Dad's age, diet and lifestyle may cause birth defects

Conclusion This narrative review summarises past research on DNA changes that may occur as a result of a father's age and exposures that could be passed on to his children. In particular, the review discusses animal and human studies that have linked changes in offspring with increasing paternal age, stress and substance use.   But this review must largely be considered to only be an opinion piece. We don't know how the researchers identified, appraised and selected the studies they discussed. As such, there is a strong possibility that not all animal and human research relevant to the issue of paternal epigenetic inheritance will have been reviewed and discussed here.   There are also no clear methods or results provided for the studies that are discussed, with only a few brief sentences given for each study. We are not able to critique the quality and strength of evidence linking a father's age or any other exposure with the outcome reported.  For example, people would likely be concerned by reports that increased rates of autism or congenital defects have been observed in children born to fathers over the age of 40. But we have nothing more to go on than this – no firm risk figures are given. And the observational studies themselves are likely to have been influenced by various unknown sources of bias and confounding, like the report that three-quarters of babies with foetal alcohol syndrome have a father with alcohol use problems. This doesn't tell us anyth...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Genetics/stem cells Food/diet Lifestyle/exercise Pregnancy/child Source Type: news