Overview
- Mothers with both preexisting and gestational thyroid dysfunction had a 2.68-fold higher adjusted risk of having a child diagnosed with autism.
- Risk rose with each affected trimester, with per‑trimester increases estimated at about 1.39 for gestational hypothyroidism and 1.28 for combined chronic plus gestational hypothyroidism.
- Adequately controlled preexisting thyroid disease was not associated with increased risk, emphasizing the importance of avoiding prolonged hormone imbalance during pregnancy.
- The findings come from a retrospective cohort of 51,296 singleton births at Soroka University Medical Center in Israel spanning 2011 to 2017.
- Researchers and outside experts noted missing data on treatment details, iodine status and thyroid autoimmunity, limiting causal conclusions and pointing to the need for prospective trials.