For a long time it has been commonly perceived that autism strikes boys more frequently than girls. And if the girls have autism, they are understood to be more severely affected than boys.
The previous studies have also suggested that autism is more likely to strike boys than girls and a group of geneticists have found the reason behind this.
According to the study, boys develop the autistic conditions from a comparatively small genetic component and the girls develop the condition from a stronger genetic hit.
The researchers say, girls are not the real victim of autism but when they develop it then they are at worse.
Geneticist Jean-Louis Mandel said, “In the male, maybe more subtle things are enough to create a disorder.”
He works at the College de France in Paris and the Academic Hospital in Strasbourg, France.
The researchers carried study on more than 16,000 people. During the study, the researchers found that autism is occurring less often in females, rather than being missed completely.
On an average, the researchers concluded, about seven males with mild autism exist for every female. The gender gap was, however, smaller for more severe cases, they highlighted.
The researchers also found that the autism is generally resulted from the mutations that either come from the parents or are new ones that develop in the child.
Scientists claim about 500 genes are associated with autism and therefore have different treatment approaches.
The study has also ignited the debate on autism with the study researchers claiming that the study is sufficiently large and well-executed and many believing that factors other than genes play a role in autism development.
The study was published on Thursday in the American Journal of Human Genetics.
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