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Autism More Likely in Children of
Older Fathers October 22,
2006 Older fathers are more
likely to have autistic children, new study shows.
Children of men age 40 and older have
a significantly increased risk of having autism disorder compared
with those whose fathers are younger than 30 years,
Abraham Reichenberg, Ph.D., of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine,
New York, and Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, and
colleagues evaluated this association in children born during the
1980s in Israel.
Two hundred and eight individuals in the larger group (a rate of 6.5
per 10,000) and 110 in the group with both maternal and paternal
ages (8.3 per 10,000) had a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder,
according to the information in the draft board registry.
There were 34 autism cases among the paternal age groups of 15 to 29
years and 62 cases of autism spectrum disorders for the age group of
30 to 39 years.
In general, advancing age among fathers was associated with
increased risk of autism. The odds of autism spectrum disorder were
nearly six times greater among children of men age 40 and older than
those of men 29 years and younger.
Older age among mothers was not
associated with autism after researchers factored in the effect of
the father’s age.
The authors discuss several possible genetic mechanisms for the
paternal age effect, including spontaneous mutations in
sperm-producing cells or alterations in genetic “imprinting,” which
affects gene expression.
“Although further work is necessary to confirm this interpretation,
we believe that our study provides the first convincing evidence
that advanced paternal age is a risk factor for autism spectrum
disorder,” they conclude.
Autism is characterized by social and language abnormalities and
repetitive patterns of behavior, according to background information
in the article.
Autism and related conditions, known collectively as autism spectrum
disorders, have become increasingly common, affecting 50 in every
10,000 children as compared with five in 10,000 two decades ago.
The autism disorder occurs three to four times more often in boys
than in girls. Some children with autism will grow up able to live
independently, while others may always need supportive living and
working environments.
In general, children with autism have problems in three crucial
areas of development — social skills, language and behavior. The
most severe autism is marked by a complete inability to communicate
or interact with other people.
Because the symptoms of autism vary widely, two children with the
same diagnosis may act quite differently and have strikingly
different skills.
If your child has autism, he or she may develop normally for the
first few months — or years — of life and then later become less
responsive to other people, including you.
The article was published in the
September issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives
journals.
Additional info on autism: Mayoclinic.com
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