Men 40 and over are nearly six time more likely to have offspring with autism and other genetic defects, also schizophrenia rates are increased etc.

Scientific Evidence Points to Male Biological Clock
Symptoms Include Declining Fertility, Lowered Testosterone Levels and Increased Risk of Heart Disease, Diabetes and Genetic Abnormalities Such as Autism
NEW YORK (Nov 15, 2006)

It is well known that women have a "biological clock" associated with declining fertility, increasing risk for fetal birth defects, and altered hormone levels. Now an increasing body of scientific evidence points to the existence of a similar male biological clock, according to a retrospective review article by NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University Medical Center researchers published in the Nov. 15 Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). Conditions associated with the male phenomenon include declining fertility, lowered testosterone levels, diabetes, heart disease, depression, erectile dysfunction (ED) and an increased risk of fetal birth defects.

"Similar to women, aging is associated with declines in sex hormone levels in men. Testosterone decrease is not as steep or as sudden as that associated with estrogen declines during menopause in women, but its effects can be significant," says Dr. Harry Fisch, the study's senior author and director of the Male Reproductive Center and director of urologic microsurgery at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia, and professor of clinical urology at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. Fisch is also the author of The Male Biological Clock (Free Press), published earlier this year.

Low testosterone level (hypogonadism) affects between two million and four million American men. Symptoms include decreased muscle mass and bone mineral density; decreased libido and energy; obesity; insulin resistance; and mental and emotional problems. Other associated medical conditions and specific findings chronicled in Dr. Fisch's article include:

Male Infertility. Male infertility increases with the man's age. Men older than 35 are twice as likely to be infertile (defined as the inability to initiate a pregnancy within 12 months) compared to men younger than 25.

Birth Defects. As with advanced maternal age, advanced paternal age is associated with an increased incidence of birth defects due to decreased genetic quality of sperm. Men 40 and older are nearly six times more likely to have offspring with autism than men younger than 30, even after controlling for maternal age and other variables. Other defects associated with elevated paternal age include schizophrenia, Down syndrome and genetic abnormalities.

Type 2 Diabetes and Metabolic Syndrome. Both Type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome (which involves pre-diabetes symptoms as well as cardiovascular risk factors) are strongly associated with below-normal levels of testosterone. Of men aged 40 to 49 with Type 2 diabetes, 40 percent had decreased testosterone; the rate was nearly 55 percent among men in their 70s.

Erectile Dysfunction (ED)-Related Conditions. Broadly speaking, ED is strongly related to age-related biological changes and, hence, the male biological clock is also implicated in these other chronic, frequently progressive, and disruptive conditions:

Cardiovascular Disease. Prevalence of ED is significantly higher among patients being treated for heart disease and hypertension. Treatments for hypertension may contribute to erectile dysfunction, which may help explain the increased incidence of ED in these patients. However, the reverse relationship is also true: ED should be considered a marker for hypertension and other cardiovascular complications.

Depression. Depression may both contribute to and link erectile dysfunction and cardiovascular disease. Erectile dysfunction is associated with well-established negative psychological effects, primarily depression and anxiety. Furthermore, patients with ED who are depressed are more likely to develop cardiovascular disease.

Mortality. In one study, men with low testosterone had a mortality rate of 35 percent during the eight-year study period compared with a mortality rate of only 20 percent among men with normal testosterone levels. This trend persisted even after controlling for all reasonable variables in the study population.

The most common available treatment for hypogonadism is testosterone replacement therapy.

The study reports that prescription testosterone use in the United States has increased significantly in recent years with approximately 2.3 million prescriptions written in 2005; this represents a 50-percent increase from 2001 and a 210-precent increase from 1999. (In another ill-advised practice, testosterone therapy is prescribed "off label" for physical enhancement, such as for boosting muscle mass or "energy" in otherwise healthy men.)

"An improved understanding of the associated cellular and biochemical mechanisms of 'gonadal' aging is needed so that safe and effective ways to delay this process, or, in effect, 'rewind' the clock, might be possible," says Dr. Fisch.

The article's co-authors include Dr. Marianne Legato, founder and director of the Partnership for Gender Specific Medicine at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia and professor of clinical medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons; and Dr. Benjamin H. Lewis, cardiologist at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia and associate clinical professor of medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.

For more information, patients may call (866) NYP-NEWS.

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital – based in New York City – is the nation's largest not-for-profit, non-sectarian hospital, with 2,224 beds. It provides state-of-the-art inpatient, ambulatory and preventive care in all areas of medicine at five major centers: NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Allen Pavilion and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Westchester Division. One of the largest and most comprehensive health-care institutions in the world, the Hospital is committed to excellence in patient care, research, education and community service. It ranks sixth on U.S.News & World Report's guide to "America's Best Hospitals," has the greatest number of physicians listed in New York magazine's "Best Doctors" issue, and is included among Solucient's top 15 major teaching hospitals. The Hospital has academic affiliations with two of the nation's leading medical colleges: Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Columbia University Medical Center
Columbia University Medical Center provides international leadership in pre-clinical and clinical research, in medical and health sciences education, and in patient care. The medical center trains future leaders and includes the dedicated work of many physicians, scientists, nurses, dentists, and public health professionals at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, the College of Dental Medicine, the School of Nursing, the Mailman School of Public Health, the biomedical departments of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and allied research centers and institutions. For more information, visit www.cumc.columbia.edu.

KEN BIRNBAUM FATHERS TWINS AT 63 IS THAT FAIR TO THE BOYS?

We initially examined the relationship between paternal age and the risk for schizophrenia because it is well established that paternal age is the major source of de novo mutations in the human population, and most schizophrenia cases have no family history of psychosis.



The latest finding, published last month: Older fathers are more likely to have children with autism. Researchers tracked 387,000 people born in Israel and concluded the odds of fathering an autistic child are about 6 in 1,000 for men under 20. When a man reaches 50, those odds shoot up to about 52 in 1,000.

"The optimal time for a man to father a healthy child is the same as for a woman — 25 or so," says Dolores Malaspina, a psychiatry professor at New York University and coauthor of the study.

Sporadic type 1 diabetes, prostate cancers, Alzheimer's disease, ALL, MS, nervous system cancers,autism, schizophrenia,etc. etc. all rise with the age of the father at conception.





Biological Clock Ticks for Men, Too
Genetic Defects Linked to Sperm of Older Fathers
Paul D. Thacker



lawmummylike Donna Reed, Martha Stewart and Sandra Day O'Connor all rolled into one. Only not on TV. Or on the Supreme Court. Or with cute crinoline dresses... But a mom. And an attorney. And in apparent need of therapy.« Life's Too Short. | Main | For Richer, For Poorer? »

25 May 2007
Don't Get a Dog, Get a Baby Instead.
Ahh, the words of someone clearly ready to be a mother...

Lest you think it's some young kid, let me set you straight: those are the words of 60 year old Frieda Birnbaum, a psychologist from Saddle River, New Jersey. She just delivered her fourth and fifth children (twins) in Hackensack this week. That's right, twins, at 60.

She had them deliberately - through in vitro fertilization. Because of her age, no US clinic would agree to treat her, so flying in the face of both medical science and common sense, she went to a clinic in South Africa that will apparently do anything for a dollar.

I've been critical of much older parents like Frieda before - I think it's selfish and unfair to the children - but this time around, I thought I'd make an effort to listen and find out whether there was some reason that Ms. Birnbaum had that would make it all okay. Years of trying to having a baby and couldn't? Previously in a bad relationship? Not financially secure? Nope on all counts. Frieda has a good life, financially, has been married to the same man for more than 30 years and has three other children ranging in age from 6 to 31.

And what do her other children think of this? Her 29 year old daughter is "appalled" and well she should be. Frieda described her relationship with her daughter on CNN as "basically, she thinks I'm crazy." Well, good. That makes two of us.

Her reasons for having these babies this late in life sounded flip and contrite. She cited that holding babies was "peaceful" (um, for about 10 minutes, lady, didn't you do this once or twice before?) and made her feel "whole". She wanted a playmate for her younger son, she said (right, since 6 year olds sooo enjoy sharing 60 year old mom with babies) - apparently the kids at the park must shun her child if she can't find a playmate within her own community.

But my favorite reason for having the babies? "Don't get a dog, get a baby instead." I swear I'm not making this up.

Wha-huh?.........................

Decline in Fertility and Serious Birth Defects Associated With Advanced Paternal Age

: Urol Clin North Am. 1994 Aug;21(3):549-56. Links
Reproductive function in the aging male.Meacham RB, Murray MJ.
Division of Urology, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver.

Although the association between advanced paternal age and serious birth defects has received less attention than the effect of maternal age on such defects, this association has been demonstrated. This, as well as the potential decline in fertility among older men, should be borne in mind by men electing to defer establishing a family.

The Father's Age as a Risk Factor for Autism

Published and should be read on the EBD Blog
part of the paper is republished below, the entire paper contains excellent links to research papers pertaining to this subject.


The average age of fatherhood is increasing in the US and in Western Europe. Some research shows f older fathers are at increased risk for diseases and conditions (Bray et al., 2006). Some experts predict an upswing in cases of schizophrenia will accompany the increasing average paternal age. “The actual percentage of cases with paternal germ line-derived schizophrenia in a given population will depend on the demographics of paternal childbearing age, among other factors. With an upswing in paternal age, these cases would be expected to become more prevalent” (Malaspina et al., 2006). Approximately 25-33% of all cases of schizophrenia may be due to the father’s age at conception, according to Malaspina (2006). Malaspina sees a connection between advancing paternal age and neural functioning difficulties in people with autism and with schizophrenia. According to Tarin et al. (1998), there are well over 30 known conditions that the offspring of older fathers are more at risk for (see chart on paternal aging in the linked article).

The diagnosis of autism is increasing in the US and elsewhere (Centers for Disease Control, 2006). In a population study of 1990 through 1999, a total of 669,995 children, Atladóttir and colleagues (2007) reported increased diagnosese of autism, Torrette Syndrome, and hyperkinetic disorder. Is there a connection between increased cases of disorders such as autism and increased average paternal age? Psychiatrist Michael Craig Miller (2006), editor of the Harvard Mental Health Letter is convinced there is. Although a connection between the two would be corelational (not causal), the relationship encourages examination of the possibility that something related to paternal age (e.g. mutations in gametes) may contribute to the occurrence of autism. If there is a potential causal relationship, the new study by the Centers for Autism and Developmental Disabilities Research and Epidemiology (CADDRE) Network would provide a valuable opportunity to test the hypothesis.

Observations of a connection between advanced paternal age and difficulties for offspring go way back. Earlier research looking for a link between maternal age and autism also found the average paternal age (34) was much higher than the average age in the general population (Gillberg, 1980). Geneticist James F. Crow (1997) cites Wilhelm Weinberg (1862-1937) as noticing, during his 42 years of medical practice and helping 3,500 births, that the mutation rate might be a function of paternal age.James F. Crow said,in 1997and on other occasions that the greatest mutational health hazard in the population is fertile old men.