Autism Risk Increases in Children with Older Mothers

Boston (DbTechNo) - When it comes to the risk of a child developing autism a lot depends on the age of his or her mother at the time of the birth.

New research indicates that the older a mother is when she gives birth, the greater the chance of her child becoming autistic.

On the flip side, being an older father at the time the baby is conceived does not pose the same risk when it comes to the risk of autism.

There is currently not a cure for autism, a condition that is characterized by a child’s inability to develop social and communicative skills.

“The older the mother, the more the risk that the child will develop autism, regardless of whether the father is young or old,” said Irva Hertz-Picciotto of the University of California Davis MIND Institute, who worked on the study.

The study focused on 4.9 million births and 12,159 autism cases in California.

Women over the age of 40 who gave birth had children with a 50% increased risk of developing autism than women between 20 and 25.

The study is published in the journal Autism Research.