Having children at an older age could increase the risk of autism after a new study found that both maternal and paternal ages could play a role in the same.
Researchers from University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston observed 68 individuals of the same age and gender and found that on an average, the mothers of autistic children were 6.5 years older than mothers with normal children while the age gap was 5.9 years among fathers.
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Lead researcher Mohammad Hossein Rahbar said that both maternal and paternal ages could be a factor and added that their study would put an end to discrepancies in other similar studies. "Our results revealed that the age of the father and the mother are jointly associated with autism in their children. This should put to rest discrepancies in previous studies showing that just maternal age or just paternal age is linked to having a child with autism", he said.
Source: Medindia
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