Monday, 17 January 2011

• Birth Order and Age of Parents linked to Autism

  

  A lot has been made of the psychology of birth order.  First children are natural leaders who seek achievement and praise (possibly as a way to cling to the affection their parents divided when other kids showed up).  Second children are independent and easy-going.  And the baby of the family tends to be outgoing and creative.  You may or may not give these psychological markers credence, but if you have a child with autism, or you’re an older couple looking to start a family before it’s too late, then you may be interested to know that researchers have now linked birth order and the age of parents to autism in children.

   

  The study, performed by epidemiologist Maureen Durkin of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, examined 1,200 cases of childhood autism out of about 300,000 births in the United States.  It found that the risk for autism increased by a large degree due to the age of the parents.  The trend seemed to start with mothers over the age of 35 and fathers over the age of 40, and the likelihood of autism increased by approximately 20% for every 10 additional years of age.  But the interesting qualifying factor was that in the majority of instances, the autistic child was the first for these older couples.  As a counterpoint, parents of the same age who were having a fourth child had half the risk of producing a child with autism.

  So what does this mean?  Why do older couples starting a family have a higher risk of bearing an autistic child?  Durkin explains that there could be several factors at play.  Although genetics have not been ruled out as a possible factor, it seems more likely that environmental toxins that build up in our systems over time could play a major role.  In addition, aging parents may simply not be as physically fit for childbearing.  For example, many cases of Down syndrome have been linked to older parents, along with other developmental disorders.  So it isn’t necessarily surprising that older parents having a first child would face such an occurrence.  In short, the risk for birth defects and developmental difficulties rises the older the parents are when the child is conceived.

  Although this study hasn’t made any progress towards discovering the cause (or causes) of autism, it has uncovered some interesting information for older parents worried about the possibility of bearing a child with autism.  In terms of birth order, it is possible that a larger percentage of first children of older parents being born with autism can simply be attributed to the fact that those parents who have a first child with autism may not choose to have more children.  As for the age of the parents, the study suggests that there is an ideal age to have children at reduced risk, which should come as no surprise considering how many other disorders increase with the age of the parents.  In short, this study has added another piece to the puzzle of autism, but we are, as yet, no closer to finding a cause, or developing preventive measures.

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