I got this interesting post on a subject I posted in September about the risks of advanced paternal age. I thought it was important enough that I would go ahead and create a new thread so people won't have to go to the archives to see it:
[from Anonymous]:
I would point out that 26.6 % of schizophrenia has been attributed to advanced paternal age in families where there is no prior known incidence of this condition. If you search advanced paternal age and schizophrenia you can find this throughout the world. I also would read James F. Crow's articel on Spontaneous Mutations, Is it a health risk?
A 10% risk of a genetic problem is big in my opinion.
My thoughts on this are in the next comment
Friday, November 03, 2006
Some numbers worth talking about
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2 comments:
I really appreciate this post and the chance it gives to discuss the 10 percent risk issue. The phrase "biological clock" is usually applied to women. I think what the recent research ponts out is the possibility of a similar biological clock in men where, as we get older, it is more difficult to conceive, the baby is more susceptible to miscarriage, and more likely to have genetic defects.
That 10 percent figure came from the original posting in September where - after an hour-long discussion about the risks of advanced paternal age - one of the guests on Diane Rhem's show estimates that overall 90 percent of births to older parents are "normal."
Given all that could go wrong, that number could be considered reassuring. But, obviously, that leaves 10 percent of the births having some kind of problem, which would be more than twice the risk of the overall population.
In the next comment, I will include a link to the American College of Medical Genetics' statement on the risks of advanced paternal age.
As I mentioned, the American College of Medical Genetics "Statement on Guidance for Genetic Counseling in Advanced Paternal Age" can be found at this address:
www.acmg.net/resources/policies/pol-016.asp
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