On May 20, 2010, researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health presented their findings on a possible link between the use of infertility drugs and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Scientists told participants at the International Conference on Autism Research in Philadelphia that women who used drugs to become pregnant almost double the risk have a child with verses asd nonusers. The drugs studied included clomid (clomifencytrate) and pergonalal (gonadotropin).
This recent study is part of a growing study that reinforces the argument that Clomid and other similar drugs cause ASD through their ability to deny cholesterol to a developing embryo shortly after conception. About 58% of children with ASD have low total cholesterol (<160 mg / dL) and about 19% have extremely low total cholesterol (<100 mg / dL). The average level for children is 165 mg / dl. It was also noted that a high percentage of children born with Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome (SLOS), in addition to a wide range of birth defects, are also born with ASD. SLOS babies are born with a defective enzyme, which impairs the body's ability to convert a precursor (7-dehydrocholesterol) into cholesterol. About 71-86% of these children suffer from ASD. Cholesterol is necessary for the growth of myelin membranes that cover the brain, and abnormalities in the myelin sheath are believed to be the cause of AST. Therefore, many experts believe that low cholesterol levels during early embryonic development is one of the causes of ASD.
Clomid has a long half-life and is present during the embryonic period (the first 8 weeks), even when it is taken before conception. Studies have shown that it is biologically active for 54 days after ingestion and that it can accumulate during consecutive cycles of treatment. In a study at Harvard, they found that the longer the use of fertility drugs, the higher the risk of developing ASD. A crucially important fact — and not known by most doctors prescribing the drug — is that Clomid is a cholesterol inhibitor and degrades its products by acting on enzymes in the body like Lipitor and other statin drugs. Its chemical structure is also similar to a cholesterol-lowering drug, tripanol, which was briefly available in the 1960s. Animal studies have shown that Clomid and Triparanol act on the same enzyme and affect developing organs in a similar way, with triparanol being somewhat more potent.
Pergonal (also known as human menopausal gonadotropin or hMG) also reduces cholesterol, but with a different mechanism. Namely, it suppresses cholesterol in the early stages of pregnancy due to its ability to increase the production of estrogen. Studies have found that after Pergonal ovarian hyperstimulation, elevated estrogen is obtained during the luteal (after ovulation) phase of the cycle suppresses total cholesterolIn fact, there is an inverse correlation between estrogen concentrations and total cholesterol - the higher the estrogen level, the lower the total cholesterol concentration.
GOOD NEWS is that many children with low cholesterol ASD who received cholesterol supplements have shown significant improvement. Scientists from the Johns Hopkins University Medical Center, led by Dr. Richard Kelly, have demonstrated treatments that improve mobility, verbalization, height, behavior, communication and vigilance. More importantly, once we have a complete understanding of the cause of ASD, we can eliminate this cause and reduce the number of families affected by this tragic anomaly.
