Autism may be related to mother’s age
Filed under: Baby health — Alan @ 3:52 am
The causes and contributing factors of the neural disorder now known as autism are still largely unknown, but a great deal of research is being carried out on many fronts. A recent study undertaken by researchers at the University of California found a correlation between the age of women giving birth and the incidence of autism in babies.
The findings, published in the medical journal Autism Research, prompted the conclusion that women over 40 are at much greater risk than those in their 20’s of having a baby with autistic symptoms.
The study involved following the medical history of almost five million children over a period of ten years from the date of birth, in this case the records of every birth in California from January 1990 to December 1999.
To identify cases of autism, the researchers used medical examinations called ESR or Early Start Report for children less than three years old, and CDER, or Client Development and Evaluation Report for ages three and over.
Within the entire group, specific data was recorded to establish the age, race and educational level of the parents as well as other factors such as the number of previous pregnancies and births and the type of insurance owned by the parents.
After the exclusion of children from multiple births and those with insufficient parental data, the study found 12,159 diagnosed cases of autism among the 4,935,776 children in the control group.
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