Autism link to drinking while pregnant...

[No1ErmaBombeckfan]

here

I hope this will have the same effect on drinking as it does on MMR immunization...

no they can't Fio but I hear meths is cheap and easily available to the lower orders.

lmfao

[whispers] darlings they steal the stuff...

Light weight article - out to cause a reaction.

Hell - this is from the so called quality press! Can't wait for the tabloids to pick up on this!

farking times. not really quality imo

I still remember the insane articles that the Times used to run chanpioning the mad belief that AIDs was not caused by the HIV virus. They don't always cover themselves in glory wjen it comes to reporting medical matters

Fair point regarding Times.

You just know that this type of article will get picked up and done to death by DM and GMTV as "fact". And I know I will get countless people telling me about it in a "did you drink while expecting?" manner.

Its the type of article that I don't bother to rise to, it offers nothing new or useful.

Stupid posting by me and duly told off..

Apologies to all....

Sarah-Kate Templeton, Health Editor should be ashamed of herself. Her "article" is sensationalist tosh that casts aspersions on the mothers of autistic children.

Lately, I wonder if in place of religion, a lot of people have developed a smug karma-based notion that, if something unfortunate happens to anyone, they must obviously have done something to deserve it.

Sanctimonious tossers.

My brother was classed as SN and it was only thanks to my mum's extraordinary work he is where he is today..

Mum still beats herself up about it, so I apologise again if I came over as a sanctimonoius cow....

Good on you for apologising. It is the article which people are angry about.

Though your first post was worth apologising for!

Anyway, he hasn't even published his research yet. So the conclusions drawn are entirely speculative.

RosaIsRed - exactly. Publishing research like this which, may spread misery and do actual harm, in the national press before it has even been peer reviewed is really low.

Why this need for constant scaremongering where mothers can be made feel guilty? You would think there were no genuine threats or problems that could be given a sensationalist slant without breaching ethical codes!

TIs the whole motherhood as sainthood thing.

No one can ever acheive it (what with being human) therefore they all deserve to be beaten with sticks.

Or guilt, guilt will do it.

I never touched a drop of alcohol (I hate the stuff, it tastes awful) while pregnant and my kid is autistic.

Same here and I lived in a pub at the time. Unless just being in the same room as alcohol was enough to cause ds's autism, oh the guilt!

If autism was caused by pregnant women drinking alcohol then the incidences of autism would be far higher in the UK than the US!

More lazy journalism and cod science. The reality is they don't know what causes autism but that doesn't make such interesting reading.

I am no expert in this area and the doctor quoted in the article may have a reputation I am unaware of. However, to be fair to him he refused to comment before the full study was published and that was probably because he didn't want shock conclusions taken out of context. So instead of being cross with the doctor, who for all we know has made very balanced conclusions, surely the venom should all be aimed at the journalist. It is she who has written a poorly researched article, based on speculation and aimed at causing panic and guilt.

That was my thought, Artichokes.

Dr Mukharjee is the same bloke responsible for the other alcohol/pregancy theories re FAS, isn't he? He seems very good at using the press to publicise his projects. I dare say a good splash helps to attract research funding ...