4 ms·
The headline is really just a teaser in this case. The meat of the article is more about how autism begins, and how some of the critical developmental steps tha
by neolefty 13y ago
The headline is really just a teaser in this case. The meat of the article is more about how autism begins, and how some of the critical developmental steps that lead to autism occur in the womb.
The other conditions (prostate cancer, for example) are much more significantly influenced by events that take place well after birth.
- thaumasiotes 13y agoProstate cancer is one of the poster children for the theory "the death rate from cancer is increasing because people have stopped dying of other things before they inevitably get cancer". Far and away the most significant influence on whether you have prostate cancer is whether you have a prostate gland; this is determined in the womb. In the depressing words of my mom's medical school professor, having a prostate gland is sufficient to develop prostate cancer; the prevalence is 100% (of males). The question (assuming what you're really worried about is mortality) is not "do I have prostate cancer?" -- you do. The question is "how badly is my prostate cancer growing?"