doi: 10.1542/peds.2013-3664:
The risk of autistic disorder was 0.27% (25 of 9267) in children of obese fathers and 0.14% (59 of 41 603) in children of fathers with normal weight (BMI <25 1.07="" 1.73="" adjusted="" aged="" an="" analyses="" asperger="" children="" ci:="" disorder="" for="" generating="" limited="" of="" or="" span="" to="" were="" years="">n = 50 116). The risk was 0.38% (18 of 4761) in children of obese fathers and 0.18% (42 of 22 736) in children of normal-weight fathers, and the adjusted OR was 2.01 (95% CI: 1.13–3.57). No associations were found for pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified.Hence, rising autism rates during the Great Fattening of the last few decades. How does paternal obesity cause autism? I am guessing it is associated with some common cause, but worth investigating.
Not a scientific observation of course, but my sister born in 1975 is autistic. Both parents thin. I speculate whether the factories my parents worked in could have played a role. Both probably had chemical exposure therein.
ReplyDeleteIn all the articles I've seen about autism and the search for the cause, none of them talk about the parents and their respective family histories. They merely state that autism doesn't run in the families, which would be a fairly accurate statement on it's face.
ReplyDeleteIve only seen one that discussed the increasing numbers of autistic kids and made the correct connection. Parents who both have ADD/ADHD tend to end up with kids with Asperger's Syndrome, and THEIR kids produce kids with AS or autism. Concentrate/distill those genes and that is the result. Like attracts like, and those with AS tend to be attracted to those with ADD and/or AS.
What has changed is that although ADD is fairly common in the US, up until recently the character traits of Asperger's did not commonly lead to being a success in life, and therefore the production of children by them was restricted. Also, these types of people would not generally be concentrated in areas that would lead them to encounter others like themselves. Think Silicon Valley for an environment that those with Asperger's fit into easily.
I'm speaking from personal family history when I say the scenario seems pretty clear.
Will: I have read that ASD concentrations are found in Silicon Valley, Route 128 in Massachusetts, and the equivalents in Britain. Assortative mating. Nerds carrying the ADHD gene find nerdettes with same. *Nerdettes seemed pretty rare when I started software engineering.)
ReplyDeleteUnknown: What occupations were your parents?
ReplyDeleteClayton,
ReplyDeleteI know of a couple areas of work that are very attractive to those with ADHD:
autobody repair and painting, and vehicle towing.
It seems that both have a fairly non-repetitive work environment. So, not as boring as other types of employment. Both can be challenging and creative.
For that matter, most love driving.
My entire family was diagnosed with ADD in the early 00's, but all the psych people totally overlooked the Asperger's. 3 generations.
Father was an industrial maintenance mechanic and press operator. Mother worked in a container manufacturing company (Styrofoam) during part of the pregnancy. Otherwise retail and restaurant.
ReplyDelete