A study suggests that advanced grandparental age is associated
with an increased risk of autism. The authors of the study
looked at the association between paternal age and autism by
examining people born in Sweden since 1932. Using nationwide
multi-generation patient registries, they study focused on the
association between grandfathers’ age and childhood autism.
According to the results, men who had fathered a daughter when
they were 50 years or older, were 1.79 times more likely to have
a grandchild with autism, and men who fathered a son, when 50
years or older, were 1.67 times more likely to have a grandchild
with autism. The results are in contrast to men who fathered
children when they were 20 to 24 years old. The study went on to
say that older men should not be discouraged to have children.
The authors say results may be important to understanding the
mechanism behind childhood autism and other psychiatric and
neurodevelopmental disorders. The study was conndicted by Emma
M. Frans, M.Sc., of the Karo