<p>From the Independent</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Cheers–I heard that on the news this morning. Those numbers are stunning.</p>
<p>Might explain the high rates of autism among highly educated people - generally, that correlates strongly with increased paternal age.</p>
<p>I have always told my boys that they should consider having their children before the age of 30 but it isn’t an easy schedule to manage with gapyears, grad and post grad educations. I wonder if this is the tip of the iceberg. Is science about to prove an absolute health advantage to having children early in life? How will our modern, have-it-all society cope? </p>
<p>I managed to have both of my children before the age of 31 because I had my own business established at 28. Is that realistic for most professional women? Probably not. The majority are employees. I certainly would have been hard pressed to have had more than two children before the age of 30.</p>
<p>I was 31 when my youngest son was born, although my husband was 34. So, I think it is indeed possible to have children and a career in the early 30’s. Although I eventually chose to stay home with my children, very few women I knew did. Most seemed to be able to have a career and children. </p>
<p>As an aside, and without meaning to be disrespectful to those families affected by autism, it seems to me that some men might want to rethink trading in wife #1 for the trophy model.</p>
<p>You’re quite right, sj. Many of the full stop stay-at-home mums that I know were older mums who already had a short career (and savings?) behind them.</p>
<p>The risks and rates of many chromosomal diseases also dramatically increases as women age.</p>
<p>Fact is, both men and women are healthier when they are younger, as are their offspring (potentially). Of course, when one figures in that younger parents are less experienced, less financially secure, etc. perhaps people need to do their own risk/benefit analysis…</p>
<p>It’s a strange dilemma, isn’t it? On the one hand, both males and females are probably at their best for reproduction at around age 20. But, at least in our culture, they typically are better equipped with the financial and intellectual resources to do it well when they are older – 30’s to 40’s, I suspect.</p>
<p>“Might explain the high rates of autism among highly educated people - generally, that correlates strongly with increased paternal age.”</p>
<p>That is something I never thought about, but is very interesting. I always thought the correlation was more a matter of heredity. My personal observation, and maybe I am way off base, is that many of the parents exhibit some traits on the autistic spectrum (ie: lacking great social skills, and prefer to read and study more than the average person in our population, perhaps even having one particular area of high interest). This would also explain the high rates of autism among the highly educated population.</p>
<p>Another tie to the highly educated is the rise in math and science females attending math and science univeristies where they meet math and science males, resulting in more matches of these like-minded personalities.</p>
<p>When our autistic son was diagnosed 12 years ago, we were told there were 27 known genetic causes of autism. There are more known genetic causes now but only a handful of autistic individuals fall into those categories. It is a perplexing disorder that doesn’t have a one-size-fits-all explanation.</p>
<p>Anecdotally, there is evidence that more autistics come from higher income families in professional fields. Thomas Sowell examined a related phenomenon, late-talking children, and demonstrated that most affected children have a close relative with a professional career in math, science, music or engineering. Professionals in these careers are more likely to delay reproduction until their 30’s or 40’s.</p>
<p>I think there are strong reasons to believe the autism spectrum disorders (autism, Aspergers, ADHD, ADD, dyslexia, and stuttering) have genetic or hereditary aspects and that their occurrence increases with parental age similar to Down’s Syndrome. However, there is also compelling evidence that the autism spectrum disorders are autoimmune conditions that can be triggered in susceptible individuals by immunological insults such as illness or vaccines.</p>
<p>Having older parents can correlate with many factors. For instance, older, professional parents typically have higher incomes and are more likely to vaccinate their children on schedule. Younger, non-professional parents often delay or avoid vaccinations for various reasons including financial contraints or difficulty taking time off from work to go to pediatrician’s appointments. </p>
<p>Let me be clear that vaccines are one of society’s miracles and I’m not against vaccines. My personal view is that autism is an immunological disorder that occurs in genetically susceptible individuals. However, even though I don’t think autism is a vaccine issue (other than recognizing that immune-compromised individuals need to be cautious with vaccines), it does add an interesting wrinkle to the subject.</p>
<p>For years, we’ve been told that only women should watch their biological clocks for fear of abnormalities. I predict that this is the first in a long line of studies that will show increased chances for various disorders as men age.</p>
<p>ADD, ADHD and dyslexia are not autism spectrum disorders, nor do they in any way correlate to parental age.</p>
<p>And the mercury link to autism has been scientifically disproven…</p>
<p>ADD, ADHD and dyslexia are not autism spectrum disorders, nor do they in any way correlate to parental age.</p>
<p>I think they are connected as well.
not necessarily the age difference- I was 24 when I had my oldest- but so many of the behaviors in ADD/ADHD have overlap with neuro symptoms shared by autistic/aspergers & the neurologists we have talked to agree.</p>
<p>I remember reading a study when I was pregnant- about neural tube defects being prevented by the male taking vitamin E before conception, so it doesn’t surprise me that they are finding additional impact re: health of sperm</p>
<p>Re vaccines- I think that some kids are much more suseptible to mercury being injected, and when my daughter started to have reactions to the vaccines, when she was a baby, I stopped all vaccines. The only one she has had since then has been tetanus.</p>
<p>Dyslexia is a left hemisphere dysfunction, autism disorders tend to be more right hemisphere, and ADD is frontal lobe.</p>
<p>All brain disorders, all from different regions, but one can be an ADD dyslexic on the autism spectrum. They just do not always occur concurrently, nor are they always related.</p>
<p>Allmusic,</p>
<p>Thank you for your comment. You are absolutely correct that the clinical definition of “autism spectrum disorders” includes only autism, Asperger’s, Rett’s, Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, PDD, and other variants. However, some experts believe that ADD, ADHD, dyslexia, and stuttering are part of a continuum of neurological disorders, of which autism is the most severe form. Here is a statement by the National Institute of Mental Health at the NIH:</p>
<p>
</a>
With regard to vaccines, I was not referring to the mercury or thimerasol debate. People who are immune-compromised or have a genetic susceptibility to immune dysfunction often react unpredictably to vaccines. That is why the CDC states that “Severely immunocompromised persons should not receive live vaccines.” <a href=“http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5102a1.htm[/url]”>http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5102a1.htm</a> (Contraindications and Precautions). Some experts believe that the trigger for autism is a genetic or hereditary modification that permits the immune system to be compromised and adversely affects the nervous system. If so, the way such individuals react to vaccines might have an unforeseen effect on the nervous system, e.g., an autoimmune reaction that affects the brain. </p>
<p>If you are interested in this topic, Sudhir Gupta MD PhD of UC-Irvine was one of the first researchers to present this theory - which he termed neuroimmunological autism - in a paper presented as the keynote address to the 1995 annual meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. I cannot find a link to this paper, probably because is is older and not online. </p>
<p>Dr. Gupta also pioneered the use of intravenous gamma globulin (IVIG) for the treatment of immunological forms of autism as detailed in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. IVIG is an accepted and effective treatment for many autoimmune and neurological conditions. I believe this article is available for purchase from the publisher (website here: <a href=“Ovid is the world’s most trusted medical research platform | Wolters Kluwer”>Ovid is the world’s most trusted medical research platform | Wolters Kluwer) . The article can be found under this listing: Gupta S, Aggarwal S, Heads C. Brief report: dysregulated immune system in children with autism: Beneficial effects of intravenous immune globulin on autistic characteristics. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 1996;26(4):439-452.</p>
<p>they have also been doing similar study at UCDavis
<a href=“http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2004/11_15a_04.html[/url]”>http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2004/11_15a_04.html</a>
& Johns Hopkins
<a href=“http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2004/11_15a_04.html[/url]”>http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2004/11_15a_04.html</a></p>
<p>Regardless of whether or not there is “one” type of autism or a cluster of them- I find it fascinating at how many people I know with autism and how their family members often have a lot of similarities to my own kids- especially my youngest</p>
<p>Here is an update for the UC Davis link(s) that I thinik EK referred to above:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/update/Archives/may_6_05/immune.html[/url]”>http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/update/Archives/may_6_05/immune.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://www-dateline.ucdavis.edu/dl_detail.lasso?id=8293[/url]”>http://www-dateline.ucdavis.edu/dl_detail.lasso?id=8293</a></p>
<p>For those who worry about thimerasol:</p>
<p>
</a></p>
<p>If autism is indeed at least somewhat hereditary, or at least the vulnerability to it is hereditary-- then I think there’s a chance that it’s not that men over 40 are more likely to have autistic kids, but rather that men who are likely to have autistic kids are more likely to be over 40. Because these guys are often preoccupied with their careers when they’re younger, plus they may lack the social skills to find a mate right away. (Though the Silicon Valley changed that somewhat-- guys with poor social skills could find girls with poor social skills right in the next cubicle!)</p>
<p>I could be wrong, this is just speculation… one should always look out for lurking variables. I’d be curious to read the actual study to see if they controlled for such things.</p>
<p>And Silicone Valley is one of the places that is a cluster of autism, isn’t it?</p>