GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. - Dr. Amy Esler from the University of
Minnesota joined KARE 11 News at 10:00 to discuss a new study
that indicates that older men are more likely than young ones to
father a child who develops autism or schizophrenia. Scientists
reported on Wednesday that the link is because of random
mutations that become more numerous with advancing paternal age.
It is the first study to quantify the effect as it builds each
year. The age of mothers had no bearing on the risk for these
disorders, the study found. Experts said that the finding was
hardly reason to forgo fatherhood later in life, though it may
have some influence on reproductive decisions. The overall risk
to a man in his 40s or older is in the range of 2 percent, at
most, and there are other contributing biological factors that
are entirely unknown. But the study, published online in the
journal Nature, provides support for the argument that the
surging rate of autism diagnoses over recent decades is
attributable in part to the increasi