144 Maternal Twins and Male Gender Bias in Autism Spectrum Disorders
cause mutations in fetal brain neurons [2]. We tested minuscule amounts of
over 100 fragrances by the well‐recognized Ames test, approved by the US fed-
eral government and the scientific community to test for carcinogens and
mutagens, and found significant mutations [2]. Are the synthetic chemicals
found in fragrances, water, air, and food and drinks that we consume every day
responsible for inducing mutations in a developing fetal brain? The answer is
“definitely”.
Furthermore, there are well documented and well researched scientific
reports about the dissimilarity (discordance) within maternal twin pairs
(monozygotic twin pair) who are genetically identical exhibiting significant
variations in autism expression between the twin pairs [6–13]. In some cases,
one twin was found to be normal (normotypic) and the other had severe autism.
How can the same genetic framework explain these discrepancies? When we
consider diseases that are assumed to be genetic or heritable in nature, we never
think about the impact of the environment. In the last 40+ years, synthetic
chemicals have silently penetrated our food, water, and air and are producing
silent offspring. We are generally aware that autism is increasing in leaps
and bounds, and schizophrenia and older age degenerative diseases such as
Alzheimer’s, and other dementia also have increased beyond what we can blame
on longer life span (a result of antibiotics and abundance of food supply) and
better diagnosis, but we never mention the silent pandemic of synthetic chemicals.
It is odd that we blame the alarming increase in Alzheimer‐like diseases on the
fact that we are living longer or on our medical diagnostic system’s ability of
earlier diagnosis. However, many people in other parts of the world have been
living longer than those in the USA (Figure 6.1) but they have not experienced
the disastrous prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease or dementia (Figure 6.2). One
can see that there is no clear correlation between living longer and dementia.
As a matter of fact, environmental factors and human lifestyle patterns play a
significant role in both living longer and dementia [14]. Many in vitro and
animal models have confirmed as well as identified the toxic effects of environ-
mental factors at the cellular and molecular levels [6–13].
Scientists and the media also claim that the reason for the increased preva-
lence of ASD and schizophrenia is better diagnosis. This notion is false; even if
we take into account the better diagnosis and broadening of the definition of
these two diseases, there is no doubt that they are increasing very rapidly in
industrialized nations. In most of the cases where the genetic causes of ASD
are not known, one could argue that if maternal twins have the same genetic
make‐up and have the same mother and so receive the same blood supply, how
is it possible that one child has ASD and the other does not? Or, one has severe
ASD and the other only a very mild case? Here, we forget to notice sometime
startling but so obvious, namely, the unequal blood supplies from the same
mother to each of the twins. This is where the environmental impact of the
synthetic chemicals is involved. The maternal twins never receive the same