Health Education Lead Poisoning

Autism is a developmental disorder that impairs both nonverbal and verbal communication and reciprocal social interactions and is seen in association with an abnormally restricted range of interests. Although symptoms typically develop without clear etiological cause, some cases are associated with disorders or conditions that negatively impact brain development. Lead is a neurotoxin to which the developing brain is particularly vulnerable. Moreover, lead poisoning in children is known to negatively affect brain systems implicated in cognitive, communication, and social functioning. The present paper presents two case histories of children who, during periods of severe lead poisoning, developed autism or autistic symptoms. These cases under-score that there are multiple causes of autism and the importance of environmental influences in some cases. I N T R O D U C T I O N The key features of autism, first described by Kanner in 1943, are impairments of the development of both nonverbal and verbal communication and reciprocal social interactions seen in association with an abnormally restricted range of interests. Current diagnostic schema indicate an onset of symptoms before the age of 3 years. Although Kanner generally excluded cases with known brain dysfunction, it is now recognized that, in addition to the idiopathic form, autistic disorder can also be caused by a number of conditions that negatively impact brain development (eg, tuberous sclerosis, neurofibromatosis, postnatal herpes). One of the most common causes of neurodevelopmental impairment is childhood lead poisoning. Pediatric lead poisoning has deleterious effects on the development of widespread brain areas including those implicated in cognitive, communication, and social functioning. In several cases, a temporal association was noted between elevated blood lead levels and the emergence of autistic symptoms. The present paper describes two children who, during periods of elevated blood lead levels, displayed the symptoms of autistic disorder. Several unique elements of these cases differentiate them from idiopathic autism and indicate that