Scientists claim older father link to schizophrenia

CHILDREN who have fathers over the age of 30 are more likely to suffer schizophrenia in later life, research claimed yesterday.

Researchers in Sweden who followed more than 700,000 people concluded that in 15.5% of cases of schizophrenia, the illness could be due to the patient having a father over the age of 30.

Figures for England and Wales show the average age of fathers has increased from 29.2 in 1980 to 32.1 in 2002.

The team, from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, focused on the group born in Sweden between 1973 and 1980, and analysed the medical records of people admitted to hospital with schizophrenia or other non-affective psychosis. As well as father’s age, they also looked at other factors such as the age of the mother, place of birth, birth weight and family background.

The authors said: “There is a strong positive association between paternal age and schizophrenia that is not due to sociodemographic, birth-related, or socio-economic factors or family history.”

The researchers said their findings supported the theory that accumulating mutations in the sperm of older fathers contributed to the overall risk of schizophrenia.