A new meta-analysis from a Chinese team adds weight to the idea that maternal diabetes can increase the risk of autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders. The study found that when pregnant women have diabetes their children are 28% more likely to be later diagnosed with a neurodevelopmental disorder. The risk of autism, in particular, was 25% higher.
The study was published in Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology. The lead author is Wenrui Ye, PhD, of Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, in Hunan. This is just the latest report to show a connection between maternal diabetes and neurodevelopmental disorders.
According to the CDC, about 1 in 6 children are diagnosed with a developmental condition, and 1 in 36 are diagnosed with autism. The condition affects people of all ethnicities, although boys are much more likely to have autism than girls.
Most scientists believe there are multiple causes of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) that act together to change the most common ways people develop neurologically. There has been a lot of attention to the idea that the MMR vaccine causes autism, but this has been widely refuted. The non-profit Autism Speaks has extensive references on this, including that, “researchers reviewed 338 studies and found no link between the MMR vaccine and autism. While the MMR vaccine was associated with a slight increased risk of febrile seizures, this is a known, temporary side effect.”
This Chinese meta-analysis of 202 studies included data from more than 56 million mother-child pairs. The team searched PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and EBSCO databases from inception to Dec 1, 2024, for studies exploring neurodevelopmental outcomes of children born to mothers with diabetes. The primary outcome was neurodevelopmental disorders, per the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
The study found children exposed to maternal diabetes had a higher risk of any neurodevelopmental disorder, including ASD, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, intellectual disability, specific developmental disorders, communication disorder, motor disorder, and learning disorder, compared with unexposed children. Maternal pre-gestational diabetes was more strongly associated with the risk of most neurodevelopmental disorders in children than gestational diabetes.
The risk was 30% higher for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, 32% higher for intellectual disability, 20% higher for trouble with communication, 17% higher for movement issues, and 16% higher for learning disorders in children whose mothers had gestational diabetes. The researchers also found that having diabetes before pregnancy is linked with a 39% higher risk for one or more of those neurodevelopmental disorders.
The authors concluded, “Maternal diabetes is associated with an increased risk of neurodevelopmental disorders and impaired neurodevelopmental performance in children. Further high-quality research is needed to establish causality and clarify the associations between specific types of diabetes and the full spectrum of neurodevelopmental disorders.”
