What is Autism? What Causes Autism?

What is Autism? What Causes Autism?

Autism is known as a complex developmental disability. Experts believe that Autism presents itself during the first three years of a person's life. The condition is the result of a neurological disorder that has an effect on normal brain function, affecting development of the person's communication and social interaction skills.

People with autism have issues with non-verbal communication, a wide range of social interactions, and activities that include an element of play and/or banter.

What is ASD?
ASD stands for Autism Spectrum Disorder and can sometimes be referred to as Autistic Spectrum Disorder. In this text Autism and ASD mean the same. ASDs are any developmental disabilities that have been caused by a brain abnormality. A person with an ASD typically has difficulty with social and communication skills.

A person with ASD will typically also prefer to stick to a set of behaviors and will resist any major (and many minor) changes to daily activities. Several relatives and friends of people with ASDs have commented that if the person knows a change is coming in advance, and has time to prepare for it; the resistance to the change is either gone completely or is much lower.

Autism is a wide-spectrum disorder

Autism (or ASD) is a wide-spectrum disorder. This means that no two people with autism will have exactly the same symptoms. As well as experiencing varying combinations of symptoms, some people will have mild symptoms while others will have severe ones. Below is a list of the most commonly found characteristics identified among people with an ASD.

Social skills

The way in which a person with an ASD interacts with another individual is quite different compared to how the rest of the population behaves. If the symptoms are not severe, the person with ASD may seem socially clumsy, sometimes offensive in his/her comments, or out of synch with everyone else. If the symptoms are more severe, the person may seem not to be interested in other people at all.

It is common for relatives, friends and people who interact with someone with an ASD to comment that the ASD sufferer makes very little eye contact. However, as health care professionals, teachers and others are improving their ability to detect signs of autism at an earlier age than before, eye contact among people with autism is improving. In many cases, if the symptoms are not severe, the person can be taught that eye contact is important for most people and he/she will remember to look people in the eye.

A person with autism may often miss the cues we give each other when we want to catch somebody's attention. The person with ASD might not know that somebody is trying to talk to them. They may also be very interested in talking to a particular person or group of people, but does not have the same skills as others to become fully involved. To put it more simply, they lack the necessary playing and talking skills.

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A person with autism will find it much harder to understand the feelings of other people. His/her ability to instinctively empathize with others is much weaker than other people's. However, if they are frequently reminded of this, the ability to take other people's feelings into account improves tremendously. In some cases - as a result of frequent practice - empathy does improve, and some of it becomes natural rather than intellectual. Even so, empathy never comes as naturally for a person with autism as it does to others.

Having a conversation with a person with autism may feel very much like a one-way trip. The person with ASD might give the impression that he is talking at people, rather than with or to them. He may love a theme, and talk about it a lot. However, there will be much less exchanging of ideas, thoughts, and feelings than there might be in a conversation with a person who does not have autism.

Almost everybody on this planet prefers to talk about himself/herself more than other people; it is human nature. The person with autism will usually do so even more.
Physical contact


A number of children with an ASD do not like cuddling or being touched like other children do. It is wrong to say that all children with autism are like that. Many will hug a relative - usually the mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, teacher, and or sibling(s) - and enjoy it greatly. Often it is a question of practice and anticipating that physical contact is going to happen. For example, if a child suddenly tickles another child's feet, he will most likely giggle and become excited and happy. If that child were to tickle the feet of a child with autism, without that child anticipating the contact, the result might be completely different.

Loud noises, some smells, and lights


A person with autism usually finds sudden loud noises unpleasant and quite shocking. The same can happen with some smells and sudden changes in the intensity of lighting and ambient temperature. Many believe it is not so much the actual noise, smell or light, but rather the surprise, and not being able to prepare for it - similar to the response to surprising physical contact.

If the person with autism knows something is going to happen, he can cope with it much better. Even knowing that something 'might' happen, and being reminded of it, helps a lot.

Speech

The higher the severity of the autism, the more affected are a person's speaking skills. Many children with an ASD do not speak at all. People with autism will often repeat words or phrases they hear - an event called echolalia.

The speech of a person with ASD may sound much more formal and woody, compared to other people's speech. Teenagers with Asperger's Syndrome can sometimes sound like young professors. Their intonation may sound flat.

Repetitive behaviors

A person with autism likes predictability. Routine is his/her best friend. Going through the motions again and again is very much part of his/her life. To others, these repetitive behaviors may seem like bizarre rites. The repetitive behavior could be a simple hop-skip-jump from one end of the room to the other, repeated again and again for one, five, or ten minutes - or even longer. Another could be drawing the same picture again and again, page after page.


People without autism are much more adaptable to changes in procedure. A child without autism may be quite happy to first have a bath, then brush his teeth, and then put on his pajamas before going to bed - even though he usually brushes his teeth first. For a child with autism this change, bath first and then teeth, could completely put him/her out, and they may become very upset. Some people believe that helping a child with autism learn how to cope better with change is a good thing, however, forcing them to accept change like others do could adversely affect their quality of life.

A child with autism develops differently

While a child without autism will develop in many areas at a relatively harmonious rate, this may not be the case for a child with autism. His/her cognitive skills may develop fast, while their social and language skills trail behind. On the other hand, his/her language skills may develop rapidly while their motor skills don't. They may not be able to catch a ball as well as the other children, but could have a much larger vocabulary. Nonetheless, the social skills of a person with autism will not develop at the same pace as other people's.

Learning may be unpredictable

How quickly a child with autism learns things can be unpredictable. They may learn something much faster than other children, such as how to read long words, only to forget them completely later on. They may learn how to do something the hard way before they learn how to do it the easy way.

Physical tics and stimming

It is not uncommon for people with autism to have tics. These are usually physical movements that can be jerky. Some tics can be quite complicated and can go on for a very long time. 

A number of people with autism are able to control when they happen, others are not. People with ASD who do have tics often say that they have to be expressed, otherwise the urge does not stop. For many, going through the tics is enjoyable, and they have a preferred spot where they do them - usually somewhere private and spacious. When parents first see these tics, especially the convoluted ones, they may experience shock and worry.

Obsessions

People with autism often have obsessions.

Myths about autism

A person with autism feels love, happiness, sadness and pain just like everyone else. Just because some of them may not express their feelings in the same way others do, does not mean at all that they do not have feelings - THEY DO!! It is crucial that the Myth - Autistic people have no feelings - is destroyed. The myth is a result of ignorance, not some conspiracy. Therefore, it is important that you educate people who carry this myth in a helpful and informative way.

Not all people with autism have an incredible gift or savantism for numbers or music. People with autism are ordinary people... with autism.
What is Autism? - Video

What is Autism - Hans Asperger. Discussion from Tony, the father of an 8 year old child with autism, about what Dr. Hans Asperger said in his sentinel paper

The Social Stigma Surrounding Abortion

An international team of researchers says abortion stigma is under researched, under theorized and over emphasized in one category: women who've had abortions. As a result, they're launching a new direction into research that explores the social stigma surrounding abortion. 

Their invited paper, "Abortion Stigma: A Reconceptualization of Constituents, Causes, and Consequences," is published in the current journal, Women's Health Issues (Vol. 21, issue 3, supplement). The team of researchers is represented by The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health; the University of Cincinnati Department of Sociology; the University of California, San Francisco, Department of Psychiatry; the Guttmacher Institute in New York; Goldsmiths College, University of London; and Center for the Study of Women, University of California, Los Angeles. 

"There is very little research on abortion stigma, and what does exist has focused on women who have had abortions and on those experiences. We're looking at stigma in a broader context," explains research team member Danielle Bessett, assistant professor of sociology, University of Cincinnati. 

The authors cite previous research on abortion stigma including that abortion violates "feminine ideals," that abortion is stigmatized because of legal restrictions, and that it is viewed as "dirty or unhealthy." 

Bessett explains that each researcher on the project is exploring a specific group that could be affected by stigma, such as health care providers that perform abortions, supporters of women who have had abortions, the male partner of the woman who had an abortion, women's experience in pregnancy after previously having an abortion and women's self stigma after suffering miscarriage. 

"This is new territory into research around the social issues surrounding abortion," says Bessett, who adds the research will be conducted in both national and international settings, including the United States, Zambia, Nigeria, Tanzania, Mexico, Brazil and countries in Europe. 

"Understanding abortion stigma will inform strategies to reduce it, which has direct implications for improving access to care and better health for those whom stigma affects," state the authors in the paper. 

Research funding for the paper was supported by the Charlotte Ellerston Social Service Postdoctoral Fellowship in Abortion and Reproductive Health. The research project is led by Alison Norris, MD, Department of Population Family and Reproductive Health, The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Health; Danielle Bessett, University of Cincinnati Department of Sociology; Julia R. Steinberg, Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco; Megan L. Kavanaugh, Guttmacher Institute; Silvia De Zordo, Department of Anthropology,Goldsmiths College, University of London; and Davida Becker, Center for the Study of Women, University of California, Los Angeles. 

Source: 
Dawn Fuller 
University of Cincinnati

More Docs Refusing Abortions; Religion And Location Named Factors

More and more doctors are unwilling to perform abortions, according to a recent survey, lowering the original percentage of those that were willing according to an alternate survey, 22%, down to 14% or one in seven. Although it is a legal medical practice in most locales, why is there the push back by medical practitioners? However, female specialists were about 2.5 times more likely than males to provide abortions, as were younger practitioners, ages 35 and under. 

In the U.S., the demand for abortion is high, they said, given that half of pregnancies are unintended, and half of those end in abortion. More than 1 out of 3 women in the U.S. have an abortion by the time they are 45 years old. There are two kinds of abortion in the U.S.; in-clinic abortion and the abortion pill. 

Religious objections may play a role, as may a reduction in training for the procedure in residency programs from the late 1970s through 1996. After that time, abortion training was required for residency. 

From a strictly religious viewpoint, the study found that practitioners who identify as being Jewish were more likely to perform abortion, while Catholics and Evangelical Protestants, on the other hand, as well as physicians with high religious motivation, were less likely to offer the service. 

Key variables that the researchers asked about included whether respondents had ever encountered patients seeking abortions in their practices, and whether they provided abortion services. Overall, 97% said they had encountered patients seeking abortions, but only 14.4% said they performed the service. However, those aged 56 to 65 were the next most likely group to provide abortions; those ages 35 to 45 were the least likely. 

With more insight, the study states geography is a factor as well: 

"Access to abortion remains limited by the willingness of physicians to provide abortion services, particularly in rural communities in the South and Midwest."

In the Northeast or West, and in highly urban postal codes, were more likely to do the procedure than those in the South and Midwest or more rural areas, the researchers found. Many doctors choose to avoid being a target of antiabortion activists. 

One caveat was that the recent study didn't assess whether specialists who do not perform abortions refer their patients out to colleagues who do. The study was also limited by self report, and by the lack of anonymity involved in reporting and returning the survey. 

It's a growing trend among the United States for anti-abortion "protesters" to use intimidation tactics, or now even outright threats, to try to stop doctors from providing legal abortions to women. The intent is that if doctors can be scared out of providing abortions, more women will have to carry to term simply because they have no other safe options. 

Abortion in the United States has been legal in every state since the United States Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, on January 22, 1973. Prior to "Roe", there were exceptions to the abortion ban in at least 10 states; "Roe" established that a woman has a right to self-determination (often referred to as a "right to privacy") covering the decision whether or not to carry a pregnancy to term, but that this right must be balanced against a state's interest in preserving fetal life. 

Written by Sy Kraft 

People And Plant Medicine: Herbal Abortion Helps African Women

Researchers at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, have examined a number of plants which are used for illegal abortions in Tanzania. The lab tests show that several of the plants can make the uterus tissue contract and that the plants therefore can be used to stop lethal bleedings after birth. This new knowledge is now to be conveyed in rural Tanzania where access to medicine often is difficult. 

Every year around 350,000 women die globally due to post partum bleedings - blood loss during child birth. On the African continent, one in 16 women die during their pregnancy and in some countries the number is as high as every eighth woman. The reason is poor access to medical assistance often because the women either lack money or because they live to far away. The knowledge about herbs, which can help the uterus contract after childbirth is therefore often the only life saving opportunity in remote rural areas. 

Danish researchers have therefore tested 22 abort inducing plants in the lab on rat tissue, and several of the plants had close to the same effect as the control drug acetylcholin. 

"Half of the plants we tested made the uterus tissue contract strongly whereas 11 of the extracts induced contractions with short intervals. Seven of the plants worked in both ways," explains Associate Professor Anna K. Jäger from the Department of Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Copenhagen. 

Anna K. Jäger is Ethno Pharmacologist, which means her research is founded in the meeting with different cultures' traditional healers and she investigates whether the traditional medicine contains active drugs that have a proved effect on diseases. 

Conveying the message into every corner 

These research results will now be used for health promotion in Africa, and for this the researchers are planning a series of information seminars in the organizations of traditional healers and birth attendants in Tanzania. In Tanzania abortion is illegal and this brings the pregnant women to the traditional healers. 

Through interviews with local birth attendants, the Danish doctor Vibeke Rasch from Odense University Hospital has learned about 22 plants, which are used by women who do not have access to abortion in the hospitals. Two of the collected African plants are placed in the vagina and the others are taken as a tea or a plant extract. 

Project People and Plant Medicine 

With the project People and Plant Medicine, researchers investigate whether the plants used in traditional medicine has pharmacological effects making the plants suitable for medicine. It is important to identify the plants which work, but also to sort out the ineffective and harmful plants. The goal of the project is to share this knowledge with the practitioners and users of plant medicine in as many local African societies as possible. 

The laboratory work is done in collaboration with Associate Professor Uffe Kristiansen from the Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacotherapy. 

Miscarriage Due To Low Zinc And Copper Levels

This hypothesis had never been proven before in humans, but it has been demonstrated by University of Granada researchers. Spontaneous abortion is estimated to affect 15 percent of women, mainly in the first trimester of pregnancy. 

Scientists at the University of Granada have confirmed that a low plasma level of copper and zinc in pregnant women may be a factor associated with spontaneous abortion, a hypothesis that had not been confirmed to date, and which had never been proven in humans before. 

For the purpose of this study, 265 pregnant women participated in the tests. From these 265 women, 132 had suffered a spontaneous miscarriage during that year. The rest (other 133) were women with evolutionary pregnancy, selected among pregnant women attending a scheduled birth control appointment. All of them underwent an ultrasound examination, and a blood sample was taken for laboratory tests. Additionally, they were asked to answer a questionnaire. In total, 131 variables were assessed from each participant. 

Differences in plasma concentrations 

The data obtained from the group of women who had suffered a miscarriage were compared with those obtained from the group of women with a normal process of pregnancy. The results proved the existence of differences in maternal plasma concentrations of copper and zinc. This finding suggests that maternal deficiency of one or both trace elements may be associated with the occurrence of spontaneous abortion, which opens new and interesting lines of research in this area so far unexplored. 

Apart from the influence that copper and zinc may have on the occurrence of abortions, the research conducted at the UGR has provided relevant information about other variables previously studied, but significantly unknown as homocysteine​​, preconception and prenatal supplementation with iodine and folate, thyroid dysfunction or consumption of drugs in the first weeks of pregnancy. 

This study was carried out by Jesús Joaquín Hijona Elósegui, a researcher at the Department of Pharmacology of the University of Granada, and conducted by professors Manuel García Morillas and Juan Antonio Maldonado Jurado. 

UGR scientists determined that most of pregnancies (64 percent) that ended in abortion in the study were planned, although only 12 percent of patients had used the recommended supplements of iodine and folate before attempting pregnancy (These substances have been proven to decrease the rate of abortions and malformations). In addition, a third of the women who had a miscarriage reported to be regular smokers and 16.6 percent regularly consumed coffee at a dose that exceeded the abortifacient and teratogenic threshold. The consumption of tobacco and caffeine on certain doses has been strongly associated with the occurrence of spontaneous abortion. 

During pregnancy, 81.07 percent of the women who suffered a miscarriage had taken some drug officially contraindicated during pregnancy, and 13.63 percent were exposed to some drug considered dangerous during pregnancy. 

The most frequent complication 

As doctor Hijona points out "despite the significant progress made in reproductive medicine, spontaneous abortion is still the most frequent complication during pregnancy. It is estimated to affect 15 percent of pregnant women, mainly during the first trimester. Although most of the time it is not recurring, there is a recurrence of two to five percent among women who have already suffered a miscarriage." 

There are data available showing an increase in the number of miscarriages among the Spanish population. In recent years, the number of pregnant women who suffers a miscarriage has increased gradually. This is not only due to the increase in the number of pregnancies, but also to the increase in the percentage of miscarriages - from 10.39 percent in 2003 to 13.70 percent in 2010). 

New Blood Test For Down Syndrome - During Early Pregnancy

For years doctors have struggled to identify Down Syndrome in pregnant women, giving expectant mothers the opportunity to abort the full term. Now a new blood test promises to change all that with several new products coming to market that aim to provide accurate results in the 8th to 12th weeks.

Until these tests become commonly used and proved, women have to rely on an ultra sound that gives only risk indications. If the Sonographer finds indications of higher than normal risks, the mother has to undergo invasive tests, that not only put her understress but subject her to a medical procedure at a delicate time in her term.

Prior to the new tests the only way to identify Down Syndrome was by capturing DNA from the fetus using a needle procedure calledamniocentesis, that can't be done until well into the second trimester and another method known as chorionic villus sampling, which collects tissue samples from the placenta. Both have a small but real risk of miscarriage and obviously require a highly trained, experienced and skilled practitioner that may not always be easily available; adding to the mother's stress.

Down syndrome slows mental and physical development, and individuals with the syndrome usually show mild to moderate disability in intellect and skills for everyday living. Physically, they often have a flat face with a short neck and smaller hands and feet. They're at risk for complications like heart defects and hearing problems. Life expectancy is about 60 years.

Dr. Mary Norton, a Stanford University professor of obstetrics and gynecology clarifies : 

A diagnosis before birth can pose a difficult challenge for couples as they decide whether to continue the pregnancy. It's not only about child-rearing, but also about what happens as the child grows into an older adult and may need care that the aging parents struggle to provide.

But parents who have gone the full term either by choice or unknowingly, assert their children have grown into valuable and intelligent adults in their communities, despite some minor social and psychological difficulties.

Two California based corporations, Sequenom Inc. and Verinata Health Inc., intend to offer the new tests to doctors in the United States by April 2012. They say it could be done accurately in the first trimester, with Sequenom at about 10 weeks, and Verinata as early as eight weeks. Results would be available 7 to 10 days afterwards. Another player, LifeCodexx AG of Germany says it will start offering its test in Europe by the end of the year, to be performed at 12 to 14 weeks initially. None of the companies would discuss costs.

Written by Rupert Shepherd 

How Chromosomes Pair Up

After more than a century of study, mysteries still remain about the process of meiosis - a special type of cell division that helps ensure genetic diversity in sexually-reproducing organisms. Now, researchers at Stowers Institute for Medical Research shed light on an early and critical step in meiosis. 

The research, to be published in the Nov. 8, 2011 issue of Current Biology, clarifies the role of key chromosomal regions called centromeres in the formation of a structure known as the synaptonemal complex (SC). "Understanding this and other mechanisms involved in meiosis is important because of the crucial role meiosis plays in normal reproduction - and the dire consequences of meiosis gone awry," says R. Scott Hawley, Ph.D., who led the research at Stowers. 

"Failure of the meiotic division is probably the most common cause of spontaneous abortion and causes a number of birth defects such Down syndrome," Hawley says. 

Meiosis reduces the number of chromosomes carried by an individual's regular cells by half, allocating precisely one copy of each chromosome to each egg or sperm cell and thus ensuring that the proper number of chromosomes is passed from parent to offspring. And because chromosomes come in pairs - 23 sets in humans - the chromosomes must be properly matched up before they can be divvied up. 

"Chromosome 1 from your dad has to be paired with chromosome 1 from your mom, chromosome 2 from your dad with chromosome 2 from your mom, and so on," Hawley explains, "and that's a real trick. There's no room for error; the first step of pairing is the most critical part of the meiotic process. You get that part wrong, and everything else is going to fail." 

The task is something like trying to find your mate in a big box store. It helps if you remember what they are wearing and what parts of the store they usually frequent (for example, movies or big-screen TVs). Similarly, chromosomes can pair up more easily if they're able to recognize their partners and find them at a specific place. 

"Once they've identified each other at some place, they'll begin the process we call synapsis, which involves building this beautiful structure - the synaptonemal complex - and using it to form an intimate association that runs the entire length of each pair of chromosomes," Hawley explains. 

Some model organisms employed in the study of meiosis, such as yeast and the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans, use the ends of their chromosomes to facilitate the process. "These organisms gather all the chromosome ends against the nuclear envelope into one big cluster called a bouquet or into a bunch of smaller clusters called aggregates, and this brings the chromosome ends into proximity with each other," Hawley says. "This changes the problem of finding your homologue in this great big nucleus into one of finding your mate on just the surface of the inside of the nucleus." 

But the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster - the model organism in which meiosis has been thoroughly studied for more than a century, and which Hawley has studied for almost 40 years - has unusual chromosome ends that don't lend themselves to the same kind of clustering. 

"So even though the study of meiosis began in Drosophila, we really haven't had any idea how chromosomes initiate synapsis in Drosophila," Hawley says. "Now, we show that instead of clustering their chromosome ends, flies cluster their centromeres - highly organized structures that chromosomes use to move during cell division. From there, the biology works pretty much as you would expect: synapsis is initiated at the centromeres, and it appears to spread out along the arms of the chromosomes." 

The ramifications of the findings extend beyond fruit flies, as there's some evidence that synapsis starts at centromeres in other organisms. In addition, Hawley and coauthors found that centromere clustering may play a role later in meiosis, when chromosomes separate from their partners. 

"There's reason to believe that some parts of that process will be at least explorable and potentially applicable to humans," Hawley said. 

The work also is notable as an example of discovery-based science, Hawley said. "We didn't actually set out to study the initiation of meiosis; we were simply interested in characterizing the basic biology of early meiosis." 

But postdoctoral researcher and first author Satomi Takeo, Ph.D., noticed that centromere clustering and synaptonemal complex initiation occurred in concert, and her continued observations revealed the role of centromeres in initiating synapsis. 

"I was staring with tired eyes at the cells that I was analyzing," Takeo recalls. "Somehow I started looking at the spots I had previously ignored - probably because I thought they were just background noise - until I saw the connection between centromere clustering and synapsis initiation. After going through many images, I wrote an email to Scott, saying, 'This is really important, isn't it??' With that finding, everything else started to make sense." 

Abortion Not Linked To Mental Health Risk

Having an induced abortion in itself does not raise a female's chances of developingmental health problems, says a report, claimed to be the largest and most comprehensive ever, published by theAcademy of Medical Royal Colleges (AOMRC), UK. The authors added that whether the pregnant woman decides to have an abortion or proceed with her pregnancy has no impact on health subsequent mental health.

The review, carried out by the NCCMH (National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health, part of the Royal College of Psychiatrists), was commissioned by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges.

The Steering Group sifted through 180 potential published studies from 1990 to 2011 and eventually included 44.

The Review concluded that:

• When a woman has an unwanted pregnancy, her chances of developing mental health problems are increased.
• Terminating an unwanted pregnancy with abortion does not result in a higher risk of mental health problems, compared to seeing that (unwanted) pregnancy to full term.
• What does have an impact on whether a woman who has an induced abortion subsequently might have mental health problems is her mental health history, i.e. a woman with a history of mental health problems has a greater risk of developing mental health problems after an abortion compared to a woman with no history of mental health problems who has an abortion.
• If a woman has a negative overall attitude to abortions, and then has one, there is a greater risk of her having mental health problems afterwards.
• Women who are under pressure from their partners to have an abortion are more likely to have mental health problems, compared to women who abort without such pressure.
• The review added that some other stressful life events may increase a woman's risk of having mental health problems after an abortion.

The authors stressed that it is not the abortion itself that is the predictor of mental health problems, but rather, other factors.

The authors say future practice and research should concentrate on providing support for all females who have an unplanned or unwanted pregnancy.

Chair of the Steering Group, Dr Roch Cantwell, a consultant perinatal psychiatrist, said:

"Our review shows that abortion is not associated with an increase in mental health problems. Women who are carrying an unwanted pregnancy should be reassured that current evidence shows they are no more likely to experience mental health problems if they decide to have an abortion than if they decide to give birth."

NCCMH Director, Professor Tim Kendall, who is also a member of the Steering Group, said:

"This review has attempted to address the limitations of previous reviews of the relationship between abortion and mental health. We believe that we have used the best quality evidence available, and that this is the most comprehensive and detailed review of the mental health outcomes of induced abortion to date worldwide."

AOMRC Chairman, Professor Sir Neil Douglas, said:

"The Academy recognizes that this is a complex and controversial area, where there have been many conflicting research findings. We welcome this extremely high-quality review from the NCCMH, and endorse its findings."

Response from sexual health charities

The Family Planning Association (FPA) and Brook said they welcomed the review. They both stated that there is now compelling evidence that when a woman has had, or is wondering whether to have an abortion, that the procedure is safe and does not have a direct impact on her mental health.

They went on to say that forcing women who are having an abortion to have counseling is both"unnecessary" and "patronizing".

The FPA and Brook jointly wrote:

"Giving women accurate and honest information about abortion is essential and is something that FPA and Brook take extremely seriously. However, we know that misinformation about mental health can be used as a scare tactic by third parties, to try and deter women from considering abortion.

"We hope this new report will prevent this type of scaremongering and ensure women receive the non-judgemental support and information they need."

Response from doctors' organizations

Dr Kate Guthrie, a spokesperson from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) said that this latest Review is welcomed. They have revised their own guidelines regarding the care for females seeking induced abortion according to its findings, which include informing the women of what possible emotional responses are possible during and after an abortion.

Dr. Guthrie said:

"It is important that all women, and particularly those with a history of previous mental health problems, are offered appropriate support and if needed follow-up.

It is essential that healthcare workers identify women that are vulnerable in any way and offer the appropriate aftercare.

Abortion including aftercare is an essential part of women's healthcare services, alongside access to contraception and family planning information."

Response from The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC)

In a published response placed on its website, SPUC mentioned the following points, which are from stories told by a large number of women. The charity adds that several studies with empirical findings demonstrate that there are psychological consequences from having an abortion:

• After an abortion, a woman experiences a wide range of negative emotions, such as shame, regret, doubt, grief, guilt, loneliness and sadness.
• Some women who experience relief after undergoing an abortion, subsequently experience negative emotions.
• Some females may experience PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), triggered by an abortion.
• Even though a history of mental health problems may impact on the risk of having mental health problems following an abortion - it in no way accounts for all of the effect.
• The following risk factors increase the chances of a woman suffering psychological harm after an abortion: no social and emotional support, uncertainty and ambivalence about whether to have an abortion, partner violence, and a history of mental health problems.
• Abortion raises the risk of developing bipolar disorder, depressive psychosis,schizophrenia, neurotic depression, anxiety, and depression.
• Abortion raises the risk of subsequent substance abuse and self harm, especially when a woman who had an abortion gets pregnant again.
• Women who have an abortion because of a fetal disability are especially susceptible to psychological damage.

A list of studies supporting the negative consequences of abortion for the woman are listed onthis page.

Written by Christian Nordqvist