Increased risk of schizophrenia associated with advanced paternal age: research findings
Unleashing the Genetic Time Bomb: Older Dads and Schizophrenia Risk
Cracking open the genetic code, Taiwanese scientists have revealed that men hitting fatherhood later in life can pass on new genetic mutations that beef up the odds of schizophrenia in their offspring.
The bombshell study was unveiled in March 2025 by a team of researchers from the National Health Research Institutes (NHRI) and National Taiwan University, published in Molecular Psychiatry.
Speaking at a press conference, NHRI Vice President Chen Wei-jen (陳為堅) emphasized the grave oversight of the impact of paternal age on offspring health, considering the well-publicized risks associated with advanced maternal age.
NHRI National Center for Geriatrics and Welfare Research assistant researcher Wang Shi-heng (王世亨) explained that the team had initially correlated paternal age with schizophrenia using a dataset comprising over 7 million Taiwanese medical records. Their findings revealed some striking correlations:
- Children born to 25-29-year-old dads faced a 0.5% lifetime risk of developing schizophrenia.
- For dads aged 50 or older at birth, the risk jumped to 1%.
- The risk further increased if the child's grandfathers were also advanced in years at the time of the parents' birth.
Two primary theories have emerged to explain this pattern:
- Genetic predisposition: Men with a higher propensity for mental illness may be more likely to marry and procreate later in life.
- Biological consequences: Men continue producing sperm throughout their lives, leading to successive cell divisions with a higher chance of replication errors that could create new genetic mutations, potentially passed on to offspring.
The biological explanation seems to be gaining traction, supported by the observation that new genetic mutations contribute significantly to increased schizophrenia risk, and that men transmit approximately four times as many new mutations to their children as women. In this study, the team conducted whole-genome sequencing on five Taiwanese families to test causality.
Their results were eye-opening: with each year a man delayed fatherhood, his child inherited 1.5 times more new genetic mutations. These mutations proved to be a factor in early-onset schizophrenia in the affected children. Roughly 30% of the relationship between paternal age and the onset age of schizophrenia could be attributed to age-related mutations, while the remaining 70% was attributed to familial and environmental factors.
Chen noted that earlier research by the NHRI demonstrated health risks for offspring when the father was under 20. So, public policies to encourage couples to procreate within an optimal age range are essential, he said.
As Taiwanese mothers' average age at childbirth increased steadily from 27.2 in 1991 to 32.4 in 2023, fathers' average age has followed suit, rising from 30.3 to 34.6 over the same period. These findings underscore the importance of balancing the benefits and risks when embarking on parenthood.
Fun Fact: Advanced paternal age has become a hot topic in discussions about potential genetic risks, but the specific percentages of risk for fathers aged 50+ are still under investigation. As more research is conducted, policymakers, parents-to-be, and scientists alike will be eager to learn more about the impact of delayed fatherhood on the health and wellbeing of offspring.
- The Taiwanese study in 2025, published in Molecular Psychiatry, highlighted a correlation between paternal age and the risk of schizophrenia.
- Children born to older fathers (aged 50 or more) faced a higher risk of developing schizophrenia compared to those born to younger fathers.
- The NHRI study revealed that paternal age is a significant factor in the onset age of schizophrenia, with approximately 30% of the relationship being attributed to age-related mutations.
- In health-and-wellness discussions, the impact of delayed fatherhood on offspring health, particularly mental health, is gaining traction, especially as more research comes to light.
- As stay-at-home dads become increasingly common, understanding the risks associated with advanced paternal age and its impact on mental-health and mens-health is essential for balanced fitness-and-exercise and aging decisions.
