Fathers in their 40s or older are much more likely to have autistic kids

[n2doc]

Older Dads May Have Kids With Autism
By LINDSEY TANNER, AP Medical Writer
Monday, September 4, 2006
(09-04) 13:00 PDT CHICAGO, (AP) --

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 one and a half times more likely than children fathered by men ages 30-39. The mothers' age at childbirth appeared to have little impact 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 autism-like 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 with others, and communicating with gestures rather than words. It is more common in boys than in girls and typically is diagnosed in the first few years of life. 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.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2006/09/04/national/a130013D26.DTL

[MADem]

1. Creaky old sperm!!!

Hell, the geezers with the trophy girlfriends and the bottles of Viagra will want to go back to blaming mercury as the cause if this gets any traction...this could cut into their swerve, should the young future brides get wind of this information.

The ones that marry the old gray ATMs will just take the old fool for a ride, and hook up with the genetically superior pool boy when it comes time to reproduce!

Interesting study...logical too. Really, fresh is best. There's a reason why folks slow down in middle and older age. Mother Nature's way of weeding out the crap.

[n2doc]

2. Why not? Women have been told the same about their eggs

Links between Age and Down's syndrome are clear in women. I would suspect that we will see more problems come up as researchers look more closely into older men. Viagra, what hath thou wrought?

[MADem]

3. Yep, like I said, Fresh is Best! NT

[Celebration]

4. also, schizophrenia

http://www.schizophrenia.com/prevention/older.htm

Recent studies have indicated that children who are born to older fathers have a higher risk of schizophrenia. Researchers have suggested that the problem of damaged sperm could be the cause of approximately 15% to 25% of all cases of schizophrenia. This is believed to be due to the higher levels of DNA damage in the sperm of older men. Researchers estimate that compared to a male fathering a child in his early 20's - there is double the chance of the child getting schizophrenia when the father is age 40, and triple the risk of schizophrenia when the father is age 50. (though, for most people this means the risk goes from approximately 1 in 121 when a man is 29, to to 1 in 47 when a man is age 50 to 54).