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Fish exposed to psychiatric medicines showed gene patterns similarto those found in people with autism, in a study suggesting a linkbetween drugs that get into the human water supply and the braindevelopment disorder. Researchers put antidepressants Prozac and Effexor, as well asantiseizure drug Tegratol into water tanks of minnows. Tests showedthat the same genes turned on in people with autism were alsotriggered in the fish after exposure, according to a study published in the journal PLoS ONE. The findings suggest that small amounts of psychiatric medicationsfound in the drinking supply may be a cause of autism, theresearchers said. Psychiatric drugs have been linked to autism-likesymptoms in studies of rats exposed to the medicines, according tothe study. An environmental cause is really not on the radar for a lot ofpeople, said study author Michael Thomas , a professor of evolutionary biology at Idaho State University inPocatello, in a telephone interview. My sincere hope is that thisopens the door to a new question and allows people to look intothat possibility. Concentrations of the drugs are found downstream from watertreatment plants that process human waste that contains themedicines, Thomas said. The molecules make their way into thesupply downstream, where pregnant mothers who drink the water canpass the exposure to their fetuses. While others have envisioned a causal role for psychotropic drugsin idiopathic autism, we were astonished to find evidence that thismight occur at very low dosages, such as those found in aquaticsystems, Thomas said in a statement accompanying the study. Eli Lilly & Co. s Prozac, Pfizer Inc. s Effexor and theirgeneric equivalents belong to classes of drugs that generated $14.2billion in U.S. sales last year, according to data compiled byWolters Kluwer NV and Bloomberg. Higher Concentrations The researchers used concentrations of the drugs higher than aremeasured in the field, which Thomas said was intentional. Every study that comes out that measures concentrations in theenvironment shows orders of magnitude higher than the previousstudy, so we figured the concentrations would catch up with us, Thomas said. The researchers are collecting water samples from places with knownconcentrations, and plan to test minnows in that water, he said. Autism Rise The number of children with autism and related disorders is rising,according to data collected by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. The number of 8-year- olds identified with autismspectrum disorders rose 23 percent in 2008 from 2006, according toa March CDC report. Some of the increase is due to a higherawareness of autism as a cause of behavioral disorders, though howmuch that contributed to the rise isn t known, according to thereport. Autism includes a range of disorders characterized by socialimpairment, communication difficulties, and restricted, repetitivepatterns of behavior, according to the National Institutes of Health . The study was supported by funding from the PhRMA Foundation,National Institutes of Health and Idaho State University. To contact the reporter on this story: Drew Armstrong in New York at darmstrong17@bloomberg.net ; To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reg Gale at rgale5@bloomberg.net. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as China Mast Climbers , Construction Hoists Manufacturer, and more. For more , please visit Systems Scaffolding today!
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