الفهرس 
INTRODUCTIONOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
ASD is a group of complex heterogeneous early onset neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by deficits in social communication and social interaction with restricted and repetitive behaviors, interests and activities leading to functional impairment. In addition to sensory hypo-sensitivity or hypersensitivities to the environment which are common features that have been added to the diagnostic criteria since 2013.
As the prevalence rate of ASD has been dramatically increasing since the past few years, researchers have tried to investigate the etiology but it seemed to be very complex, as no specific cause have been identified up till now. Theories have suggested that ASD may be caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors which affect the neurological development in children and lead to structural and functional changes in the brain that are responsible for the behavioral deficits of ASD.
And since breastfeeding has been shown to play an essential role in the structural and functional neurological development of infants in the short and long term, a link between breastfeeding and autism was suggested, as breastfeeding might confer a protective role against ASD in genetically susceptible children.
The current study aimed to find a relation between breastfeeding and ASD as: if breastfeeding has a protective role against ASD in children at risk or it can affect severity or associated comorbidities (as epilepsy and ID) of autism in children with ASD.
Fifty children diagnosed with ASD and fifty normally developing siblings were included in the present study. Eighty ASD boys and twenty ASD girls shared, with the mean age of 4.3 ± 1.5 years.
Full history of all children was taken from their mothers with special emphasis on detailed breastfeeding history during infancy and all children were subjected to complete physical examination. ASD was diagnosed according to DSM-5 criteria and severity of symptoms was assessed by CARS. Stanford Binet intelligence test was used to assess intellectual function in cases with ASD.