WP,pg1:Autism Risk Rises With Age Of Father:Study Finds Strong Correlation

[DeepModem Mom]

Autism Risk Rises With Age Of Father
Large Study Finds Strong Correlation
By Shankar Vedantam
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 5, 2006; Page A01

Children born to fathers of advancing age are at significantly higher risk of developing autism compared with children born to younger fathers, according a comprehensive study published yesterday that offers surprising new insight into one of the most feared disorders of the brain.

The finding comes at a time of great controversy over autism in the United States, as a recent surge in diagnoses has fueled speculations about various possible causes of the disorder. For scientists, both the origins of and potential treatments for the disorder remain a mystery.

With every decade of advancing age starting with men in their teens and twenties, the new study found, older fathers pose a growing risk to their children when it comes to autism -- unhappy evidence that the medical risks associated with late parenthood are not just the province of older mothers, as much previous research has suggested.

Of special concern is the finding that the risk for autism not only increases with paternal age but also appears to accelerate.

When fathers are in their thirties, children have about 1 1/2 times the risk of developing autism of children of fathers in their teens and twenties. Compared with the offspring of the youngest fathers, children of fathers in their forties have more than five times the risk of developing autism, and children of fathers in their fifties have more than nine times the risk....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/04/AR2006090400513.html

[mzteris]

1. interesting -

thanks for posting.

Another piece to the puzzle. Of which, I suspect, there are many.

[lumberjack_jeff]

2. Other studies have indicated that...

people who are logical and "bookish" tend to have children with Autism. There are also studies that show that people in high tech areas are more likely to have ASD kids.

Is it possible that logical, bookish people tend to have children later? Is it possible that those who live in Seattle or San Jose have children later?

Both of these seem apparent to me. Which is the chicken, which is the egg and which are red herrings?

:shrug:

[Guaranteed]

7. Excellent point. nt

[Cerridwen]

3. "Father blame"? Well that's a new spin. n/t

[AspenRose]

5. I didn't see it that way

"...unhappy evidence that the medical risks associated with late parenthood are not just the province of older mothers, as much previous research has suggested."

That sounds to me like *shared* "blame," although I don't really like the concept of "blaming" at all.

[donsu]

11. agree, now the pharma barons are trying to blame it on old fathers

it's always been known that older parents risk defects in the babies they produce

these defects didn't mention autism

autism is a new defect

[hedgehog]

4. So smart guys who go to college and grad school and

postpone their families until they're established are in trouble? Up to now, the burden has all been on the women with ever more types of fertility treatments offered. What's it going to take to allow people to have children during their optimum child bearing years?

[Sequoia]

12. It's them "career wimin folks" who wait too long and marry old guys.

[Sven77]

6. Autism & Vaccines

Mercury Ordered Out of Vaccines

The goal of limiting toxic exposures was advanced on July 7, 1999 when a joint statement was issued by the U.S. Public Health Service and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) supporting the FDA’s directive to the vaccine manufacturers to eliminate mercury (in the form of Thimerosal, a preservative) from vaccines. Mercury is a known neuro-toxin which can cross the placenta and blood brain barrier and concentrate in the blood and brain but can also affect the immune system, kidneys and lungs.

http://www.909shot.com/Diseases/autismsp.htm

[Eurobabe]

8. I think it is something envrionmental that is causing this

JMHO.

It is scary how many people I know have children with either Aspberger's or full blown autism (and yea many of them had their kids in late 30s, early 40s) I had my daughters when I was 22, then 24, and my husband was 25 & 27. Both were breastfed, had all vaccines, thankfully no autism or major diseases while growing up. I consider myself very blessed. What will be interesting to see is when they have kids, they are already almost 23 & 25 and I don't see either having kids until early 30s if then?

[goforit]

9. Is this study financed by the pharmaceutical industry?

Interesting but not solid scientific evidence.

[SoCalDem]

10. Somehow, this is not all that surprising to me..

Nature designed our "equipment" to work at peak efficiency...at YOUNG ages.. As we age, one could assume that environmental (and other) degradations of our physical functions only increase..

It's only been a century since people married in their teens, produced a LOT of children, and mostly died from hard physical labor and a plethora of then-untreatable illnesses...at an early age (compared to today's longevity)..

There are many more "outside-influences" today too, so who knows why our "quality" of offspring is declining ? Which chemical did the damage? Hard to tell, since we are bomboarded with stuff....and our food is chock-ful of fake, mad-made compounds.

[KamaAina]

13. The study covered only Israeli Jews

http://archpsyc.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/63/9/1026

Participants We conducted a study of Jewish persons born in Israel during 6 consecutive years. Virtually all men and about three quarters of women in this cohort underwent draft board assessment at age 17 years. Paternal age at birth was obtained for most of the cohort; maternal age was obtained for a smaller subset. We used the smaller subset (n = 132 271) with data on both paternal and maternal age for the primary analysis and the larger subset (n = 318 506) with data on paternal but not maternal age for sensitivity analyses.

Hardly the most inclusive study ever done. This is a common problem in medical research everywhere; in the U.S. (surprise) African Americans and women are likely to be underrepresented in these types of studies.

And in case you were wondering, my father was 25. Yes, it's true. And there are quite a few other DUers with ASD as well!