August 23rd, 2012 05:33 PM ET The Empowered Patient is a regular
feature from CNN Senior Medical News Correspondent Elizabeth
Cohen that helps put you in the driver's seat when it comes to
health care. Women aren’t the only ones whose biological clocks
are ticking: A new study on the genetics of autism finds the
sperm of older men may be to blame for many cases of the
disorder. The study, done by researchers in Iceland, indicates
that as many as 20-30% of cases of autism and schizophrenia may
be linked to the father’s advanced age. Unlike findings on
disorders such as Down Syndrome, this study found that the age
of the mother made no difference. “This is really a paradigm
shift,” said Dr. Jamie Grifo, program director of the New York
University Fertility Center. Traditionally, women have borne the
brunt of concerns about having a healthy child as they age,
while many men have assumed their sperm were no different at 80
than at 20. “I had my babies at 38 and 39 and I was terrified,”
said anchor Ashleigh Banfie