Rabin, Roni. “Both Parent’s Ages Linked to Autism Risk” NYTimes.com 8 February2010.8 February2010.
The journal Autism Research published a study that has connected the increasing ages of parents to growing rates of autism. Since the 1990s, researchers have observed and analyzed data from 5 million births. 12,159 cases of autism have been noted out of the millions. These cases seem to link the occurrence of autism to the increasing age of the parents themselves. The study reveals that the risk of autism increases 59% when fathers over forty are coupled with mothers under thirty as opposed to pairings with younger fathers. The risk of women aged thirty and older coupled with fathers forty and older only rose 13%. It is also noted that every 5 years added to a mother’s age increases the chances of autism by 18%. Despite these startling trends, many experts are cautious about accepting this information as a reason for the explosion in the rates of autism. “The rise in autism is occurring among children of parents of all ages,” stated epidemiology graduate student Janie Shelton. “We can’t say that the shifting trend of maternal age is responsible for the increased rates of autism.” The new studies also contradict earlier findings related to the subject of parental aging and autism. Previous research demonstrated that increasing paternal age was linked to autism, however maternal age was not a large factor. In the recent studies, scientists have discovered that the difference between the mother’s age and the father’s age actually cause an increase in the risk of potential autism in the child. There is much data to comprehend through these new studies, however, the information that is collected is essential to the understanding of autism. This new research sheds some light on the increasing occurrence of autism, as well as its possible causes.
For years, the debate of the causes of autism raged, with some blaming vaccines for its occurrence in younger children. This suspicion has recently dwindled, and this study adds even more proof that other factors are to blame. This is extremely important. Autism is a growing phenomenon in many areas, with numbers and statistics sharply increasing over the years. A better understanding of autism may aid scientists in their efforts to prevent, combat, and treat it. From what this research demonstrates, the paternal age seems to be an increasingly important factor in the occurrence of autism. The findings of this study will further science’s understanding of autism which may lead to treatment and prevention in the future.
This article by Roni Rabin of The New York Times proved to be highly informative. The structure was relatively clear and concise, and the data was presented in a mostly organized fashion. Overall, the information was helpful and relevant. At points, the article referenced to other studies and experiments, which made parts of it slightly unclear and confusing. I would suggest adding some data regarding the rising rates of autism throughout the country, and not just in California. This article’s scholarly format and straightforward presentation enhances the reader’s understanding of the issue at hand.
I think that Aine did an excellent job with her review. She included a lot of percentages and facts that showed how many studies backed up this article. I also like how she explained what was thought to be the reasons for autism in the past, and how that is changing now. Her article was well written, in a way that made it easy to understand.
ReplyDeleteAine could have gone more in depth into what vaccines people were blaming for autism in children. Also she could have given a brief description of autism, and how people react to it, as some background information.
Overall, this was an excellent review, and before reading this, I had not known that people were beginning to find that a new possible cause of autism is the age of the parents when they have these children. I believe this is a discovery which will help many people to come in the future.
I thought Aine’s current event was very good and very informative. It taught me many things that I did not know about autism and the reason behind how it is caused. What I liked about what Aine wrote is that she mentioned that women’s chances of delivering an autistic baby are raised eighteen percent after every five years, when conceiving with an older man. I also liked to learn that the maternal genes are not much of a factor when it comes to their autistic children, rather that whoever the father is has more of an impact. I also was interested when Aine mentioned that many doctors and scientists are debating causes and of autism and how to stop it, which makes many people think that the cure for autism is out there and many people are trying to find it.
ReplyDeleteWhat I was not so crazy about in Aine’s article was that she did not really explain what autism is and how it can be a problem. I also did not understand two of the sentences, which stated, that the risk of autism increased fifty nine percent when fathers over forty are coupled with mothers over thirty, but the risk raised thirteen percent when this happened. I just did not understand that.
One of the things that I learned after reading this article, which I found very interesting was that the risk of autism rose fifty-nine percent when a mother over thirty conceives with a father over forty, and that the younger the father is, the less of a risk autism is. Overall, Aine’s current event was very interesting and informative.
I think Aine wrote a great summary. She chose a topic that society has a lot of interest in because we know so little of the disorder. She fed us information that enlightened our understanding of the causes of autism. I think the statistics she included about men verses women and their increasing ages being linked to autism in her summary were informative. She did a nice job comparing the differences between male verses female. It definitely seemed like she highlighted the most important aspects of the article she read in her overview.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I would recommend to Aine, if she were to revise her summary, would be to maybe summarize the article in a shorter review. I can understand why she would want to include the information in order to make a better comparison-- but I think she could've made the same point in a more simplified version, to make it easier for the reader. Otherwise, she did a fantastic job.
Originally, I heard that autism was linked to the increasing age in mothers, but I never knew that it was linked to fathers as well. The description of the studies she incorporated in her article opened my eyes to the understanding of the causes autism. I really enjoyed reading this summary.
I think Áine did a really great job explaining and reviewing this article. She was very consistent in explaining what the article was about. I think she did a really good job at making this review interesting to read. It made me want to read the article for myself.
ReplyDeleteI think the review was really great over all and would say the only thing that had me a bit confused was a sentence that had a several percentages thrown in it. "The risk of women aged thirty and older coupled with fathers forty and older only rose 13%. It is also noted that every 5 years added to a mother’s age increases the chances of autism by 18%." It took me a few times to read over that one sentence to understand it. I think a little more background on percentages before this article was written would benefit Áine's review a lot.
This whole review was very informative and everything I read stuck out in my mind and I had never known before.
Aine did a very thorough job in reviewing her article. Her use of vocabulary and the topic of the article really interested me because it is something that I could relate to.
ReplyDeleteSomethings that she could improve on is making her point a little more clear. A few sentences I had to read over more than once.
One thing that really caught my eye was, "The risk of women aged thirty and older coupled with fathers forty and older only rose 13%. It is also noted that every 5 years added to a mother’s age increases the chances of autism by 18%." This point really caught my eye and I'm glad she included it.
I was very impressed with Aine's overall presentation. I found the review to be very informative and quite interesting. What really made the review so nice was that it seemed that Aine was interested in the topic and covered it well. She used quotes, gave us facts, and supplied a valid opinion on the topic. The review was well presented because Aine seemed pretty genuine when expressing what she thought was right and wrong with the article she read; she didn't make it up.
ReplyDeleteIf I had to tell Aine two things to make her review better, I would say that she definitely should touch more on what the condition (autism) actually is. I think I know a fair amount about Autism, but even still, it is incredibly confusing. I was also really interested in the vaccination situation. I'm aware of the people who think vaccines are at fault but I never knew what they were.
One thing that I was not aware of prior to reading this review was the fact that ages could affect a child's chances of having autism. I know that there are so many possible reasons for the condition, but the age of a parent is really suprising.
I think Aine did a great job with here current event. I found the whole article very interesting because i do not know enough about autism. I was impressed with the amount of percentages and facts she had in her article. Aine definitely knew what she was writing about so i found it very easy to read. I found it very fascinating how the age of the Father can have a large impact on the percentage for an autistic baby. I also like how Aine incorporated many quotes.
ReplyDeleteI felt that Aine talked a lot about percentages but not about how those percentages were tested. Also i think she should talk about the vaccines and more about autism from a general point of view.
I found the whole reading very interesting because I have always heard about autism but never really understood enough about it and with this article i definitely want to learn more about it.