Evidence shows that our environment has a deterministic effect on our growth and development, including the germ cells we carry for our next generation,” he said. “Looking at the space and time that our ancestors shared can provide clues about environmental factors that may lead to biological changes that increase the risk of disease in future generations,” says VanDerslice. There is a possibility. “
Scientists believe that this new approach could be used to investigate the temporal and spatial aspects of other conditions for which genealogical information is available.
“This idea is not unique to autism,” says Richards-Steed. “This could be applied to any disease and could enhance our ability to understand how the confluence of genetic and environmental factors has long-term effects on family health.”
