Other contributors to the increasing incidence of autism remain unclear. "We're doing a lot of research into environmental risk factors," Shelton says, describing ongoing research into possible nutritional factors and toxic chemical exposure during labor and development. It is possible that the increased risk associated with maternal age might reflect the mother's longer cumulative exposure to unknown environmental factors, the authors report.
The research team published an earlier report in the same journal describing high-incidence geographic clusters in California, another finding in line with Bearman's work that suggests environmental processes and social influences (why someone would live in a particular neighborhood) might be contributing factors. Maternal autoimmunity is another theory proposed by the researchers, who previously reported that some mothers of autistic children had antibodies to fetal brain proteins in their plasma. These antibodies (which might increase in number with age) could transfer into the fetus and interfere with early brain development, the researchers report.
Whereas biomedical studies are required to uncover the mechanisms underlying the disorder, Shelton says the present epidemiological study was important in clarifying the nuanced relationship between maternal age and autism, and defining its contribution to the rise in cases. It might have even provided biological clues. "It really is a maternally mediated biological process that's going on," Shelton says.
Although it is rising, the risk of autism is still very low and shouldn't affect the decision to have children at any age, Shelton says. "People should pursue their families whenever it's right for them," she says, adding that soon-to-be parents should "just stay as healthy as possible," and steer clear of dangerous exposures. She also encourages parents with autistic children to get involved in research. "I think parents are anxious because science hasn't figured it out yet. If they have the opportunity to be involved in supporting science and autism research, that's a great thing."
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Add CommentInteresting corralations. My wife was 22 when she had our son who is autistic and I was 30. Then again we had two more children after him who aren't autistic. I remain convinced that MMR played a role in the onset of our son's autistic symptoms. I'm sure genetics play a strong role in making someone predisposed to autism but environmental factors are the trigger. All three of our children displayed developmental delays, but our oldest is the only one we had innoculated with the MMR shots at 2 years old. We waited for the other 2 until they were 4 years old. Immediately after being innoculated our oldest son got sick and withdrawn from his usually engaging personality. He got over the cold realitively quickly but remained very withdrawn. I'm not against vaccinations but firmly believe that 2 years old, when they are still very much developing mentally, is WAY too early and can be the trigger that activates a latent predisposion towards autistic tendancies
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI'm sorry your son has autism, but from what I understand there has never been any link established between MMR and autism. The article that spawned that idea was based on a study of 12 kids, 10 of whom had autism, that was looking for measles viruses in their intestines, presumably something to do with bowel conditions. The research was then discredited by other researchers after it had been published, and the man who did the research either resigned or was fired (I forget which) from his position in the UK, and moved to the US, where he began selling the idea that vaccines cause autism.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisVaccines do not cause autism. There have been many studies done and only one has shown a link and even if you ignore all the unethical things the lead author (Andrew Wakefield) did, the study was poorly done and has only 12 subjects and even if you ignore that it was only one study. Many more studies have been done sense and they all show no correlation between autism and vaccines.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAll this "MMR causes autism!" crap has only caused children to not get vaccinated and weaken herd immunity, which has caused children to catch vaccine-preventable diseases and many have died from them. Allot of money has been spent of researching this supposed link between vaccine and autism when that money could have been spent on researching causes and treatments for autism.
I'm not going to pretend to know what your going through. I know its highly emotional. There is no connection. You and other who believe in this connection need to accept that there is no connection. I know people like to have things to blame when bad things happen but right now there is nothing to blame and in the end it may just be the luck of the draw.
http://factsnotfantasy.com/vaccines.html - That link should directly address the LIES and distortions told by the anti-vax pro-disease nutters.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisTelrunya,
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisCan you please explain why you firmly believe this? I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt that maybe you have new information that the rest of us don't have. What evidence do you have that goes against all of the research of the last decade and beyond that leads you to believe that MMR triggers autism? And what is the mechanism? Any information would be greatly appreciated.
I think there must be solution of this thing like taking perfect food which is necessary for brain in developing stage like almond, turkey, etc. in which there are higher level of tryptophen amino acide.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf Pregnant lady know how to program brain she can prevent her child form autism. (I think so)
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this@Telrunya: Your 'study' had only 3 participants and no control group - translation, you're using anecdotal evidence (def.:evidence, which may itself be true and verifiable, used to deduce a conclusion which does not follow from it, usually by generalizing from an insufficient amount of evidence.) Sorry for your difficulties. Please don't encourage other parents to skip or delay vaccines, because they will be putting their children and those around them at increased risk from dangerous and fatal diseases.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisVaccines do not lead to autism. Earlier this year, the scientist who originally claimed that statement withdrew it, saying that it was published without the correct evidence to prove it. Besides, children are born with autism, they don't just develop it because of something bad they ate. Autism is much like a child born without fingers or their heart on the outside of their chest. Something during development simply happens and due to the sudden surge of it in recent years, there is something acting as a catalyst, but it is not vaccines. I personally do not have an autistic child, nor any children at this time, but have become very close to a neighbor's child who suffers from severe autism, so I know what this disorder entails. The article states that there is a link between older mothers and autistic children and that can honestly be looked at as a possible claim, but the fact of the matter is, a lot is still unknown about this disorder and it will take time to come up with any solid evidence to prove anything.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf we can still remember, Andrew Wakefield created a firestorm when he published a childhood autism study in 1998 implicating vaccines. Wakefield's study has been utilized by anti-vaccination advocates such as Jenny McCarthy of MTV fame to further their cause. The proof is here: <a title="Andrew Wakefield labeled a fraud for linking vaccines to autism" href="http://personalmoneystore.com/moneyblog/2011/01/06/andrew-wakefield-fraud-autism/">Andrew Wakefield draws more fire for bogus autism/vaccine study</a>. Wakefield’s claims could hardly withstand scientific scrutiny, which lead to his ouster from the profession of medicine and most recently, public indictment of frauds. He will definitely be trying to find personal loans to get legal advice if accusations of fraud are to continue.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHow long will it take people to understand that autism - or most autistic traits- are most likely caused by using pitocin at birth? Children are born with a lack of oxygen to the brain. After birth, the babies are deprived of being held, and this causes furture failure to thrive. It is a mixture of western birth practices in combination with normative abuse. This is why autism rates are much lower in cultures where co-sleeping and natural births are prevalent.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSo, if I am reading this right, you can't have kids under 30 and you can't have them over 40? That leaves a relatively small window of time. This may be one of the factors, but I believe there are a whole lot of factors that go into autism causation, and it may turn out that this isn't one of the bigger ones.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMore time and studies are needed.
I have Asperger's, and my mom was 31 or 32 when she had me. My dad was 4 years older. So in my case at least age was not a risk factor.
If anyone wants to learn more about Asperger's, a good site to go to is http://aspergerssociety.org/articles/toc.htm
I hope the scientific research keeps up so we can answer this question eventually.
All those whose kids are autistic should make this research done by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride by mandatory reading. This site below has some information for interested parents.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishttp://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/07/31/dr-natasha-campbell-mcbride-on-gaps-nutritional-program.aspx
I sent this info to a friend whose kid is autistic and he followed her guidance and claims he has seen remarkable results and a transformation in his child's personality. At the very least her points make good sense and merit serious investion and consideration.