Older fathers increase schizophrenia risk for their children

Older fathers are
at increased risk of having children who develop schizophrenia in
later life, according to a new study.

Researchers looked at 700,000 Swedish people with the disorder and
calculated that 15.5% of cases of schizophrenia could be due to the
father being over 30.

The risk of developing schizophrenia increases by 50 per cent for
each extra decade on the father’s age, the researchers
found.
The authors attribute the raised risk of the disorder to mutations
in the father’s sperm, which increase with age.

In England and Wales, average parternal age has increased from 29.2
in 1980 to 32.1 in 2002, and the researchers estimate this could
have led to 710 additional cases in 2002.

The paper is at:
http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/reprint/bmj.38243.672396.55v1