Meta Win ((R)) Was Performed-PATERNAL AGE 35 AND ABOVE-HIGHER RATE FOR SCHIZOPHRENIA
WHY WASN'T THIS A HEADLINE IN ALL THE PAPERS LIKE THE ANTIDEPRESSENT STORY APRIL 18TH?
Eur Psychiatry. 2006 Dec 1; : 17142012
Paternal ages below or above 35 years old are associated with a different risk of schizophrenia in the offspring.
[My paper] M Wohl , P Gorwood
BACKGROUND: A link between older age of fatherhood and an increased risk of schizophrenia was detected in 1958. Since then, 10 studies attempted to replicate this result with different methods, on samples with different origins, using different age classes. Defining a cut-off at which the risk is significantly increased in the offspring could have an important impact on public health. METHODS: A meta-analysis (Meta Win((R))) was performed, assessing the mean effect size for each age class, taking into account the difference in age class references, and the study design. RESULTS: An increased risk is detected when paternal age is below 20 (compared to 20-24), over 35 (compared to below 35), 39 (compared to less than 30), and 54 years old (compared to less than 25). Interestingly, 35 years appears nevertheless to be the lowest cut-off where the OR is always above 1, whatever the age class reference, and the smallest value where offspring of fathers below or above this age have a significantly different risk of schizophrenia. CONCLUSION: No threshold can be precisely defined, but convergent elements indicate ages below or above 35 years. Using homogeneous age ranges in future studies could help to clarify a precise threshold.
posted by concerned heart @ 6:17 AM
7 Comments
7 Comments:
Hey, you've covered a lot of interesting ground over the last few days. I've been trying to find out the father's age but haven't seen it anywhere - have you? I believe the paternal grandfather is 84, which would be a range of about 61 years between him and his grandson. On the face that's not particularly remarkable to me, but of course it wouldn't rule out the possibility of APA.
Very sad story, isn't it?
Dear Paul,
Is the paternal grandfather 84? I thought the media was interviewing the maternal grandfather. Where did you find the age of the paternal grandfather?
Yes, it would be important to find out about Cho Seung-Hui's father, his age, his personality, and the ages of his parents when he was born. Any family history of autoimmune disorders and of course mental illness is important, on both sides of the family. We do know that Adolf Hitler's father was 51 when he was born and had a history of infertility.
I know I saw something with an age listed for his paternal gradnfather, but I didn't bookmark it and now I can't find the reference. There also seems to be some inconsistency in the age of the maternal grandfather, which I've seen as both 81 and 82. There also seems to be some variability in media reports about what his actual mental dx would be.
Paul,
What I have heard about his father's lack of success in Korea, and his wanting to live somewhere where he wasn't known give me reason to wonder.
that's a very good point - it does raise a family history issue, doesn't it? Interesting stuff on the dry-cleaning related teratogens too.
daddy g,
Might you find out how old Mr.Cho is from North Carolina Attorney Wade Smith?
Hey - I'm on deadline but I can give it a try tomorrow.
Paul
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