It's been said that age is nothing but a number when it comes to love, but was it considered that it just might be important when it comes to procreation? An alarming new report has shown that children are more likely to be born autistic or schizophrenic to older fathers. In a time when we're conditioned to believe that 40 is the new 20, this is the evidence that gives us a reality check that makes us realize that just because we think we're younger than we really are, our bodies prove otherwise.
Now you're probably wondering, what about the women? Interestingly enough, the study found that there was no connection between a woman's age and a child's capacity to get autism or schizophrenia.This is because the main genetic risk comes from the sperm and not the egg. As If the opposite sex wasn't complicated enough, our bodies are truly a complete mystery…
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The study shows that the root of the problem is in the sperm is because men experience more mutations in their genes than women throughout their lifetime. Shockingly, one of the doctors involved in the research, Dr. Stefansom, explained that mutations are the problem because 50 percent of active genes are heavily involved in brain development.
As a result, 15 to 30 percent of autism and schizophrenic cases can be blamed on these mutations. And the fact that the number of men becoming older fathers has jumped to 30 percent over the past 32 years doesn't help the problem either.
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It makes you wonder if the solution to prevent our children from having any of these awful disorders is to freeze your eggs and your partner's sperm while you're still young. But, ladies, don't let this report steer you away from dating an older man as there are plenty out there who can still produce healthy children.
What do you think of this new study? Tell us in the comments box below!
Image via Cord Blood America/flickr
