E Max Health shares a new study that shows that children of older fathers are at a higher risk of autism and other genetic mutations.
An older study from 2012 has been built upon that shares that fathers over the age of 36 have the possibility of passing on over 55 different genetic mutations to their children, where as a mother regardless of her age can pass on roughly 14 because of the limited amount of fertile eggs that she produces in her lifetime. Males are able to pass on new genetic mutations with each generation of sperm. Therefore, a father that is 36-years old is going to generate three times as many genetic mutations than a father in their early twenties.
In a 2014 study performed by Indiana University looked at over 2 million children born from 1974-2000 to older fathers and found that they were at a much higher risk of autism, Bipolar Disorder, ADHD, Schizophrenia, substance abuse, and suicide attempts. In the study, it sited;
When compared to a child born to a 24-year-old father, a child born to a 45-year-old father is 3.5 times more likely to have autism, 13 times more likely to have ADHD, two times more likely to have a psychotic disorder, 25 times more likely to have bipolar disorder and 2.5 times more likely to have suicidal behavior or a substance abuse problem.
What is furthermore interesting is that the average age of parents when they start a family is in the late 20s to mid 30s. Therefore, the likelihood of more children being born with some sort of a genetic mutation is high. It is well documented that the younger the parents of a child, the more likely they are to live in poverty, education rates are lower, and parents often suffer emotionally and financially.
