Fathers' alcohol consumption, lifestyle and age linked to birth defects in children

How old a father is and how much alcohol he drinks can influence children's well-being and development – much like their mothers' health status does. Scientists have shown fathers may also be partly to blame for birth defects and health problems faced by their babies.

The fact that the health of both parents can have an impact on their offspring's health may seem logical, yet it is only recently that science has started to look for evidence of the father's role. This latest research, published in the American Journal of Stem Cells, is actually a literature review of studies dealing with this issue.

In particular, the scientists discovered that an advanced age was correlated with elevated rates of schizophrenia, autism and birth defects in children, while obesity appeared to induce further obesity in children, as well as dysfunctional metabolic regulation, diabetes, and even the development of brain cancer. There was no mention however of any effect that both parents who were alcoholic had on their off springs. My own experience showed that all six siblings in our family drank alcohol, and maybe that stemmed from our parents habits.www.ibtimes.co.uk...

a reply to: tommo39

Seems very vague. I mean, autism, schizophrenia? One is now ranged by a whole spectrum the other is rather rare, and extremely hard to diagnose.
Alcoholism, and diabetes (if type 2) are more of environmental than some that we are born with. If they mean type one then it's a given, there's a huge chance the child could get it.
Sperm dies off, expelled, etc very often, the father would need to be a chronic alcoholic for his sperm to be saturated in alcohol, or deficient from vitamins and minerals.
Remember, when you consume alcohol your body turns it into a poison, your body shuts down certain functions to fight said poison to ensure survival. This means keeping the heart, lungs, brain, digestion and reproductive organs healthy the others take a beating.

a reply to: tommo39

I can see the sense in that both parents have an input into their child's conception and lifestyle.

It would be interesting to see where young when young girls are married off to much older men if this is born out and also in a society where alcohol was not normally consumed.

I do think there is too much laid at alcohol's feet though because many families enjoy a drink together to relax, we all do as did my parents and grand parents but thankfully we have no birth defects or autism etc within the family.

What I have found out, which is purely due to the length of time I have lived though is that those people I knew who both drank heavily and continually as well as smoked, have died off early or suffered bad health problems. True a few have died through other medical conditions who were not regular or heavy drinkers etc but the rest of us are continuing to toddle along quietly and merrily. I wonder if its the combination of alcohol and smoking though rather than just alcohol. So often the two go together.

The report itself seems very limited albeit its a new line of research, probably about time though for it because alcohol is a legal poison.

a reply to: tommo39

I'd be interested to read more about this study (not just what was presented in the link, although thanks for including that). I'd be curious to see how the people conducting the study controlled for all other genetic and environmental factors from conception through (at least) young adulthood to link the dietary behavior of fathers to schizophrenia, autism, etc.

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure that what fathers eat and drink can affect sperm production and could possible influence the development of children. I'm just not sure how on Earth you conduct a study to prove that hypothesis.

a reply to: tommo39

Very interesting! Thanks for sharing!

This is the original article, which is a literature review, not a study: www.ajsc.us...

Although the conclusion indicates paternal environmental experiences do influence changes in gene expression that may cause congenital defects, it also clearly indicates weaknesses in the chosen studies, for example not considering how maternal and paternal factors may interplay during gestation.

Snippets from the article:

There are strong indicators that paternal age can lead to differential methylation in offspring, potentially leading to heart malformation or other congeni - tal defects.

The alcohol consumption of the father during his lifetime can lead to FASD in his offspring, as well as cause deficiencies in organ weights in his chil - dren.

It all seems to happen because paternal influences cause defects during gestation via epigenetic mechanisms (DNA methylation for example).

I am looking forward to reading future research in this topic.

a reply to: Shiloh7

Shiloh, i'm sure that if one did not drink alcohol or smoke, some people will still die before their time. That's a fact of life and unpredictable. However, i accept that if people poison their body with substances on a daily basis it's difficult for your system to CONTINUE to clean itself. So the end result is premature death. The report is in it's infancy.

a reply to: Agartha

Thanks Agatha, i have a look at your link, cheers....

a reply to: strongfp

Maybe vague to some people but the "concept" is to plant an idea for people to consider i would think, and i don't know the the end result, cheers....

I have come across one theory that parents who are older when they have children does help the children have a longer life expectancy. I am not aware of any studies and how accurate it is.

There is lots getting blamed for autism, schizophrenia and many other emerging diseases. DNA plays a part in some ways, more weight is put on the environment for many of these conditions.

a reply to: tommo39

Yep gotta blame anything but the fossil fuels we are forced to breathe, the untested additives in our overly processed foods, the pesticides we are forced to eat (and breathe), whatever the hell is now in our drinking water, the various radiations fetuses are now exposed to, the craploads of unsafe pharmaceutical drugs with side effects that often create more diseases to be treated, the needless injections women are coerced into having "for their own good".

..and everything else in our toxic environment. Yep men drink to much. Bad boys.

a reply to: tommo39

Boo bloody boo. My sprogs will just have to take their chances.