Kids Born To Older Fathers May Have Increased Mortality Rates

Kids Born To Older Fathers May Have Increased Mortality Rates

Written by Piyush Joshi
Tuesday, 03 June 2008
TUESDAY, June 3, (News Locale) - Having a kid after men have crossed the age of 45 appears to increase the mortality risk of the child, a new study by European researchers has indicated. This incidence is attributed to the declining quality of sperm due to ageing.
It is popularly believed that unlike women, men have no biological clock and can father children throughout their life. In fact it is not uncommon to see celebrities having babies well after they have crossed their 50s.However researchers at the Danish Epidemiology Science Center, University of Aarhus found that children born to fathers aged over 45 were twice as likely to die before they entered adulthood when compared to kids born to younger fathers.The study analyzed over 100,000 children born between 1980 and 1996. So far some 830 children have died under the age of 13 years. All data was obtained from Danish Fertility Database. The scientists found that congenital defects like heart and spine problems were the main cause of death in these children. Additionally the risk of autism, epilepsy or schizophrenia also increased in these kids which led to accidental deaths as well, the researchers reported in the European Journal of Epidemiology."The risks of older fatherhood can be very profound, and it is not something that people are always aware of," lead researcher Dr Jin Liang Zhu told The Daily Telegraph.Consumers must be aware that the mother's age has always been associated with problems like Down's syndrome. The above study provides evidence that a father's age may also have a say in the lifespan of his child.