Older dads reduce the health of their children

Older dads: Biological clock is also ticking for men

04/16/2014

Even though the opinion that men can easily become fathers at the age of 60 is widespread, it is wrong. The biological clock is also ticking for men. The male germ cells, which do not get better with age, may lay the foundation for later diseases of the offspring.

Even for men, the biological clock is ticking
The fact that women can be too old to have children is well known. Or, the risk of giving birth to a child with disabilities, such as Down syndrome, when they become pregnant later. But many people do not know that the biological clock is ticking for men as well. After all, it is not the case that at the age of 60, they can easily become fathers. As Thomas Haaf, human geneticist at the University of Würzburg, explains, the male germ cells do not get better with age.

Basics for later illnesses
Scientists assume that changes in genetic material are to blame for men over the age of 45 years. Although these do not yet correspond to a true mutation of the genetic material, they do however alter the activity of individual genes. If given to the offspring with a sperm, they may influence the development of the embryo and lay the foundations for later disease. It is true that changes to the genetic material happen randomly in the course of life, but they can also be caused by environmental influences. It is believed that such changes to the genome can be caused by tobacco smoke and chemicals but also by metabolic diseases such as diabetes or severe obesity (obesity).

Higher age no reason to decide against a child
Haaf and his team are currently investigating over 1,200 sperm samples from men of different ages. The researchers want to clarify so clearly which genetic changes in sperm occur at all and whether they can be transferred to the next generation. However, there is never a guarantee for a healthy child during a pregnancy, even with young parents. A higher age of father or mother is therefore no reason to decide against a child. However, parents should be aware of potential medical problems. As previous studies have shown, children of older fathers, at least statistically, have a higher risk of developing autism and mental illness, such as schizophrenia.

Risk of ADHD increases with increased fatherhood

These disorders include attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). For example, a study by the Swedish Karolinska Institute in cooperation with the University of Indiana in the USA has shown that the risk of ADHD in offspring increases significantly if the fathers were 45 years of age or older when they were born. For their investigation, the researchers had evaluated the data of 2.6 million Swedes from the birth cohorts between 1973 and 2001. Professor Haaf found it desirable that men over the age of 45, who wanted to be fathers, would find out about the health risks for the child with increased fatherhood and what precautionary measures there are. (Sb)