Jaundice in Newborns Linked to Autism

Jaundice in full-term newborn infants is associated with an increased risk for autism and other psychological development disorders, according to a new study.

Researchers at Aarhus University (Denmark) conducted a population-based, follow-up study of the 733,826 children born alive in Denmark between 1994 and 2004 to explore the association between neonatal jaundice, autistic disorders, and other psychological development problems, and to study whether gestational age, parity, and season of birth influenced that association. The data was analyzed to calculate hazard ratios (HRs).

The results showed that exposure to jaundice in neonates was associated with increased risk of disorders of psychological development for children born at term; the excess risk of developing a disorder in the spectrum of psychological development disorders after exposure to jaundice as a neonate was between 56% and 88%. The excess risk of infantile autism was 67%, and the risk was even higher if the child was conceived by a parous woman or was born between the months of October and March. The risk for infantile autism disappeared if the child was conceived by a primiparous woman, or was born between April and September. Similar risk patterns were found for the whole spectrum of autistic disorders. The study was published online on October 11, 2010, in Pediatrics.

"The knowledge that jaundice is associated with autism is one more clue to the puzzle towards finding its etiology,” said lead author Rikke Damkjaer Maimburg, M.P.H., Ph.D., and colleagues of the department of epidimiology. "If children with autism are genetically disposed to develop autism, there might be overlaps in the etiology between autism and jaundice; if exposure to jaundice can give autism, then we need to look at our treatment procedures.”

Neonatal jaundice is seen in 60% of term infants and, in most cases, resolves within the first week of life. Studies have shown that prolonged exposure to high bilirubin levels is neurotoxic and can cause lifelong developmental problems.

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