N.F.L. Super Bowl Ad Will Stress Safety

To the usual lineup of beer and car commercials on Super BowlSunday, add this: one about player safety.

For the first time, the N.F.L., currently the target of more than a dozen lawsuits accusing it of deliberately concealing information about the effects on players of repeated hits to the head, will use one minute of its own commercial time during its signature event to address player safety, its most critical and sobering problem.

“It is your biggest stage, you’ve got a massive audience, a massive casual audience, and this topic is probably one of most important topics for casual fans, particularly mothers,” Mark Waller, the N.F.L.’s chief marketing officer, said about the decision to inject a serious subject into the league’s over-the-top party. “And so the possibility that we could actually address the issue in a constructive, engaging way with that audience makes it definitely worth the challenge. It’s a risk, without a doubt.”

The N.F.L. spent several million dollars on the commercial and the creation of an accompanying Web site —nfl.com/evolution — that will go online Sunday and give detailed information about the history of the game and various rules changes. By using 60 of the 150 seconds of advertising time it is allotted during NBC’s telecast of the Super Bowl, the N.F.L. is taking away time it could use to promote other aspects of its business, including more traditional subjects like the NFL Network. (The average cost for 30 seconds of ad time during the Super Bowl is $3.5 million.)

The decision was initially met with skepticism and concern by some league executives. Among those who supported the idea, according to Waller, were two owners of the teams that will play Sunday, John Mara of the Giants and Robert K. Kraft of the Patriots.

Michael Hausfeld, a Washington-based lawyer who is representing some former players involved in concussion-related lawsuits against the N.F.L., said he had not seen the commercial. But when told about its message, he said an attempt to artfully portray the N.F.L. as having been concerned about player safety for decades, and doing all it can now to protect players, was “obscuring the reality.”

“I’m troubled by it to the extent that it seeks to portray a position of concern when they really had none,” Hausfeld said in a telephone interview. “They shouldn’t be focused on placing ads. They should be focused on talking to those players who have suffered the concussions and the consequences. And saying, ‘What is it we can do?’

“To a lot of people, the ad will resonate that they’re trying. On the other hand, there’s a little bit too much protesting. You’re trying to put yourself in too good of a light. Why? You’re trying to deflect your exposure.”

The commercial, directed by Peter Berg — who created the TV program “Friday Night Lights” — will be shown during the final commercial break of the third quarter. It uses one long kick return as a way to take viewers through the evolution of the game’s rules and equipment, from the sport’s beginnings on a muddy field in Canton, Ohio, when players wore no helmets or pads, to the present in a brightly lighted Soldier Field.

At one point, a leather helmet peels back to reveal a more modern one made of plastic. Later, a player grabs an opponent’s face mask, a violation of current rules.

Only the most devoted fan would recognize all the references. The flying wedge, a blocking technique that is believed to have made its debut in 1892 but was banned soon after, is shown briefly in the opening seconds. Near the end, a horse-collar tackle, only recently forbidden, is featured.

But nobody, particularly the casual fan at whom the commercial is primarily aimed, will miss its closing message, delivered by Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis: “Here’s to making the next century safer and more exciting. Forever forward. Forever football.”

The message will stand in contrast to most of the commercials seen during the game.

Can Low Birth Weight Raise Autism Risk?

After studying data on more than 3,700 pairs of identical twins, researchers from Northwestern University found that low birth weight was associated with more than triple the risk for autism spectrum disorder among twins in which autism only affected one of the children.

"That only one twin is affected by ASD [autism spectrum disorder] in some identical twin pairs suggests that environmental factors may play a role either independently or in interaction with autism risk genes," study author Molly Losh, director of Northwestern's Neurodevelopmental Disabilities Laboratory, said in a university news release.

"Our study of discordant twins -- twin pairs in which only one twin was affected by ASD -- found birth weight to be a very strong predictor of autism spectrum disorder," she added.

The study, which was released online in advance of publication in an upcoming print issue of the journal Psychological Medicine, used data from the Swedish Twin Registry's Child and Adolescent Twin Study.

In analyzing twins in which one baby was more than 14 ounces, or at least 15 percent heavier at birth than the other, the researchers found the risk for autism rose 13 percent for every 3.5 ounce drop in birth weight.

The study results suggested that birth weight could play a role in the complex causes of autism by interacting with a child's underlying genetic predisposition, or likelihood, of developing the condition, the researchers said.

Losh added that because autism is a developmental disorder involving early brain development, prenatal and perinatal environmental factors, such as birth weight, may be especially important.

The researchers noted, however, their findings may not apply to children who are not part of a multiple-birth pregnancy.

While the study found an association between birth weight and autism risk, it did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship.

Read more: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_121145.html

Study finds early signs of autism in baby brains

Children who develop autism already show signs of different brain responses in their first year of life, scientists said on Thursday in a study that may in the future help doctors diagnose the disorder earlier.

British researchers studied 104 babies at 6 to 10 months and then again at 3-years-old, and found that those who went on to develop autism had unusual patterns of brain activity in response to eye contact with another person.

The findings suggest direct brain measures might help predict the future risk of autism in babies as young as 6 months old, said Mark Johnson of Birkbeck at the University of London, who led the study.

Autism, which affects around 1 percent of people worldwide, includes a spectrum of disorders ranging from mental retardation and a profound inability to communicate to relatively milder symptoms such as seen in people with Asperger's syndrome.

Among core features of condition are poor communication skills and difficulties with social engagement, and doctors are keen to find ways to diagnose the condition earlier so that they can intervene to help autistic children develop coping skills.

Characteristic autistic behavior tends not to emerge before the age of 2 years and firm diagnoses are usually only made after this age.

"Because there are no good behavioral signs at this young age (under 1 year), we wanted to see whether, by measuring the activity of the brain in a more direct way, we might be able to pick up earlier warning signs," Johnson said in a telephone interview.

His team looked at babies at greater risk of developing autism later in life because they had an older brother or sister with the condition.

The researchers used passive sensors placed on the scalp to register brain activity while the babies viewed faces that switched from looking at them to looking away.

The babies who were later found to be typically developing children showed a clear difference in brain activity in response to a face looking towards them compared to a face looking away.

In contrast, most of the babies who later went on to develop autism symptoms showed much less of a difference in brain activity when someone made eye contact and then looked away.

The researchers cautioned however that the predictive markers were not 100 percent accurate, as the study did find cases of babies who showed no differences in brain function and were not later diagnosed, and vice versa.

Johnson said the results were a first step towards earlier autism diagnosis, but added that more research was needed to confirm and strengthen the brain activity markers.

Read more: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_121261.html

Severe Brain Injury When Young May Have Long-Term Effects

Although many people believe young children are extremely resilient after they are seriously hurt, the opposite may be true with traumatic brain injuries.

Two Australian studies looked at the impact of traumatic brain injury in children as young as 2 years, and found that these injuries affected cognitive function, IQ and even behavior for some time. However, the researchers also found that recovery from traumatic brain injury can continue for years after the initial injury. And, a child's home environment can positively influence recovery if the child lives in a stable, caring home.

"Many people think that the soft skull of a baby may give them some advantage because if they fall they are not likely to sustain a skull fracture. Also, because a baby's brain is growing so quickly, it seems like the brain may be able to fix an injury. In reality, the soft skull and growing brain of a baby put them at a greater risk of future problems," said the lead author of one of the studies, Louise Crowe, a postdoctoral research officer at the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute in Melbourne.

"Children with significant head injuries do recover, but they are generally slower to learn concepts, and some high-level skills are often too difficult for them," she added.

Results from both studies were released online Jan. 23 and are scheduled to appear in the February issue of Pediatrics.

By age 16, at least one in 30 children will experience a traumatic brain injury, according to background information in one of the studies. Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) occur after a blow or bump to the head, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Young children -- those under 4 years old -- are particularly at risk of experiencing a traumatic brain injury, according to the CDC. Such injuries can occur from a fall, a car accident, deliberate child abuse, sports or being hit with a moving object. Fortunately, most of these injuries aren't fatal, but about one-third of children who survive a TBI will have lasting damage, report the researchers.

Very few studies, however, have followed youngsters from the time of their injury through adolescence, to assess the full effect of the brain injury.

The first study looked at 40 children between the ages of 2 and 7 who had experienced a traumatic brain injury. They were compared to 16 healthy children. The children were examined 12 months, 30 months and 10 years after the injury, according to the study.

Not surprisingly, they found that children with the most severe injuries had the worst cognitive outcomes.

But, the news wasn't all bad. Initially, while the brain was recovering from the injury, the children didn't make significant developmental gains for about three years. However, after that period, and at least up until 10 years after the injury, the children began to make some age-appropriate developmental gains.

That means that even many years after an injury, interventions and therapies for these children may be effective, said the study's lead author, Vicki Anderson, a professor in critical care and neuroscience research at the Murdoch Institute.

"Although this does not suggest that children catch up to peers, it does imply that the gap does not widen during this period," she said.

This study also found that the home environment and relationships could make a difference in a child's recovery. More stable homes with less family conflict appeared to contribute to a child's recovery.

"It's difficult to predict outcome," said Anderson. "A quality home environment and access to appropriate rehabilitation is critical to maximize outcomes. Or, the young brain is plastic, and so the better the environment, the better the outcome."

The second study, led by Crowe, followed a group of 53 children who had sustained a traumatic brain injury before they were 3 years old, and 27 non-injured children. They followed up with these children when they were between 4 and 6 years old. The average time since the injury occurred was 40 months.

Children who had moderate-to-severe TBIs scored lower on IQ tests by about seven to 10 points, according to the study. Mild traumatic brain injuries didn't seem to significantly affect IQ. However, mild and moderate-to-severe TBIs were associated with an increased risk of behavior problems.

And, as with Anderson's study, this study also found that a child's environment has an effect on cognitive function and behavior after a brain injury.

"Children from cohesive family environments and children whose parents had lower levels of stress showed better recovery," Crowe said. "Why this is so is unclear, but it may be due to a parent spending more time with their children, and children also growing up in a less stressful environment."

Read more: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_121080.html

Surprisingly High Number of Adults With Severe Learning Disabilities Also Have Autism, UK Research Shows

New UK research on autism in adults has shown that adults with a more severe learning disability have a greater likelihood of having autism. This group, mostly living in private households, was previously 'invisible' in estimates of autism.

Dr Terry Brugha, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Leicester, led research on behalf of the University for the reportEstimating the Prevalence of Autism Spectrum Conditions in Adults: Extending the 2007 Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey, which has just been published by the NHS Information Centre.

The report involved a survey of adults from learning disability registers in Leicestershire, Lambeth and Sheffield between August 2010 and April 2011.

The new report presents findings from a new study based on a sample of people with learning disabilities living in private households and communal care establishments. The findings are combined with information from the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey (APMS) 2007, previously published by the NHS Information Centre, which included research on autism also led by Dr Brugha.

Dr Brugha, also a consultant psychiatrist working in the NHS with the Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust, said: "We were surprised by how many adults with moderate to profound learning disability had autism because previous estimates pointed to lower rates in this group. Because they form a very small part of the adult population, when we added these new findings to the rate we had previously found in adults living in private households, and able to take part in our national survey in 2007, the overall percentage of adults in England with autism did not increase significantly over our 2007 estimate of 1%."

"Our finding that about 60% of men with profound learning disabilities and 43% of women with profound learning disabilities have autism has never been shown previously. It may also seem surprising how many live at home with parents or carers who provide 24 hour care and shoulder a considerable burden: 42% of men and 29% of women with severe learning disabilities living with family members and in other private households have autism. Taken together with the 2007 survey findings this means that most adults with autism live in private households, and before these two surveys they remained largely invisible."

Dr Brugha added "This new information will be of particular importance for those who plan and provide services to support those with learning disabilities. In March 2010, the Government published a national strategy for autism and guidance for the condition, with the view to improving the quality of services provided to adults with autism in England. Such improvements can only be achieved if the number of people with recognised and unrecognised autism is quantified. The strategy gave special emphasis to the need to train staff who have responsibility for identifying people with autism and their care. It will be vital to repeat such studies in future years in order to make sure that the national strategy is working effectively."

Read more: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120131092844

In the Brain, Signs of Autism as Early as 6 Months Old

Measuring brain activity in infants as young as six months may help to predict the future development of autism symptoms.

Research conducted at the Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck, University of London, and published in the January edition of Current Biology,shows that in their first year of life, babies who will go on to develop autism already show different brain responses when someone looks at them or away.

"The study is only a first step toward earlier diagnosis, but our findings demonstrate for the first time that direct measures of brain functioning during the first year of life associate with a later diagnosis of autism -- well before the emergence of behavioural symptoms," said Professor Mark Johnson, MRC scientist and head of the Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development at Birkbeck.

The behaviours characteristic of autism emerge over the first few years of life and firm diagnoses are currently made in children only after the age of two. Professor Johnson's team looked to six- to ten-month-old babies at greater risk of developing autism because they had an older brother or sister with the condition. They placed passive sensors on the scalp to register brain activity while the babies viewed faces that switched from looking at them to looking away from them or vice versa.

The human brain shows characteristic patterns of activity in response to eye contact with another person, and that response is a critical foundation for face-to-face social interactions. Older children diagnosed with autism show unusual patterns of eye contact and of brain responses to social interactions that involve eye contact.

The new studies reveal that the brains of infants who will go on to develop autism already process social information in a different way. "At this age, no behavioural markers of autism are yet evident, and so measurements of brain function may be a more sensitive indicator of risk," Professor Johnson said.

However, in the study some babies who showed these differences in brain function were not later diagnosed and vice versa. The method will need refining, most likely in combination with other factors, if it is to form the basis of a predictor accurate enough for clinical use in the general population.

Read more: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120126123703

Hockey helmet adds anti-concussion liner

A sports equipment maker is trying to reduce head injuries with a new type of helmet.

Bauer Hockey unveiled its Re-akt helmet in Ottawa on Friday, calling it the first designed specifically to manage multiple hits, including rotational-force impacts from turning the head, which can cause significant head injuries such as concussion.

"There are several scientific studies that have shown a significant correlation between rotational force impacts and head injuries, and it is important to look at solutions to help protect players from these impacts," Dr. Mark Lovell, the retired founding director of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's sports medicine concussion program, said in a company news release.

The helmet features a special liner that is meant to protect the head from excessive rotational acceleration when the helmet is hit. The liner is made with a light, pliable material that dissipates extreme forces on impact, Bauer said.

Claude Giroux of the Philadelphia Flyers was one of the first players to wear the new helmet leading up to this weekend's all-star game in Ottawa.

"No helmet is going to completely prevent concussions, but helmets like this one are providing an added level of protection, which is important in today's game," said Giroux, who missed four games due to a concussion earlier this season.

"It comes down to player accountability," Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning told reporters. "We can wear all the new equipment that you want but you have to be aware of situations on the ice."

When the Public Health Agency of Canada launched its "Active and Safe" educational program to reduce concussions and other brain injuries among children and youth last week, safety experts stressed that helmets can't protect against all injuries.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2012/01/27/helmet-concussions.html

Trisomy 18 - What Is Trisomy 18?

With Rick and Karen Santorum's daughter hospitalized, I have had questions about trisomy 18. I hope Bella returns to health and gets home soon. JR

What Is Trisomy 18?

Trisomy 18, also known as Edwards syndrome, is a condition which is caused by a chromosomal defect. It occurs in about 1 out of every 3000 live births.  The numbers increase significantly when early pregnancy losses are factored in that occur in the 2nd and 3rd trimesters of pregnancy. 

Unlike Down syndrome, which also is caused by a chromosomal defect, the developmental issues caused by Trisomy 18 are associated with medical complications that are more potentially life-threatening in the early months and years of life. 50% of babies who are carried to term will be stillborn, with baby boys having higher stillbirth rate than baby girls.

At birth, intensive care admissions in Neonatal units are most common for infants with Trisomy 18. Again, baby boys will experience higher mortality rates in this neonatal period than baby girls, although those with higher birth weights do better across all categories.

Some children will be able to be discharged from the hospital with home nursing support for their families. And although less than 10 percent survive to their first birthdays, some children with Trisomy 18 can enjoy many years of life with their families, reaching milestones and being involved with their community.  A small number of adults (usually girls) with Trisomy 18 have and are living into their twenties and thirties, although with significant developmental delays that do not allow them to live independently without assisted caregiving.

NIH/NINDS

Foundation Website

The Price of Your Soul: How the Brain Decides Whether to 'Sell Out'

At the end of the experiment, participants were given the option of auctioning their personal statements: Disavowing their previous choices for actual money. The participants could earn as much as $100 per statement by simply agreeing to sign a document stating the opposite of what they believed. They could choose to opt out of the auction for statements they valued highly. (Credit: Image courtesy of Emory University)

ScienceDaily (Jan. 22, 2012) — A neuro-imaging study shows that personal values that people refuse to disavow, even when offered cash to do so, are processed differently in the brain than those values that are willingly sold.

"Our experiment found that the realm of the sacred -- whether it's a strong religious belief, a national identity or a code of ethics -- is a distinct cognitive process," says Gregory Berns, director of the Center for Neuropolicy at Emory University and lead author of the study. The results were published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.
Sacred values prompt greater activation of an area of the brain associated with rules-based, right-or-wrong thought processes, the study showed, as opposed to the regions linked to processing of costs-versus-benefits.
Berns headed a team that included economists and information scientists from Emory University, a psychologist from the New School for Social Research and anthropologists from the Institute Jean Nicod in Paris, France. The research was funded by the U.S. Office of Naval Research, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the National Science Foundation.
"We've come up with a method to start answering scientific questions about how people make decisions involving sacred values, and that has major implications if you want to better understand what influences human behavior across countries and cultures," Berns says. "We are seeing how fundamental cultural values are represented in the brain."
The researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to record the brain responses of 32 U.S. adults during key phases of an experiment. In the first phase, participants were shown statements ranging from the mundane, such as "You are a tea drinker," to hot-button issues such "You support gay marriage" and "You are Pro-Life." Each of the 62 statements had a contradictory pair, such as "You are Pro-Choice," and the participants had to choose one of each pair.
At the end of the experiment, participants were given the option of auctioning their personal statements: Disavowing their previous choices for actual money. The participants could earn as much as $100 per statement by simply agreeing to sign a document stating the opposite of what they believed. They could choose to opt out of the auction for statements they valued highly.
"We used the auction as a measure of integrity for specific statements," Berns explains. "If a person refused to take money to change a statement, then we considered that value to be personally sacred to them. But if they took money, then we considered that they had low integrity for that statement and that it wasn't sacred."
The brain imaging data showed a strong correlation between sacred values and activation of the neural systems associated with evaluating rights and wrongs (the left temporoparietal junction) and semantic rule retrieval (the left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex), but not with systems associated with reward.
"Most public policy is based on offering people incentives and disincentives," Berns says. "Our findings indicate that it's unreasonable to think that a policy based on costs-and-benefits analysis will influence people's behavior when it comes to their sacred personal values, because they are processed in an entirely different brain system than incentives."
Research participants who reported more active affiliations with organizations, such as churches, sports teams, musical groups and environmental clubs, had stronger brain activity in the same brain regions that correlated to sacred values. "Organized groups may instill values more strongly through the use of rules and social norms," Berns says.
The experiment also found activation in the amygdala, a brain region associated with emotional reactions, but only in cases where participants refused to take cash to state the opposite of what they believe. "Those statements represent the most repugnant items to the individual," Berns says, "and would be expected to provoke the most arousal, which is consistent with the idea that when sacred values are violated, that induces moral outrage."

Article here

Children with ADHD benefit from healthy lifestyle options as first-line treatment

Every year between 3 and 10% of school-age children in this country are diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Increasingly, families are using natural or complementary therapies to improve their child's attention or behavior, and often seek advice from an integrative pediatrician, according to a new study by researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.

"Many parents are reluctant to put their children on medication for ADHD, and instead want to first try healthy lifestyle options to help promote optimal focus and attention," said Kathi Kemper, MD, professor of public health sciences and pediatrics at Wake Forest Baptist, and lead author of the study.

Published in the January issue of the journal Focus on Alternative and Complementary Therapies, the research is the first to study what parents who seek natural remedies for their child's ADHD are actually using or interested in learning about from an integrative pediatrician. The growing field of integrative pediatrics covers not only complementary therapies, but also focuses on health promotion, disease prevention, lifestyle coaching and coordinated team care.

In the study, the researchers reviewed intake forms, physician reports and laboratory studies for 75 new patients seen in an integrative pediatric clinic over a year and a half. Most of the patients (87%) were referred by their primary care physicians and the rest were referred by specialists. Among the patients, 31% of the families had concerns about ADHD, but only 13% of the children were taking medicine for the condition.

Emerging trend

The data suggest that these children often suffer from several chronic health conditions, receive care from multiple, diverse specialists as well as primary care clinicians, and take a variety of medications and supplements while avoiding ADHD medications. "Although it was a small study from one practice, we believe that it reflects an emerging trend among pediatricians and primary care providers," Kemper said.

The Wake Forest Baptist researchers showed that most families with ADHD children were interested in information about diet, exercise, stress management and sleep. Physician recommendations focused on health promotion information, dietary supplements, such as multivitamins/minerals and omega-3 fatty acids, and referrals to specialists.

"For example, if your child has trouble concentrating in his mid-morning math class, be sure he eats a really good breakfast, or try having him go to bed an hour earlier to see if that helps," Kemper said. "If your child can't sit still to do homework when he gets home from school, have him go outside to shoot some hoops and then try doing homework. I recommend using low-risk, healthy lifestyle approaches first before resorting to medication."

For parents interested in finding an integrative pediatrician, Kemper recommends the American Academy of Pediatrics' website under the Section on Complementary and Integrative Medicine for a list of board-certified integrative pediatricians.

Read more: http://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/153/69736.html

Autism Redefined: New Diagnostic Criteria More Restrictive

Getting an autism diagnosis could be more difficult in 2013 when a revised diagnostic definition goes into effect. The proposed changes may affect the proportion of individuals who qualify for a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, according to preliminary data presented by Yale School of Medicine researchers at a meeting of the Icelandic Medical Association.

The proposed changes to the diagnostic definition would be published in the fifth edition of the American Psychiatric Association's (APA) "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5)."

"Given the potential implications of these findings for service eligibility, our findings offer important information for consideration by the task force finalizing DSM-5 diagnostic criteria," said Yale Child Study Center (CSC) director Fred Volkmar, M.D., who conducted the study with CSC colleagues Brian Reichow and James McPartland.

Volkmar and his team found that in a group of individuals without intellectual disabilities who were evaluated during the 1994 DSM-IV field trial, it was estimated that approximately half might not qualify for a diagnosis of autism under the proposed new definition.

Volkmar stressed that these preliminary findings relate only to the most cognitively able and may have less impact on diagnosis of more cognitively disabled people. "Use of such labels, particularly in the United States, can have important implications for service," he said. "Major changes in diagnosis also pose issues for comparing results across research studies."

Volkmar first presented the preliminary research results in September at Yale and in October at the Institute On Autism American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry Meeting In Toronto. Volkmar and colleagues will publish full study results in the April print edition of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. The study may be available online as early as late February or early March.

Read more: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120120184525

Autism Risk for Siblings Higher Than Expected

Parents who have a child with autism have about a 1 in 5 chance of having a second child with autism, a far greater risk than previously believed, new research shows.

The findings, published in the journal Pediatrics, are significant because they come from the largest study to date focusing on the risks of autism among siblings.

Researchers at the University of California, Davis, Mind Institute tracked 664 infants who had an older sibling with an autism spectrum disorder. The babies joined the study at 8 months of age and were followed until they reached 36 months. TA vast majority of the children did not go on to develop autism, but about 19 percent of the children were given an autism diagnosis.

Based on the study population, that suggests that roughly 1 in 5 younger siblings of children with autism go on to develop the disorder. In the past, it was thought that about 1 in 10 younger siblings of children with autism go on to develop the condition, an estimate that was derived from studies of much smaller groups.

By comparison, about 1 in 110 American children born today, or fewer than 1 percent, will be given a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. That means the younger sibling of an autistic child has nearly 20 times greater risk of developing autism than a child in the general population. The study found that for families with two or more autistic children, the risk is even higher. About a third of children with two or more autistic older siblings also will develop the condition.

Read more at: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/16/autism-risk-for-siblings-higher-than-expected/