NEW YORK TIMES: Children born to middle-aged men are more likely than those born to younger fathers to develop any of a range of mental difficulties, including attention deficits, bipolar disorder, autism and schizophrenia, according to the most comprehensive study to date of paternal age and offspring mental health….
The strengths of the new report are size and rigor. The research team, led by Brian M. D’Onofrio of Indiana University, analyzed medical and public records of about 2.6 million people born in Sweden from 1973 to 2001. Like many European countries, Sweden has centralized medical care and keeps detailed records, so the scientists knew the father’s age for each birth and were able to track each child’s medical history over time, as well as that of siblings and other relatives. Among other things, the analysis compared the mental health of siblings born to the same father and found a clear pattern of increased risk with increasing paternal age….
The researchers found much larger increases in risk for attention deficits (13-fold) and bipolar disorder (25-fold) associated with late fatherhood. “I don’t know what to do with those numbers,” Dr. Sullivan said, noting that two recent genetic studies found that the contribution of de novo mutations to the risk of mental disorders was “probably pretty low” compared with other factors… (more)
