Raise in autism rates linked to older dads.

[Formerly SK]

Yeah, I hear the term MR a lot in the ASD community (in a medical/clinical sense).

[whoisjohngalt]

Tina, oh believe you me, that's exactly what I told my DH!!

[weltschmerz]

Aug 23, 2012 6:27:43 GMT -5 Miss Tequila said:

Welts...your hatred of all things conservative is shining through...

Trig Paxson Van Palin is the couple's youngest child and second son. According to the governor's spokesperson Sharon Leighow in a statement made shortly after the baby's birth, Trig is Norse and means "true" and "brave victory." Paxson is a region in Alaska the couple favors. Van is a nod to the rock group Van Halen; before Trig's birth, his mother had joked about naming her son Van Palin after the band.

And I have many friends with children that have Down's and have NEVER heard it called Trisomy G...it is Trisomy 21

My mistake. I didn't realize she had a deep understanding of ancient Norse. It must be rivaled only by her deep understanding of English.
And yes...it is called Trisomy-g.

[Deleted]

Down's Syndrome, Trisomy 21 & Trisomy G are all synonymous with each other.

[taz157]

Aug 23, 2012 8:57:35 GMT -5 busymom said:

But yes, out of every 5 kids that are autistic, 4 are boys, and only 1 is a girl....

Until recently, of the 3 kids that I knew were autistic, all 3 were girls. My prior DCP has 5 kids, 3 girls and 2 boys. Of the girls is autistic while the others aren't and the autistic girl is the oldest by 2 to 7 years.

For my prior DCP, she noticed a extreme difference in her DD after her DD received 9 vaccines at 1 of her WBV. When I had my own DD, she didn't talk me out getting them, but just to watch how many vaccines she gets in one visit. With my own DD, she does eventually get her vaccines, just not in accordance with the government's recommendation. Both DH and I weren't confortable with the amount in 1 visit and there are so many more vaccines now than when DH and I were growing up.

[Sum Dum Gai]

The longest running study I've ever read on birth disorders was from Israel I think. They followed people for something like 30 years beginning in the 60s. That study found the incidence of autism, down's, mental retardation, and every other developmental delay had higher incidence across the board in children born to parents where at least one of them was older. The interesting part was that the rate of increased developmental delays was the same to parents with an older father and younger mother as it was to parents with an older mother and younger father. In the US we've always focused on maternal age, but that study showed in the 90s that paternal age was just as big of a risk factor.

[thyme4change]

That is really interesting Dark. I'm glad to hear that women don't have to shoulder all the blame, and men should have a ticking biological clock also!

[Sum Dum Gai]

The interesting, to me anyway, studies on autism are the ones that look at hot spots. There are places in the country with higher rates of autism per capita than others. As Loop mentioned earlier the Bay Area in California is one of them. It's possible that it's over-diagnosed more than usual in those places, but I really think there's something to the nerdy parent hypothesis. If you have a stereotypical geeky IT worker who probably would be classified as being on the spectrum these days, hooking up a stereotypical geeky math chick that also probably would be classified as being on the spectrum these days, it makes sense that their children would be more likely to be on the spectrum as well. As our workforce has shifted to rewarding knowledge workers more and tradesmen less, the guys with "bad" genes in that regard become better providers and more desirable mates. A few decades later we have a bunch of autistic kids running around. It makes sense to me.

I have no idea if there's anything to it scientifically though.

[Sum Dum Gai]

The other explanation is that we're simply waiting longer and longer to have kids these days, which we know is an increased risk factor for all developmental delays. Oh, or that injecting a kid with a dead measles virus causes autism. I haven't seen much support on that one from actual scientists though.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

This recent study looks at genetic mutations. The study could differentiate out me the maternal and paternal contribution of genetic contribution and discern which parent contributed to which mutation.

They said that the maternal genetic mutations were a standard 15 mutations across the board, regardless of age (they are talking about genetic mutations, not chromosomal abnormalities that cause things like Down's syndrome). However, paternal genetic mutations increased over age to a high of 65 contributed genetic mutations when the father is over 40.

I need to find the author of the article, because going through each issue of Nature is a pain in the ass.

However, correlation does not equal causation and until they figure out which genetic mutation it is that causes autism.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Oh, or that injecting a kid with a dead measles virus causes autism. I haven't seen much support on that one from actual scientists though.

This one has been pretty thoroughly disproved.

[thyme4change]

But a Playboy model insists it is true.

[Sum Dum Gai]

But a Playboy model insists it is true.

Good enough for me.

[taz157]

Aug 23, 2012 13:38:17 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

But a Playboy model insists it is true.

And her son is now cured...

[Wisconsin Beth]

Aug 23, 2012 13:33:43 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

This recent study looks at genetic mutations. The study could differentiate out me the maternal and paternal contribution of genetic contribution and discern which parent contributed to which mutation.

They said that the maternal genetic mutations were a standard 15 mutations across the board, regardless of age (they are talking about genetic mutations, not chromosomal abnormalities that cause things like Down's syndrome). However, paternal genetic mutations increased over age to a high of 65 contributed genetic mutations when the father is over 40.

I need to find the author of the article, because going through each issue of Nature is a pain in the ass.

However, correlation does not equal causation and until they figure out which genetic mutation it is that causes autism.

I thought I'd seen something that said there were multiple genetic mutations causing autism? But it would have been in my local paper, ie popular press...

[Sum Dum Gai]

oh - stop patting yourself on the back for your teenage parenthood....

That was kind of random. The studies don't show much change until around 30. The risk factor starts really increasing from there.

[thyme4change]

I thought I'd seen something that said there were multiple genetic mutations causing autism?

www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/04/120404133656.htm

[Tiny]

Aug 22, 2012 19:18:12 GMT -5 @southernsusana said:

Of course, there is another theory (no joke). Since women have started becoming engineers, etc., the guys at places like MIT have started marrying the women at places like MIT. And these two non-sociable entities have created an epidemic of autistic children. I actually heard or read this somewhere.

Yep, read an article (I think on Slate? or the New York Times) a really long time ago about the high incidence of Autism in Silcone Valley... one theory put out kinda tongue in cheek was that maybe when both parents are 'nerdy/geeky' - ie autistic or high functioning they tended to have a high percentage of autistic kids.
I also bet both parents watched alot of TV, ate white bread as kids and probably pumped their own gas...

[swamp]

I also bet both parents watched alot of TV, ate white bread as kids and probably pumped their own gas

crap, my kids are autistic.

[Chocolate Lover]

Aug 23, 2012 15:24:29 GMT -5 swamp said:

I also bet both parents watched alot of TV, ate white bread as kids and probably pumped their own gas

crap, my kids are autistic.

Dang, mine too

[thyme4change]

Not mine. I would not classify our TV viewing as "a lot" - I prefer "overly excessive." So, my kids are safe.

[Chocolate Lover]

Did the "lot" of TV viewing have to happen when the parents were kids or is it still dangerous once the kids are born?

[Tiny]

Hmmm, maybe it's the fact that the grandparents (boomers - flower children) experimented with a few too many things back in time. Didn't effect their kids - but rather the grand kids...

I'm sure we could come up with all sorts of possibilites beyond having two nerdy parents causing the rise in autism.

[Sum Dum Gai]

I'm sure we could come up with all sorts of possibilites beyond having two nerdy parents causing the rise in autism.

We could, but most of them would affect the entire population. Unless you're saying people in the Bay Area watched more TV, ate more white bread, pumped more gas, or had parents who did more drugs, than the rest of the population.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Aug 23, 2012 15:22:26 GMT -5 Tiny said:

Aug 22, 2012 19:18:12 GMT -5 @southernsusana said:

Of course, there is another theory (no joke). Since women have started becoming engineers, etc., the guys at places like MIT have started marrying the women at places like MIT. And these two non-sociable entities have created an epidemic of autistic children. I actually heard or read this somewhere.

Yep, read an article (I think on Slate? or the New York Times) a really long time ago about the high incidence of Autism in Silcone Valley... one theory put out kinda tongue in cheek was that maybe when both parents are 'nerdy/geeky' - ie autistic or high functioning they tended to have a high percentage of autistic kids.
I also bet both parents watched alot of TV, ate white bread as kids and probably pumped their own gas...

Or you could posit that geeks tend to marry later, which would mean that the there is validity to the theory in the NYT article.

[thyme4change]

Or you could posit that geeks tend to marry later

Do they? All the ones I know locked down the first piece of tail they could talk into their awkward Star War's poster covered bedroom.

[Sum Dum Gai]

Do they? All the ones I know locked down the first piece of tail they could talk into their awkward Star War's poster covered bedroom.

Good point. It's fucking Star Wars that causes Autism. Lucas you dirty bastard!!!!

[thyme4change]

Dark - you are one of my data points.

[Deleted]

Do they? All the ones I know locked down the first piece of tail they could talk into their awkward Star War's poster covered bedroom.

OMG! You have confirmed my diagnosis that my nerdy son was high functioning autistic. My DIL is the second girl he ever dated (and he only had one date with the other girl), beginning at age 15.

I think my grandkids are safe, though. My DIL got the 8th grade math award as a high school senior. It was a small private school, and they ran out of math courses for her to take to meet the 4X4 rule.

[Sum Dum Gai]

Dark - you are one of my data points.

But I'm not a Star Wars fan.