According to the New York Times, old dudes that have kids are more likely to have children with autism and schizophrenia. The New York Times suggests this could explain the higher rates of autism being reported in the last few years.
Both Jared Loughner and James Holmes, the accused shooters in Arizona and Colorado had fathers who were nearly 40 at the time of their birth and have been diagnosed by the internet as being schizophrenic.
So maybe Old dudes getting busy = mass shootings?
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You know it’s old times when the only ‘grab photo’ available for the legendary biologist J.B.S. Haldane is in his original Oxbridge pinstripes, ~100 ya. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._B._S._Haldane
The point being at the moment, it’s a huge unknown territory. Something’s happening in the last 30-40 years to dramatically increase the incidence of the diagnosis of autism. At the moment we’re in the dark as to the exact or even proximal causes, but much less so on decent treatment options & therapies, as Ruby D. noted. So it’s as complex as it needs to be, as mysterious as ever, and as needful as money for help. JMP
Here is another study
http://www.nature.com/news/fathers-bequeath-more-mutations-as-they-age-1.11247
Seems this fact is key to these studies
“Haldane, working years before the structure of DNA was determined, was also correct about why fathers pass on more mutations. Sperm is continually being generated by dividing precursor cells, which acquire new mutations with each division. By contrast, women are born with their lifelong complement of egg cells.”
As a mother of a child with autism, these articles no longer infuriate me. They just make me sad. It’s the latest in a long series of everyone grasping at straws to place the blame on someone or something when we really should just be focusing on getting these children and adults more and better access to therapies that make real differences in their lives.
This did make me chuckle a bit. Usually, it is the mother’s fault. It’s something we did or did not do while we were pregnant or it’s something we did 20 years before we ever thought of having a child. Glad to see the dad’s getting their turn in the spotlight.
Yeah. And you are completely crazy.
Tragic, yes perhaps. But it’s not definitive either, just an ‘meta’ association. Whereas you move the whole scene to GA, and it’s just bound to get worse somehow:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/20/coley-mitchell-drunk-monkeys_n_1810998.html
This story scared the crap out of me. I actually emailed it to my brother who is 43 and still hasn’t had kids yet. I’m hoping for a niece or nephew who will help care for me in my dotage, not kill me in my sleep.
My dad was 36 when I was born. Suck it, arbitrary age cutoffs.
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