OPRAH SPENDS AN ENTIRE HOUR ON AUTISM AND SHE DOESN'T MENTION PATERNAL AGE

I WONDER WHY? WHAT IS THE AGENDA OF ANDY SHIH AND AUTISM SPEAKS?

Dr. Dolores Malaspina in her excellent discussion of neural cogntive disorders and the paternal germ line wrote:

Finally, we examined if paternal age was related to the risk for autism in our cohort. We found very strong effects of advancing paternal age on the risk for autism and related pervasive developmental disorders (Reichenberg et al., in press). Compared to the offspring of fathers aged 30 years or younger, the risk was tripled for offspring of fathers in their forties and was increased fivefold when paternal age was >50 years. Together, these studies provide strong and convergent support for the hypothesis that later paternal age can influence neural functioning.


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Maternal and Paternal Age and Risk of Autism Spectrum Disorders
Lisa A. Croen, PhD; Daniel V. Najjar, MS; Bruce Fireman, MA; Judith K. Grether, PhD
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2007;161:334-340.

Objective To explore the association between maternal and paternal age and risk of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) in offspring.






Results Risk of ASDs increased significantly with each 10-year increase in maternal age (adjusted RR, 1.31; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.07-1.62) and paternal age (RR, 1.28; 95% CI, 1.09-1.51). Adjusted RRs for both maternal and paternal age were elevated for children with autistic disorder (maternal age: RR, 1.18; 95% CI, 0.87-1.60; paternal age: RR, 1.34; 95% CI, 1.06-1.69) and children with Asperger disorder or pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (maternal age: RR, 1.45; 95% CI, 1.09-1.93; paternal age: RR, 1.24; 95% CI, 0.99-1.55). Associations with parental age were somewhat stronger for girls than for boys, although sex differences were not statistically significant.

Conclusion Advanced maternal and paternal ages are independently associated with ASD risk.