sperm genome quality, drawing the line between good and bad sperm at age 35,

The researchers found was that, patients under the age 35 years had a 14.32% mean rate of DNA fragmentated spermatozoa, whereas in patients 36 and older, the mean rate was 20.25%, a statistically significant difference (P <.05).


Excerpts:
Sperm Abnormalities Correlate With Age: Presented at ASRM
By Crina Frincu-Mallos, PhD

WASHINGTON, DC -- October 23, 2007 -- Men with sperm abnormalities, such as DNA-fragmented spermatozoa, are usually given a chance to father a child through intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), instead of the regular in vitro fertilization (IVF). Either ICSI or IVF technique is recommended based on standard sperm characteristics, yet they are not good enough markers, judging from the rates of success of the treatment.

A team of German researchers approached this issue from the point of view of sperm genome quality, and are drawing the line between good and bad sperm at age 35, according to a study reported here at the 63rd Annual Meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM).

The researchers triggered the DNA fragmentation, or rather the amount of sperm with fragmented DNA and attempted to correlate it with the patient's age, explained Thomas Winkle, Doctoral Researcher, Institute for Reproductive Medicine and Genetics, ReproGen-Ulm, Ulm, Germany, in an interview on October 16.

Semen samples were collected from all patients accrued in this study at the IVF-Zentrum, Ulm, Germany. Patients were between 24 and 47 years old.

For their preliminary study, the researchers analysed DNA fragmentation on semen samples from the first 56 patients was performed using propidium iodide staining and flow cytometry. The statistical analysis was done using the student's t-test.

The researchers found was that, patients under the age 35 years had a 14.32% mean rate of DNA fragmentated spermatozoa, whereas in patients 36 and older, the mean rate was 20.25%, a statistically significant difference (P <.05).

At the ends of the spectrum, in the subgroup of patients younger than 30 years, the mean rate of DNA fragmentated spermatozoa was 14.05%, while in the subgroup above 40 years old, the percentage went up to 20.27%, said the researchers.



Since patients aged 36 years or more had much higher rates of DNA fragmented sperm, the researchers suggested that these patients would have a reduced chance for successful assisted reproductive technology.



[Presentation title: 35 Years: the Border Between Good and Bad Sperm? Abstract P-785]


also on the study published by Abraham Reichenberg last year:

It is very possible that Paternal Age is the Major Predictor for autism---Harry Fisch, MD

Harry Fisch is the author of The Male Biological Clock, The Patient's Guide to Vasectomy Reversal, The Patient's Guide to Varicocele Repair and Managing The Vasectomy Patient. He is one of the nation's leaders in the diagnosis and treatment of male infertility and microsurgical vasectomy reversal. Dr. Fisch is director of the Male Reproductive Center and directs urologic microsurgery in the Department of Urology at Columbia University Medical Center of New York Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. He is also professor of clinical urology at Columbia University, where he was recently named Teacher of the Year in his department.
For over fifteen years, Dr. Fisch has focused his research, practice, and surgery on male infertility and reproduction.




From the Psychology Today article:


"Everybody was familiar with the concept of women's biological clock, but when we introduced 'male' to the equation, the reaction was 'What are you talking about? Men can have children at any age,'" recalls urologist Harry Fisch, director of the Male Reproductive Center at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York City and author of The Male Biological Clock. "It became a social issue. Men do not like to be told they have a problem."
Nonetheless, a virtual tidal wave of recent research has made it irrefutable: Not only does male fertility decrease decade by decade, especially after age 35, but aging sperm can be a significant and sometimes the only cause of severe health and developmental problems in offspring, including autism, schizophrenia, and cancer. The older the father, the higher the risk. But what's truly noteworthy is not that infertility increases with age—to some degree, we've known that all along—but rather that older men who can still conceive may have such damaged sperm that they put their offspring at risk for many types of disorders and disabilities.
"Men thought they were getting off scot free, and they weren't. The birth defects caused by male aging are significant conditions that can cause a burden to families and society," says Ethylin Wang Jabs, professor of pediatric genetics at Johns Hopkins University and leader of a recent study showing the link between aging paternity and certain facial deformities in offspring. "We now know that men and women alike could be increasing the risk of infertility or birth defects by waiting too long to have children." In other words, by looking for perfection in your life before you conceive, there's a very real chance you'll have less perfect kids."
In the past several years, studies worldwide have found that with each passing decade of their lives and with each insult they inflict on their bodies, men's fertility decreases, while genetic risk to offspring slowly mounts. The range of findings is staggering: Several studies have shown that the older the man, the more fragmented the DNA in his ejaculated sperm, resulting in greater risk for infertility, miscarriage or birth defects. Investigations out of Israel, Europe, and the United States have shown that non-verbal (performance) intelligence may decline exclusively due to greater paternal age; that up to a third of all cases of schizophrenia are linked to increasing paternal age; and that men 40 and older are nearly six times more likely to have offspring with autism than men under age 30. Other research shows that the risk of breast and prostate cancer in offspring increases with paternal age. "



------------------------


This is why autism and 100s of other disorders are rapidly rising:


By Rick Brewer
Record Staff Writer
October 23, 2007 6:00 AM
Jerry Syrovatka says that at 51 he can still run circles around his 8-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son.

But who knows how long that will last?

The Weston Ranch resident is part of a growing phenomenon among baby boomers: men who father children well past the age of 40.

Excellent Article on the Male Biological Clock, Mark Teich, Harry Fisch, etc.

Mark Teich tells it like it is!

"A Man's Shelf Life"
small excerpt, the whole article is a must read!

"In the past several years, studies worldwide have found that with each passing decade of their lives and with each insult they inflict on their bodies, men's fertility decreases, while genetic risk to offspring slowly mounts. The range of findings is staggering: Several studies have shown that the older the man, the more fragmented the DNA in his ejaculated sperm, resulting in greater risk for infertility, miscarriage or birth defects. Investigations out of Israel, Europe, and the United States have shown that non-verbal (performance) intelligence may decline exclusively due to greater paternal age; that up to a third of all cases of schizophrenia are linked to increasing paternal age; and that men 40 and older are nearly six times more likely to have offspring with autism than men under age 30. Other research shows that the risk of breast and prostate cancer in offspring increases with paternal age. ".......



"The autism findings are even more disturbing: Men 40 and older in the Israeli study were almost six times as likely to have offspring with autism than men under 30. Some researchers believe that older fathers may hold a clue to the vast upsurge in autism cases in the past decade. "With older and older couples having children—in the past two years, for the first time, more babies are being born to women over age 30 than under age 30, and on average, male partners tend to be older than female partners—it's very feasible that paternal age is a major predictor of autism," asserts Fisch.".....



The spin is that the mother's age is relevant is autism. BUT :

“The exact contrary of what is generally believed is often the truth. ”
- Jean de la Bruyère

Copy-Number Variants in Patients with a Strong Family History of Pancreatic Cancer.

Where do these variants come from?


Cancer Biol Ther. 2007 Jul 12;6(10) [Epub ahead of print]
Links
Copy-Number Variants in Patients with a Strong Family History of Pancreatic Cancer.
Lucito R, Suresh S, Walter K, Pandey A, Lakshmi B, Krasnitz A, Sebat J, Wigler M, Klein AP, Brune K, Palmisano E, Maitra A, Goggins M, Hruban RH.
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, New York, USA.
Copy-number variants such as germ-line deletions and amplifications are associated with inherited genetic disorders including familial cancer. The gene or genes responsible for the majority of familial clustering of pancreatic cancer have not been identified. We used representational oligonucleotide microarray analysis (ROMA) to characterize germ-line copy number variants in 60 cancer patients from 57 familial pancreatic cancer kindreds. Fifty-seven of the 60 patients had pancreatic cancer and three had nonpancreatic cancers (breast, ovary, ovary). A familial pancreatic cancer kindred was defined as a kindred in which at least two first-degree relatives have been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Copy-number variants identified in 607 individuals without pancreatic cancer were excluded from further analysis. A total of 56 unique genomic regions with copy-number variants not present in controls were identified, including 31 amplifications and 25 deletions. Two deleted regions were observed in two different patients, and one in three patients. The germ-line amplifications had a mean size of 662 Kb, a median size of 379 Kb (range 8.2 Kb to 2.5 Mb) and included 425 known genes. Examples of genes included in the germ-line amplifications include the MAFK, JunD and BIRC6 genes. The germ-line deletions had a mean size of 375Kb, a median size 151 Kb (range 0.4 Kb to 2.3 Mb) and included 81 known genes. In multivariate analysis controlling for region size, deletions were 90% less likely to involve a gene than were duplications (p < 0.01). Examples of genes included in the germ-line deletions include the FHIT, PDZRN3 and ANKRD3 genes. Selected deletions and amplifications were confirmed using real-time PCR, including a germ-line amplification on chromosome 19. These genetic copy-number variants define potential candidate loci for the familial pancreatic cancer gene.
PMID: 17912030 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher

There are many, many disorders attributed to the Paternal Age Effect- Aperts Syndrome for example

1: Glaser RL et al. The paternal-age effect in Ap...[PMID: 12900791]

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2003 Oct
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The paternal-age effect in Apert syndrome is due, in part, to the increased frequency of mutations in sperm.
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939-47
AB
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A paternal-age effect and the exclusive paternal origin of mutations have been reported in Apert syndrome (AS). As the incidence of sporadic AS births increases exponentially with paternal age, we hypothesized that the frequency of AS mutations in sperm would also increase. To determine the frequency of two common FGFR2 mutations in AS, we developed allele-specific peptide nucleic acid-PCR assays. Analyzing sperm DNA from 148 men, age 21-80 years, we showed that the number of sperm with mutations increased in the oldest age groups among men who did not have a child with AS. These older men were also more likely to have both mutations in their sperm. However, this age-related increase in mutation frequency was not sufficient to explain the AS-birth frequency. In contrast, the mutation frequency observed in men who were younger and had children with AS was significantly greater. In addition, our data suggest selection for sperm with specific mutations. Therefore, contributing factors to the paternal-age effect may include selection and a higher number of mutant sperm in a subset of men ascertained because they had a child with AS. No age-related increase in the frequency of these mutations was observed in leukocytes. Selection and/or quality-control mechanisms, including DNA repair and apoptosis, may contribute to the cell-type differences in mutation frequency.
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Institute of Genetic Medicine, Center for Craniofacial Development and Disorders, Department of Pediatrics, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA.
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Glaser, Rivka L
AU

Why is the Paternal Age Effect Not Taught?

Paternal age effect
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The paternal age effect describes the influence that a father's age has on the chances of conferring a genetic defect to his offspring. Generally, older men have a greater probability of fathering children with a genetic defect than younger men do.[citation needed] This is seen as likely due to genetic copying errors which may increase in number after repeated spermatogenesis cycles over a man's lifetime.
Contents[hide]
1 Disorders correlated with paternal age
2 See also
3 References
4 External links
//

[edit] Disorders correlated with paternal age
Achondroplasia (dwarfism); craniofacial disorders such as Apert syndrome and Crouzon Syndrome; mental retardation of unknown etiologies; autism; and 25% of schizophrenia cases are correlated with advanced paternal age.
Other disorders related to advanced paternal age are:
Wilms' tumor
Thanatophoric dysplasia
Retinitis pigmentosa
Osteogenesis imperfecta type IIA
Acrodysostosis
Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva
Aniridia
Bilateral retinoblastoma
Multiple exostoses
Marfan Syndrome
Lesch-Nyhan syndrome
Pfeiffer Syndrome
Wardenburg Syndrome
Treacher-Collins Syndrome
Soto’s basal cell nevus
Cleidocranial dysostosis
Polyposis coli
Oculodentodigital syndrome
Costello syndrome
Progeria
Recklinghausen’s neurofibromatosis
Tuberous sclerosis
Polycystic kidney disease
Hemophilia A
Duchenne muscular dystrophy
Athetoid Cerebral Palsy
Dystonic Cerebral Palsy
Congenital Hemiplegia

[edit] See also
Maternal age effect

[edit] References
Crow JF (1997). "The high spontaneous mutation rate: Is it a health risk?". PNAS 94: 8380–6.
Bertram L, Busch R, Spiegl M, Lautenschlager NT, Müller U, Kurz A (1998). "Paternal age is a risk factor for Alzheimer disease in the absence of a major gene". Neuroscience 1 (4): 277–80.
Sipos A, Rasmussen F, Harrison G, Tynelius P, Lewis G, Leon DA, Gunnell D (2004). "Paternal age and schizophrenia: a population based (sic) cohort study". BMJ Online.
DNA repair activity linked to paternal age effect. University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (2000-08-28).
Bray I, Gunnell D, Smith GD (2006). "Advanced paternal age: How old is too old?". Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 60: 851–3.
Montgomery SM, Lambe M, Tomas O, Ekbom A (2004). "Paternal age, family size, and risk of multiple sclerosis". Epidemiology 15 (6): 717–23.
Reichenberg A, Gross R, Weiser M, Bresnahan M, Silverman J, Harlap S, Rabinowitz J, Shulman C, Malaspina D, Lubin G, Knobler HY, Davidson M, Susser E (2006). "Advancing paternal age and autism". Archives of General Psychiatry 63 (9): 1026–32.
Sanders L (2005). College scientist named Ellison Senior Scholar. University of Southern California College of Letters, Arts & Sciences.
Fisch H, Hyun G, Golden R, Hensle TW, Olsson CA, Liberson GL (2003). "The influence of paternal age on down syndrome (sic)". J Urol 169 (6): 2275–8. PMID 12771769.
Rami B, Schneider U, Imhof A, Waldhör T, Schober E (1999). "Risk factors for type I diabetes mellitus in children in Austria" 158 (5): 362–6. PMID 10333115.
Singh NP, Muller CH, Berger RE (2003). "Effects of age on DNA double-strand breaks and apoptosis in human sperm". Fertility and sterility 80 (6): 1420–30.
Lauritsen MB, Pedersen CB, Mortensen PB (2005). "Effects of familial risk factors and place of birth on the risk of autism: a nationwide register-based study". J Child Psychol Psychiatry 46 (9): 963–71. PMID 16108999.
Wohl M, Gorwood P (2007). "Paternal ages below or above 35 years old are associated with a different risk of schizophrenia in the offspring". Eur Psychiatry 22 (1): 22–6. PMID 17142012.
Schizophrenia Research Forum: Current Hypotheses (2006-03-28).
Choi J-Y, Lee K-M, Park SK, Noh D-Y, Ahn S-H, Yoo K-Y, Kang D (2005). "Association of paternal age at birth and the risk of breast cancer in offspring: a case control study". BMC Cancer 5: 143.
NW Andrology & Cryobank.
Croen LA, Najjar DV, Fireman B, Grether JK (2007). "Maternal and paternal age and risk of autism spectrum disorders". Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine 161 (4): 334–40.
Tarin JJ, Brines J, Cano A (1998). "Long-term effects of delayed parenthood". Human Reproduction 13 (9): 2371–6.

On a Population Level, Genetic Mutations in Sperm Increase As Men Age and their Offspring Suffer As A Result of Ignoring This Fact

Don't be fooled by the lack of a public discussion. There is NO doubt that genetic disorders of all kinds increase in offspring with the age of the father and the age of the mother's father at her birth because there is a male biological clock and advancing paternal age equals more DNA mutations as sperm divide from the sperm stem cells. Nothing is simple and one has to look at the glaring evidence in the papers written by honest scientists that have been published since the 1950s. You will also find dishonesty among some scientists trying to cover up this biological truth. Also read about vaccinations and their effects in this blog.



SHORT REPORT
Advanced paternal age: How old is too old? Isabelle Bray, David Gunnell, George Davey Smith
Department of Social Medicine, University of Bristol, UK
Correspondence to:Correspondence to: Dr I Bray Department of Social Medicine, University of Bristol, Canynge Hall, Whiteladies Road, Bristol BS8 2PR, UK; Issy.Bray@bristol.ac.uk

"The mean age of fathers in England and Wales increased from 29.2 years in 1980 to 32.1 in 2002.6 The public health implications of this trend have not been ... "more schizophrenia, more birth defects, more diabetes, more autism etc.etc.

Average paternal age in the UK is increasing. The public health implications of this trend have not been widely anticipated or debated. This commentary aims to contribute to such a debate. Accumulated chromosomal aberrations and mutations occurring during the maturation of male germ cells are thought to be responsible for the increased risk of certain conditions with older fathers. Growing evidence shows that the offspring of older fathers have reduced fertility and an increased risk of birth defects, some cancers, and schizophrenia. Adverse health outcomes should be weighed up against advantages for children born to older parents, mindful that these societal advantages are likely to change over time.
Keywords: paternal age; DNA damage; fertility; abnormalities; schizophrenia

Research finds sperm quality drops, genetic problems rise as men age

" The number of men ages 35-49 who father children has increased 40 percent since 1980, according to Wyrobek, while the number of fathers under 30 has fallen 20 percent.
"I've tried to encourage men to have kids sooner,'' said Dr. Paul Turek, director of the Male Reproductive Laboratory at UCSF who is familiar with the research although not part of the study team. "This paper reaffirms what I believe." '

Down syndrome also rises with paternal age when partners are both older.http://www.webmd.com/infertility-and-reproduction/news/20030701/dad-age-down-syndrome