In an international study conducted by UK, Swedish and Australian researchers, older fathers might pass on “silent mutations” to their grandchildren which can translate into autism as opposed to their younger counterparts.
Dr. Avi Reichenberg, a co-author of the study from the King’s College of Psychiatry, says, “It is about choices. If you choose to have a child at an old age there might be consequences. This is something everyone should consider. Unfortunately we can’t put exact figures on this risk yet. But most children born with older fathers and grandfathers grow up fine.”
Even this might come as disconcerting news to older fathers, it must be said that experts believe that the occurrence of autism is due to several other factors.
With that said, the possibility of these changes in genetic material due to interaction with other genes or the environment and causing autism in grandchildren definitely exists even though the “mechanism” as to how this happens isn’t clear yet.
In fact, the researchers also found that when men at and above the age of 50 had a daughter, the likelihood of having an autistic grandchild was 1.79 times more likely. As for those who had a son around that age, the probability was about 1.67 times.
Even though this study might seem alarming to older people who wish to have a child, these conclusions should not be taken that seriously as there are cases of young fathers also having grandchildren with autism while also noting that autism itself is complex and can occur for a number of reasons.
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