A new study links parents' age and autism. The study published in the journal Autism Research found both mothers' and fathers' age showed an increase in autism cases.
More women are waiting to have kids. In California, between 1990 and 1999, the number of women older than 40 giving birth increased by 300 percent, according to a new study by researchers at University of California at Davis.
Dr. Jeff Ridgeway, who specializes in Maternal-Fetal Medicine at Texas Perinatal Group, says mothers over 40 have higher chances of complications.
"At that age, there's an increased risk of genetic abnormalities such as down syndrome that we're worried about. There's also increased risk of complications in pregnancy. Including high blood pressure problems," said Ridgeway.
The study published in Autism Research shows older mothers are more likely to have to autistic kids. It found women who give birth after 40 are nearly twice as likely to have a child with autism as a woman younger than 25.
"It's concerning on a number of levels. But it's not something that, among our mothers who are that age and old, they have a lot of other problems that increase with age as well," said Ridgeway.
Ridgeway points to down syndrome where some studies show the risk being as high as one in 50. Compare that to the recent study about autism, which found that a mother who gives birth after 40 has about a four in 1,000 chance of having an autistic child.
The study also found the rise in autism cases is seen in every age group of parents, with older mothers accounting for only 5 percent of the increase.
Fathers were also looked at in this study. The most pronounced increase in risk was when the father was over 40 and the mother under 30. The number of Autistic kids jumped 59 percent higher than in younger men.
Researchers emphasize that age does not cause autism. They hope the study will be a step toward finding out what does.
