Does the fathers age matter in Down Syndrome Risk?
Research indicates that the age of the father does have a greater effect than previously thought. A study by researchers at the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center at New York-Presbyterian Hospital shows that the father’s age also plays an important risk-determining role in the incidence of this genetic abnormality. The study, published in the June 2003 edition of The Journal of Urology, suggests that older fathers over 40 had twice the rate of Down syndrome births compared with men 24 years old and younger when they had children with women over 35. In fact, researchers suggest that there is only a modest increase in Down syndrome risk for women 35-39 compared with women 30-35 years old, but the dramatic increase in Down syndrome births among women 35 to 39 years old is largely due to the influence of older fathers because older women tend to make babies with older men. Although more research is needed, researchers say the study shows that the father’s age should not be ignored in fam
