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Second Page: Autism Risk Rises With Age Of Father
Posted on Tuesday, September 05 @ 10:33:39 EDT by | 
The Washington Post Reports:
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.
Autism is a developmental disorder that is often characterized by social and verbal problems. It becomes manifest early in childhood and is associated with learning deficits and other problems. Many cases are diagnosed shortly after children enter school, where differences among kids become too obvious to ignore.
A wide variety of interventions are increasingly available for autistic children, and early behavioral interventions have been said to help with outcomes and functioning. There is, however, no cure for the disorder, and scientists are not sure about its biological roots.
The new study presents an intriguing new avenue for research, because it suggests that genetic traits passed along by fathers, as opposed to mothers, may play some significant role in creating susceptibility to autism. Several other studies have suggested that older parents of both sexes are at greater risk of having children with developmental disorders. Three earlier studies looking at the relationship between paternal age and autism have produced mixed results; the new study is the most rigorous analysis conducted to date.
The study was based on an enormous sample of 17-year-olds -- nearly all the male and three-quarters of the female subjects of that age found over a six-year period in Israel, as they came of draft age. In all, data from 378,891 people were analyzed.
Since all Israeli citizens have a unique identification number, and the draft process routinely calls for listing the identification numbers of parents, researchers were able to develop a large-scale map that allowed them to determine the age of both parents for 132,271 draft candidates. They then compared that information against medical evaluations conducted by the draft board for autism and other disorders for those same candidates.
Abraham Reichenberg at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, along with several others at research institutions in the United States and Israel, found a significant relationship between paternal age and autism, even after accounting for other factors, such as mothers' age and socioeconomic status.
Children of fathers who were 15 to 29 years of age had a risk of about six in 10,000 of developing autism. Children of fathers in their thirties had a risk of nine in 10,000. Children of fathers in their forties had a risk of 32 in 10,000, and children of fathers who were older than 50 had a risk of 52 in 10,000.
In a paper published yesterday in the Archives of General Psychiatry, the researchers said that the number of cases of autism among families with the oldest dads was too small to lead to definitive conclusions about that group, but that there was little doubt about the overall trend. The only question, they said, is whether the risk accumulates at an accelerating rate with advancing paternal age, as the numbers in this study suggest.
Scientists in the United States are increasingly thinking about autism in terms of a spectrum of problems, which is why they have coined the term "autism spectrum disorders." The federal government estimates that the risk for autism spectrum disorders in the United States is around 3.4 for every 1,000 children between the ages of 3 and 10.
Whether that number is on the rise has been hotly contested; better outreach and diagnostic efforts may be finding children who would previously have gone undetected. Enduring disparities in access to health care complicate the picture. While the medical complexities of autism are present in Israel, concern over disparities is mitigated to some extent because Israel has universal health insurance, which guarantees equal access to care.
The Israeli military draft board's medical diagnostic system does not differentiate among conditions on the autism spectrum, which includes autism, Asperger's syndrome, Rett syndrome and what are known as pervasive developmental disorders.
Autistic people can be unresponsive in social situations, or focused intently on a single task or object for long periods. While some parents recognize that their babies seem different from a very young age, U.S. government researchers also say that sometimes engaging and babbling babies can suddenly turn "silent, withdrawn, self-abusive, or indifferent to social overtures."
In recent years, concern and controversy have grown -- despite a lack of conclusive evidence -- that mercury in children's vaccines produces toxicity that leads to autism.
While the link between older fathers and autistic children is likely to be genetic, the researchers who conducted the new study also acknowledged the possibility that unknown other factors could simultaneously be causing men to delay parenthood while independently increasing autism rates.
© 2006 The Washington Post Company, used on Wrong Planet under the doctrine of fair use
By Shankar Vedantam
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 5, 2006; Page A01
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Re: Autism Risk Rises With Age Of Father (Score: 1)
by egghead Tuesday, September 05 @ 12:50:37 EDT
(User Info | Send a Message) | | Strongly parallels other information on older men. Fathers who are over 50 when they conceive their children have a higher rate of spontaneous birth defects in their offspring. These birth defects are autosomal dominant, that is to say, they are expressed when present and are transmitted to 50 percent of all future descendents.
It looks like autism may originate in the realm of these spontaneous mutations. |
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Re: Autism Risk Rises With Age Of Father (Score: 1)
by Enigmatic_Oddity Tuesday, September 05 @ 21:04:11 EDT
(User Info | Send a Message) | | I find it interesting that the Israeli military draft board's medical diagnostic system hasn't differentiated between the different spectrum conditions, as there is still controversy as to whether they should all be lumped together under the name of autism. If their only relation to each other is in their presentation, and not their aetiology, then this study is of limited usefulness.
Basically, this study could be telling us that there's a relationship between advancing age of fathers and children with Kanner's autism, OR Asperger's syndrome, OR Rett's syndrome, OR other autistic-spectrum disorders. Or it could be saying that ALL of them are more prevalent among older fathers. Unless you break up the data so you can see results for each separate condition, it's impossible to know specifically what this study has found. |
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Re: Autism Risk Rises With Age Of Father (Score: 1)
by Brainsforbreakfast Wednesday, September 06 @ 14:07:00 EDT
(User Info | Send a Message) | | hmm.. my father was 16.. =/ |
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Re: Autism Risk Rises With Age Of Father (Score: 1)
by Fiz Saturday, September 09 @ 14:15:34 EDT
(User Info | Send a Message | Journal) | | Older parents tend to run risks as far as children are concerned anyway. An ASD is a funny one though. I don't believe that the vast majority of autistics are born to older parents. My dad was 28, nearly 29 when I was born. Plus I also know a young couple (mother is 25, father is 23) and they have a child with severe autism. |
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Re: Autism Risk Rises With Age Of Father (Score: 1)
by Philostrate Thursday, September 28 @ 23:59:14 EDT
(User Info | Send a Message) | | This is really interesting... My father was in his 40's and at some point he told my mom that the reason why I was so short was because "old genes". My mom dissmissed him, and as for being short, I'm not anymore.
But it is curious to think he could still have been right.. |
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Re: Autism Risk Rises With Age Of Father (Score: 1)
by just_another_normal Tuesday, November 21 @ 01:45:53 EST
(User Info | Send a Message) | | "autism... one of the most feared disorders of the brain."
The fact that that sentence can be said without controversy is one of the saddest things I have ever encountered. |
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The alternative explanation to: Autism Risk Rises With Age Of Father (Score: 1)
by kikker Wednesday, January 03 @ 18:45:27 EST
(User Info | Send a Message) | | Hi All,
Interesting to find more background details on this research.
I'm a psychologist and I have an alternative explanation for the correlation that was found. And I wonder what you think of it.
Men have different devices to atract women. One is status and another lies in their social skills. The men who score high on social behavior, will find a relationship and have children earlier in life than men who are less social.
Autistic (varying on the spectrum) men score low on sociability. It is only later in life, that they reach some status, with which they manage to attract a woman and have children with her.
Thus in this explanation, it is not because of their age that older men produce autistic offspring. It is because of their autistic spectrum disorder that they conceive children at later age.
Regards,
Kikker |
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Re: Autism Risk Rises With Age Of Father (Score: 1)
by kerateo Tuesday, January 16 @ 03:49:41 EST
(User Info | Send a Message) | | My father was 68, try to beat me. He was 30 when he had his first son... |
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Re: Autism Risk Rises With Age Of Father (Score: 1)
by Cernunnos Friday, January 19 @ 05:19:58 EST
(User Info | Send a Message) | | My dad was 49. I don't know whether this was causal or just coincidental. Looking back, I reckon he displayed some habits that might be considered secondary symptoms of AS, though I wouldn't have said he had it, as he seemed OK in a social context. Could therefore have been age related or could have been some other genetic disposition. |
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Re: Autism Risk Rises With Age Of Father (Score: 1)
by groovemeister Saturday, February 03 @ 13:48:07 EST
(User Info | Send a Message) | | Risk?
I'm sorry, how can being less impulsive and more analytical be 'risky'?
The traits found in AS only further the typical advancements of human evolution - greater mental preoccupation and less driven by instincts. On the flip side, less physically adept as we advance (just as with with evolution also), but we don't need this (as nice as it may be) - this goes back to my original point though - traits typical of evolution. Perhaps its risky being a homo sapien compared to a homo erectus? |
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Re: Autism Risk Rises With Age Of Father (Score: 1)
by GoatOnFire Friday, April 06 @ 18:02:06 EDT
(User Info | Send a Message) | | My father was just a few days away from 40.
I wonder if Pablo Picasso's son is autistic? |
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Re: Autism Risk Rises With Age Of Father (Score: 1)
by GhostsInTheWallpaper Thursday, June 28 @ 22:39:20 EDT
(User Info | Send a Message | Journal) | | When I first heard of this, I just had to wonder to what extent it was simply a result of autistic fathers being more likely to have children later in life than neurotypical fathers, because their lack of superficial charm makes it harder for (NT) women to discover them at a younger age. (I'm an NT in my late 20s dating and Aspie in his mid 30s, and I'm his first girlfriend. My sister told me that he's the kind of guy that most American women, including close female friends, just wouldn't date because of "issues.") Someone told me that my "autistic father theory" probably wasn't enough to explain the full phenomenon, though. |
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Re: Autism Risk Rises With Age Of Father (Score: 1)
by purplefox Monday, July 23 @ 17:59:29 EDT
(User Info | Send a Message | Journal) | | Could be... My dad was about 38 when my brother arrived, and 40 when I came into the world... My brother's got a form of autism, and I've got AS, so perhaps there may be a link there.
Then again, I know a girl whose parents were in their 50s when she came about, and she's NT. |
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Re: Autism Risk Rises With Age Of Father (Score: 1)
by Unknown_Quantity Friday, September 28 @ 03:29:59 EDT
(User Info | Send a Message | Journal) | | Intersting. My dad was 50 when I was born.
Maybe all the NT sperm are too impulsive and rush out when the dads are young, but the AS sperm hang around for longer, analysing the situation. So they are the only ones left when pops gets a bit long in the tooth.
I'm joking, of course. |
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Re: Autism Risk Rises With Age Of Father (Score: 1)
by penny07960 Thursday, June 12 @ 11:25:38 EDT
(User Info | Send a Message) | | Very interesting. As economic and societal conditions change, and men (and women) are postponing marriage and child rearing, it could be that this factor might partly explain the "epidemic" of autism.
I hope someone does a study on average age of parents (at child conception) in society at large, multiply this by the autism-probability for that age, and see what the expected increase in ASD would be and how that tracks what is being observed. |
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