- taken from New York (REUTERS HEALTH)
Advanced maternal age and paternal age are both risk factors for having a child with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a large study indicates. However, the researchers emphasize that the risk of having a child with an ASD is very small, even for the oldest parents.
''A number of studies have looked at the impact of maternal age on autism, but the results have been inconsistent. Paternal age has been much less studied'', lead author Dr.Lisa A. Croen told Reuters Health. ''Our findings support a link between advanced (parental) age and autism, although the effect on risk is small''.
According to Croen, from Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, California, the new findings do not make a strong argument for or against having children at a younger age.