Babies treated for jaundice are more likely to develop autism than other infants, though the increase is small.

So says Rikke Damkjaer Maimburg of Aarhus University in Denmark and colleagues who studied all Danish births between 1994 and 2004. They found that 2.37 per cent of full-term babies treated for jaundice developed autism compared to 1.4 per cent of babies without jaundice.

Whether jaundice is a cause or consequence of an increased risk of autism isn’t known.

While the study did not look for a mechanism, the team suggest that bilirubin, the toxin that accumulates in jaundice, may damage brain tissue and disrupt brain development, leading to autism.


Maimburg stresses that parents should not worry, but any signs of jaundice should be treated.

Journal reference: Pediatrics, DOI: 10.1542/peds.2010-0052