Children of older fathers likelier to develop schizophrenia

0 Comments | AFP, October, 2004

PARIS (AFP) — Children of older fathers face an enhanced risk of developing schizophrenia when they grow older, according to research.

Doctors in Sweden and Britain spotted the statistical risk after sifting through the medical records of 712,000 people born in Sweden between 1973 and 1980.

They identified 639 people who had been hospitalised with schizophrenia at some point between 1989 and 2001. Only four of these were siblings.

After taking into account the patients' socioeconomic background, family history of psychosis, early parental death and other factors that could affect the outcome, the researchers found a strong statistical link between schizophrenics and the age of their father.

More than 15 percent of cases may have been due to the fact...