Jenny McCarthy Anti-Vaccine Theory Proven Wrong: Autism Caused By Brain Cells Altered In Womb, Changes Develop During Mother’s Second Trimester Of Pregnancy

Jenny McCarthy has been in recent news, publicly supporting the anti-vaccine movement.

According to the New York Post, the co-host of "The View" has been stating that her son's autism was caused by the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella (MMR).

The former playboy model directly linked the MMR vaccine to having caused her son's autism.

Jenny McCarthy has been receiving a lot of backlash via Twitter and also by various organizations for her anti-vaccination support.

Former MTV star Kristin Cavallari also jumped on the anti-vaccine bandwagon, citing "books" and "studies" to support her beliefs.

Despite both Jenny McCarthy and Kristin Cavallari's links between vaccinations and autism, recent news has reported that autism may begin before the vaccination process.

According to Bloomberg, autism begins when certain brain cells fail to properly mature within the womb.

TIME has reported that while autism is almost certainly the result of a combination of contributing factors, from genes to environmental exposures, scientists say some of those influences may start during pregnancy.

In a report published in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers found that the brains of autistic children showed differences in certain regions that normally develop in the second trimester of pregnancy.

During a study, 10 out of 11 autism brains had patches of abnormal gene expressions.

It is being reported that the changes in the brain very likely occur prenatally, since these parts of the cortex are generally laid down in the second trimester.

It is currently unclear whether the autistic brains were deficient in the cells that expressed the genes in question, or whether the cells were there but not functioning properly.

Figuring this out could potentially lead to new potential treatments or even reversing the changes.

Ed Lein, a developmental neurobiologist, has stated, "In principal, this could lead to earlier diagnosis and allow us to take advantage of normal parts of the cortex to rewire the brain with appropriate early behavioral interventions."

We're hoping more news and updates on the causes of autism will be revealed continuously.