So Why Not Inform The Public About the Risk Factors For Autism CDC????

The CDC/goverment could have announced in 1958 the warning that older fathers and schizophrenia were connected. They certainly could have done so in 2001. If the pharmaceutical industry/academic research industry is going to profit from an announement the public will hear about it immediately. If the public could prevent schizophrenia, autism, diabetes, Alzheimer's, cancers, mental retardation, in their children through knowing to father babies before 33 the public will not be told and the disorders will be called of "mysterious origin".

Autism and Mystery fits the Interest of Those Who Profit from Autism, Most Psychiatrists in Schizophrenia and Autism research know full well the risk factors.

Remember that childhood schizophrenia is no longer diagnosed since 1994, it is called autism and sporadic schizophrenia is proven to be caused by older men fathering babies. By 33 the sperm stem cells are rapidly accumuating changes in DNA.Women whose father's were older when they were conceived are at a very high risk of having children with genetic disorders. So are people with diabetes, autoimmune thyroid disorders and other autoimmun disease.
Why The Problem with Vaccinations in Autism?

OBJECTIVE: Individuals with schizophrenia and their relatives tend to have either higher or lower than expected prevalences of autoimmune disorders, especially rheumatoid arthritis, celiac disease, autoimmune thyroid diseases, and type 1 diabetes. The purpose of the study was to estimate the association of schizophrenia with these disorders as well as a range of other autoimmune diseases in a single large epidemiologic study. METHOD: The Danish Psychiatric Register, the National Patient Register, and a register with socioeconomic information were linked to form a data file that included all 7,704 persons in Denmark diagnosed with schizophrenia from 1981 to 1998 and their parents along with a sample of matched comparison subjects and their parents. The data linkage required that the autoimmune disease occur before the diagnosis of schizophrenia. RESULTS: A history of any autoimmune disease was associated with a 45% increase in risk for schizophrenia. Nine autoimmune disorders had higher prevalence rates among patients with schizophrenia than among comparison subjects (crude incidence rate ratios ranging from 1.9 to 12.5), and 12 autoimmune diseases had higher prevalence rates among parents of schizophrenia patients than among parents of comparison subjects (adjusted incidence rate ratios ranging from 1.3 to 3.8). Thyrotoxicosis, celiac disease, acquired hemolytic anemia, interstitial cystitis, and Sjögren’s syndrome had higher prevalence rates among patients with schizophrenia than among comparison subjects and also among family members of schizophrenia patients than among family members of comparison subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Schizophrenia is associated with a larger range of autoimmune diseases than heretofore suspected. Future research on comorbidity has the potential to advance understanding of pathogenesis of both psychiatric and autoimmune disorders.




THE GENETICS OF AUTISM
OVERVIEW
Autism is a severe neurodevelopmental disorder of unknown etiology, with profound consequences for affected individuals and their families. Autism is the classical pervasive developmental disorder (PDD); a group of disorders which also includes Asperger’s syndrome, atypical autism, childhood disintegrative disorder, PDD not otherwise specified (PDDNOS) and Rett syndrome. These disorders are classically defined by a combination of qualitative impairments in three principal areas: verbal and non-verbal communication, reciprocal social interaction, and repetitive and stereotyped patterns of interests and activities.

There is now convincing evidence from twin and family studies for the involvement of genetic factors in the development of autism. The absence of any strong consistent evidence for an environmental, biochemical or neuroanatomical cause has led to an increasing number of genetic studies worldwide to determine the basis of this complex disorder.

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ARE ALL KINDS OF AUTISMS AND SCHIZOPHRENIAS ON THE RISE BECAUSE MEN ARE FATHERING BABIES IN THEIR MID 30s AND BEYOND, WAY BEYOND?

Minding Your Mind



New Key to Autism


September 25, 2006


By Michael Craig Miller, M.D.
Harvard Medical School




Convincing Evidence

What Causes These Genetic Errors?
Should Older Men Stop Fathering Babies?
A study published in the September, 2006 issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry may give older prospective fathers pause before plunging into biological parenthood. The authors found a significant increase in the risk of autism and similar disorders as fathers got older


This is not the first discovery of its type. Healthcare professionals have long known that as parents age, the risk of giving birth to a child with certain illnesses goes up. Older mothers, for example, are more likely to have a child with Down syndrome. In recent years, studies have revealed a link between aging fathers and schizophrenia.

Until recently, health care professionals have focused almost exclusively on the mother's age as a risk factor for health problems in the child. But we now know that the father's age also adds to the risk of potentially devastating diseases. And there is no practical way to detect these illnesses during pregnancy. For those weighing the risks, the decision can be wrenching. Adoption and in some instances a sperm donation may be acceptable alternatives to older fathers wanting to build a healthy family.

Michael Craig Miller, M.D. is Editor in Chief of the Harvard Mental Health Letter. He is also associate physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. He has been practicing psychiatry for more than 25 years and teaches in the Harvard Longwood Psychiatry Residency Program.



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Cho Seung-Hui Diagnosed With Autism As A Child

AutismLink Reacts to Diagnosis of Autism in Virginia Tech Shooter



PITTSBURGH, April 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AutismLink and Autism
Center of Pittsburgh Director Cindy Waeltermann today issued a statement
regarding the recent revelation that Virginia Tech shooter Cho Seung-Hui
was diagnosed with autism as a child.
"While the entire autism community in Pittsburgh and across the nation
are devastated by the recent events at Virginia Tech, we would like to
caution the public not to stigmatize children or individuals with autism.
Cho likely did not receive the help and support that he needed early on --
that is why early intervention is so important, and that is why places like
the Autism Center of Pittsburgh exist. The act of one individual should not
reflect upon the entire autistic population.
It is unfair to blame Cho's actions on autism when he was clearly
psychologically impaired and likely had another disorder in addition to his
autism. His psychological evaluations apparently revealed a dark history
that concluded that he was an imminent danger to himself and others and was
also depressed.
This is a wake up call that stresses the importance of early
intervention, research, and appropriate treatment strategies. Many strides
have been made in autism spectrum disorders and research has consistently
shown that when children receive the help that they need early on they are
more likely to become more adept at social and communication skills.
Autism affects 1 in 150 children and is now the most commonly diagnosed
developmental disability in the world. It is time to recognize autism for
the epidemic it is."


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Cho's great-aunt, Kim Yang-soon, said Cho was diagnosed with autism after coming to U.S. in 1992. Speaking from her home in South Korea, she described Cho as "very cold" and said her niece was constantly worried about him.

Autism Risk Rises With Age Of Father

Part of the article in the Washington Post published when the Reichenberg et al. study was published last September.

Large Study Finds Strong Correlation

By Shankar Vedantam
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 5, 2006; Page A01


Children born to fathers of advancing age are at significantly higher risk of developing autism compared with children born to younger fathers, according a comprehensive study published yesterday that offers surprising new insight into one of the most feared disorders of the brain.



With every decade of advancing age starting with men in their teens and twenties, the new study found, older fathers pose a growing risk to their children when it comes to autism -- unhappy evidence that the medical risks associated with late parenthood are not just the province of older mothers, as much previous research has suggested.

Of special concern is the finding that the risk for autism not only increases with paternal age but also appears to accelerate.

When fathers are in their thirties, children have about 1 1/2 times the risk of developing autism of children of fathers in their teens and twenties. Compared with the offspring of the youngest fathers, children of fathers in their forties have more than five times the risk of developing autism, and children of fathers in their fifties have more than nine times the risk

Excepts from the Harvard Mental Health Letter September 2006

Minding Your Mind



New Key to Autism


September 25, 2006


By Michael Craig Miller, M.D.
Harvard Medical School

Convincing Evidence
What Causes These Genetic Errors?
Should Older Men Stop Fathering Babies?
A study published in the September, 2006 issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry may give older prospective fathers pause before plunging into biological parenthood. The authors found a significant increase in the risk of autism and similar disorders as fathers got older


This is not the first discovery of its type. Healthcare professionals have long known that as parents age, the risk of giving birth to a child with certain illnesses goes up. Older mothers, for example, are more likely to have a child with Down syndrome. In recent years, studies have revealed a link between aging fathers and schizophrenia.

Until recently, health care professionals have focused almost exclusively on the mother's age as a risk factor for health problems in the child. But we now know that the father's age also adds to the risk of potentially devastating diseases. And there is no practical way to detect these illnesses during pregnancy. For those weighing the risks, the decision can be wrenching. Adoption and in some instances a sperm donation may be acceptable alternatives to older fathers wanting to build a healthy family.

Michael Craig Miller, M.D. is Editor in Chief of the Harvard Mental Health Letter. He is also associate physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. He has been practicing psychiatry for more than 25 years and teaches in the Harvard Longwood Psychiatry Residency Program.

Infertility Link to Autism Risk/October 26, 2006 Is Father's Age A major factor??

At the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, Professor Mary Croughan of the University of California, who led the research on 4,000 women said that "what has caused then to be unable to conceive goes on to cause problems". Couples with infertility problems are 3X more likely to have a child with serious problems such as autism, cerebral palsy, mental retardation, seizures and cancer. For autism alone, the risk was four times higher.



According to Professor Mary Croughan, lead researcher of the University of California study on 4,000 women and their children aged up to six years, couples with fertility problems were also more likely to have other health problems, like diabetes and heart disease, as well as having a higher risk of pregnancy and labor complications. She said: "What has caused them to be unable to conceive goes on to cause problems.

"It is as if a brick wall has stopped you becoming pregnant. Treatment allows you to climb over the wall, but it is still there and it goes on to cause problems."

The study revealed that the risk of five serious disorders - autism, cerebral palsy, mental retardation, seizures and cancer - was 2.7 times higher among the children born to 2,000 women who experienced fertility problems than among those born to the 2,000 women who did not have difficult conceiving.