Posted on 09/06/2006 10:08:46 PM PDT by neverdem
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Mom's age plays little or no role, researchers find
CHICAGO -- Men who become fathers in their 40s or older are much more likely to have autistic children than younger dads, a new study released Monday shows, bolstering evidence that genetics contributes to the mental disorder.
The research involved about 130,000 Israeli Jews born in the 1980s. Those fathered by older men were almost six times more likely to have autism or related disorders than those fathered by men younger than 30, and more than 1 1/2 times more likely than children fathered by men ages 30-39.
The mothers' age at childbirth appeared to have little effect on autism, although the researchers said they couldn't rule out "a possible small effect" from the oldest mothers.
Autism experts called the study intriguing but not definitive, and the authors said the results need to be tested in a broader population to see if similar findings would occur in other ethnic groups.
It's not the first time fathers' age has been implicated in autism, but the new research stands out because "it's a strong effect in a carefully designed study," said Dr. Edwin Cook, an autism researcher at University of Illinois-Chicago who was not involved in the study.
The study was released Monday in September's Archives of General Psychiatry.
It is based on biographical information on Israeli boys and girls who at age 17 were being assessed for eligibility to serve in the Israeli military. Among them, 110 had been diagnosed earlier with autism or related disorders, which include a less severe condition called Asperger's syndrome. However, most of the affected children in the study had autism and the researchers said their results may not apply to Asperger's or other autismlike disorders.
Lead author Abraham Reichenberg, a researcher at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, called it the first rigorous population-based study to investigate whether a father's age affects the risk of a child developing autism. Researchers from Columbia University and Israeli institutions including Chaim Sheba Medical Center and Hebrew University participated in the research.
Previous research by some of the same authors linked advanced paternal age with lower intelligence scores and with schizophrenia.
Other studies have shown that sperm mutate more often in older men, potentially leading to increased risk for brain abnormalities in their children.
"It's a very interesting, strong study," said Dr. Fred Volkmar, an autism researcher at Yale University who was not involved in the research.
Volkmar said the study is consistent with a prevailing theory that genes are a cause of autism, but he said the results need to be tested to prove the fathers' age was a culprit. For example, the study lacked information on whether the fathers themselves had autism.
Autism is a developmental disorder that involves an impaired ability to socialize and communicate. Symptoms can include repetitive behaviors such as head banging, avoidance of physical or eye contact, and communicating with gestures rather than words.
Many researchers believe impaired genes are a cause or trigger of autism. Most studies have failed to find evidence to support a persistent belief among some parents that mercury-containing childhood vaccines are to blame.
I'm not sure that Jews are a representative sample of the population, since until recently (historically speaking) we represented a genetic pool mostly separated from the population at large.
once again science is proving that young people should be encouraged to reproduce instead of waiting till they are much much older.
Why Slings and Arrows, I'm surpised at you. If the article specifically referenced a particular minority of the Jewish state, like the Ashkenazim and Tay-Sachs disease, I would understand that remark, otherwise, Israel's Jewish population is as genetically diverse as can be. After all, it is composed of every jewish population of the Western Diaspora, plus all those Sephardic jews who were kicked out of the Arab world after 48', plus the Ethiopian jews and FSU jews more recently.
Unless you think that jews had any better luck managing to preserve their "racial purity" than any other supposedly exclusive ethnic group, hyuk, yuk, yuk
Stupid study and makes no sense whatsoever.
Try this version.
All of my kids were quite young when they were born.
Makes the delivery a lot easier, I hear.
I'm no scientist. All I have is anecdotal evidence, which means absolutely nothing. But I have known the parents of probably 50 different autistic kids in the past 13 years.
Not one of the kids was born to a father older than 40--most were in their late 20s, to mid-30s.
There may be some statistical evidence showing a higher spike among the plus-40 dads, but so few kids are born to plus-40 parents, that I think this study is a waste of time.
Back to the drawing board, fellas.
I would say check other countries that use conscription before you toss out the hypothesis. Accumulated genetic damage according to age has not been refuted from what I've read.
How does one father a kid who turns out to be above age 40?
Oh - 40 refers to age of the father.
Ok, so if I father a kid while over 40, I risk developing autism?
Good to know, I guess.
The first line is disingenuous, "Mom's age plays little or no role, ..." Perhaps in autism but not in e.g. Downs or others
I totally agree on whatever is being discussed here. The idea that older Jewish men make autistic children is rediculous! This is a vicious rumor being spread by the far left to discourage the birth of intelligent children rather than dumbed-down little bastards from the current crop of ignorant losers with tatoos and all kinds of jewelry stuck in their faces.
There was also a study in the UK 5 years ago or so that stated an Autistic child is twice as likely as the general population to have a father in a technical profession.
How does one father a kid who turns out to be above age 40?
Oh - 40 refers to age of the father.
Ok, so if I father a kid while over 40, I risk developing autism?
Hint: It's a Seattle paper.
Thomas Sowell wrote about the same thing from his own research about 10-12 years ago. Music was another possible predictor profession. Sowell had started a self-help group of parents with children who did not talk, or who talked late, and who exchanged information abput themselves.
Sowell collected a lot of data from them and wrote about it in a book called The Late Talking Child.
He said that he did not have the time to continue the research but he offered his data to anyone willing to take on the project. His interest was sparked in this subject because of problems with his own son.
I remember hearing how doctors encouraged my parents to abort me because they found something that might deform me and that since the risk was under one half percent but still there, they strenuously recommended abortion. Unnerving to learn to say the least.
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