Old grandfathers, abuse in women linked to autism

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Having an older grandfather or being a mother who was abused in her youth are linked to higher odds of having a child with autism, according to two studies published on Wednesday in a leading United States (US) psychiatry journal.

The analysis by two separate teams appears in the Journal of the American Medical Association (Jama) Psychiatry, adding to research that suggests hereditary and environmental influences on autism risk likely reach across multiple generations.

The study on grandfathers examined national records of nearly 6,000 people with autism and 31,000 healthy controls born in Sweden since 1932.

They found that men who were 50 or older when they had a daughter were 1.79 times more likely to have a grandchild with autism, compared to men who had children when they were age 20-24.