i posted this on a thread about prince and parenthood. started wondering how many men are still living with the myth that older women have babies with birth defects, but older men can always have children without birth defects.

guys - just so you know your sperm ages with each ejaculation/regeneration, causing a breakdown of the DNA coding in said sperm. which is why older men have a higher incidence of creating babies with birth defects.

i am SO glad yet another form of discrimination against women has been disproven:


Aging Father's Sperm Can Cause Birth Defects
http://www.reuters.com/ne...ction=news
Older Sperm Are More Damaged, U.S. Study Shows
Wed December 17, 2003 07:09 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The older men get, the more damaged their sperm are genetically, U.S. researchers reported on Wednesday.

This could help explain recent findings that show older men are more likely to father children with birth defects, as well as to be less fertile than younger men, the team at the University of Washington in Seattle said.

Narendra Singh and his colleagues tested 66 men aged 20 to 57 and found the older men produced a higher percentage of sperm with highly damaged DNA.

Writing in the journal Fertility and Sterility, they said they could not tell any difference simply by looking at the sperm. The total number of sperm and sperm shape were not affected by age, they said.

But DNA tests showed that older men had more sperm with highly damaged DNA than younger men. And the older men's sperm were less likely to undergo a self-destruct mechanism called apoptosis, which is meant to get rid of damaged cells.

It may not be simply age that affects the sperm, but all the environmental damage that comes with age, the researchers said. While men produce fresh sperm daily, the organs that are involved in sperm production can be affected by smoking, chemicals, sunlight and lifestyle.

"Unfortunately we can't stop age, but men who are putting off fatherhood might want to consider their lifestyle choices to minimize their risk of infertility, or perhaps revise their timetables," said Dr. Anthony Thomas, president of the Society for Male Reproduction and Urology.

"It takes healthy sperm to make a healthy baby and with more research, we can perhaps determine how to best protect sperm from DNA damage."



-----

From: C-upi@clari.net (UPI)
Subject: Older dads risk deformed babies
Organization: Copyright 1997 by United Press International
Date: Wed, 23 Jul 1997 19:30:37 PDT
UPI Science News
BAR HARBOR, Maine, July 23 (UPI) -- A leading genetics researcher says men, as well as women, are taking a risk when they wait too long before having children.

Genetic flaws in sperm from aging fathers can cause birth defects, including misshapen skulls and fused hands and feet.

Dr. Ethylin Wang Jabs of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine issued her warning today at an annual genetics briefing at the Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine.

Jabs says mutations in sperm of men older than age 35 have been linked to a rare birth defect known as Apert syndrome. But there are signs that mutations in aged sperm may play a role in other syndromes, such as Crouzon and Treacher-Collins, which also cause such features as drooping eyes, misshapen skulls, bulging eyes or foreheads and seriously deformed hands and feet.

In the majority of cases these abnormalities are purely cosmetic, not signs of other problems with health or intellect. The abnormalities can be corrected surgically although sometimes as many as 20 operations may be needed during a lifetime to maintain a normal appearance.

Jabs says scientists think it takes the interaction of hundreds of genes to build a human face, and ``so many of these genes are now coming out.''

One family of genes, called FGFR, appears to be a major player in the development of many conditions in which there are facial deformities. Another gene, called TWIST, causes a similar set of defects.

Jabs says about 2 to 3 percent of all babies are born with a major birth defect and another 2 to 3 percent have a malformation detected during the first five years of life.

http://www.gentlebirth.or...dsprm.html
from:

I wasn't even aware of age being a problem with birth defects. I just figured it'd be more difficult to carry to concieve or carry to term.

Thanks for the info...

AzureStarr said:

oh hey, i just posted that in a bitter moment after seeing one too many 50 year old men with 25 yr old wives. it's long been said that women over 35 shouldn't have babies and men can have kids until they die. this is what a lot of older guys use to justify dating women half their age. ..

XxAxX said:

Ugh. The age thing. My father-in-law just told his wife of eleven years that he wants a divorce. Seems that some young girl from his past rang and decided she loves him. He's 57, she's 32. He's quitting his job and moving out of state to be with her. He's paying his wife off... leaving her the house and $300,000 to do this. She doesn't want it and is in denial. Thinks he will change his mind. I have no idea what he's thinking.

Just....

AzureStarr said:

hmmm. my dad did that to my mom, so i have a bias. but still i hate that women get traded in like cars for the newest model. and the way hollywoof allows older men to star opposite teenage actresses.

(thanks for listening, btw )

XxAxX said:

No, men date younger women cause they like to control them and they look better than women twice their age. They don't have to justify anything, apparently lots of women dig older men. I think it's nasty too, but hey, whatever gets them off.

XxAxX said:

I don't much like it either. My boyfriend, whom I've kicked out, will be going for a model ten years younger than me as soon as he steps foot out the door! We're just waiting for me to help him find a place and waiting for his bills to get caught up so that he is on easy street when he goes. Yeah... I'm nice like that. I make me sick, anymore!

Makes me ill. But, it's what he can attract.

(sorry about your mom/dad... and, you're welcome)

J0eyC0c0 said:

i suppose the parties involved are the ones to decide. but, demi moore is taking a LOT of heat for dating ashton kutcher because he's younger than she.

XxAxX said:[quote]i posted this on a thread about prince and parenthood. started wondering how many men are still living with the myth that older women have babies with birth defects, but older men can always have children without birth defects.

guys - just so you know your sperm ages with each ejaculation/regeneration, causing a breakdown of the DNA coding in said sperm. which is why older men have a higher incidence of creating babies with birth defects.

i am SO glad yet another form of discrimination against women has been disproven:

AzureStarr said:

well, maybe we can take consolation in the fact that the guys who date young women to control them and because they look better (arguably untrue in some cases) are the guys who don't love us for 'us', but rather for how their partner makes 'them' feel. meaning, they're not doing us any favors being in our lives

JodiHasphin said:[quote]

XxAxX said:

ok here. i'll use a picture to convey my 1000 words