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About a month ago a study (abstract) was published about how a father's age affects the psychiatric health of his children. Due to a misleading press release about the study's results, it was widely reported that children born to father over 45 years of age were 3.5 times more likely to have autism, 13 times more likely to have ADHD, 2 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.
But statistical analysis is hard and non-intuitive, particularly for people who aren't expert statisticians. It turns out that the real-life rates of psychiatric problems are significantly less, putting this most recent study's results in line with those of previous related studies.
(Score: 2) by Rivenaleem on Tuesday April 08 2014, @07:40PM
Does it still hold out that the father (and also the grand-father) is the longer the telomeres of his sperm? It was recently talked about (last 6 months I think) how this would lead to older fathers giving birth to longer-lived (all other things being equal) offspring due to passing down longer telomeres through their sperm. Before, the risk of doing this was related to the study in this article, but if it's effectively ruled out, are there no disadvantages (other than chance of parent dying while child is still young) to fathering while old?
I can see this as being a great selling point for old people looking to get young partners (or just a better deal on their sperm donations) for the purposes of pro-creation! "Hey baby, your child will live much longer if I'm the father!"
(Score: 2, Informative) by Serial_Priest on Tuesday April 08 2014, @09:45PM
For those interested, here is the study: http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2012/06/05/12020 92109.abstract [pnas.org] ("Delayed paternal age of reproduction in humans is associated with longer telomeres across two generations of descendants")
It seems the "male biological clock" doesn't have the same limitations as the female variant, and that quite a few journalists did not hesitate to misrepresent statistics to argue the opposite.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Tuesday April 08 2014, @09:57PM
"are there no disadvantages (other than chance of parent dying while child is still young) to fathering while old?"
In my 30s, chasing them around the house felt a lot more exhausting than it appeared watching 20s do the same.
On the other hand my 30s were a lot more financially stable than my 20s, so it likely balances out.
More exercise, but no money related stress?