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Causes and risk factors
Mixed associations observed between advanced paternal age and psychiatric morbidity in offspring
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  1. Ranjith Ramasamy,
  2. Larry I Lipshultz
  1. Department of Urology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
  1. Correspondence to Larry I Lipshultz; larryl{at}bcm.edu

https://doi.org/10.1136/eb-2014-101891

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    What is already known on this topic?

    Advanced maternal age has long been acknowledged as a risk factor for genetic disorders such as Down's syndrome. Owing to the large number of cell divisions that occur during spermatogenesis, we can speculate that advanced paternal age (APA) can contribute to an increased number of de novo mutations.1 Autosomal dominant diseases such as achondroplasia and multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome are strongly associated with APA. However, the association between APA and complex disorders such as cancer and psychopathology is less clear.

    What does this paper add?

    • This is the largest population-based investigation to date to address the association between advanced paternal age and psychiatric morbidity in the offspring. Previous studies have demonstrated inconsistent epidemiological findings on the association between psychiatric disorders and parental (both paternal and maternal) age.2

    • APA was associated with an increased risk for autism, psychosis …

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    Footnotes

    • Competing interests RR is an NIH K12 Scholar supported by a Male Reproductive Health Research Career, Development Physician-Scientist Award (HD073917-01) from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Programme.