A study presented Tuesday at Neuroscience 2015 in Chicago reveals that many autism genes may be associated with other medical and mental issues.
The nonprofit advocacy organization Autism Speaks helped fund the study that highlights the effects of autism on the mind and body beyond the condition itself.
The study looked at 115 autism-linked genes and a larger sample of 200 genes linked to a variety of brain disorders including attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorder, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
The study also links autism with an increased risk for cancer, autoimmune disorders, heart disease and kidney problems.
Autism Speaks Vice President for Innovative Technologies Dan Smith said the importance of studies such as this one cannot be understated.
"Our hope for genetic analyses like this one is that they will reveal the causes of whole-body autism symptoms," Smith said. "Genomics is an important part of figuring that out, and it's why many large genome projects are underway."
Smith highlighted Autism Speaks' whole genome sequencing MSSNG project, a collaborative effort between the organization and Google to create a large database on families affected by autism that will be free and open to the public.
Neuroscience 2015 was the 45th annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience.
