Pregnancy complication may increase risk of autism in children

New York Post • November 27, 2025 • health

Key Points:

New research from Israel involving over 51,000 women shows that thyroid dysfunction before and during pregnancy more than doubles the risk of having a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
The risk of ASD increases with the duration of thyroid hormone imbalance, with persistent low thyroid hormone levels throughout pregnancy tripling the likelihood of autism diagnosis.
Proper treatment and control of thyroid problems during pregnancy appear to mitigate this increased risk, as adequately managed thyroid dysfunction was not linked to higher autism rates.
Thyroid hormones are crucial for fetal brain development, influencing neuron growth, brain structure formation, and myelin production, which are vital for neural communication.
Despite its prevalence, thyroid disease often goes undiagnosed in pregnant women since routine thyroid

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