The desire
of most couple is to see signs of pregnancy few weeks after their solemnization.
The 9 months of pregnancy are a wonderful for most parents. Planning for the
little one to come, setting the crib, buying all the essentials and the list go
on and on.
However,
tragedy do struck when the baby comes and something is not quite all right, it
can be quite the heartbreaking ordeal for a couple. When a birth defect is in
question, new parents go through series of emotions, including insurmountable
guilt.
And now
research has linked a number of birth defects to the parents, especially the
father's age and lifestyle habits.
A Research
carried out at Georgetown University Medical Center, US, suggests that it is
not just the mother that affects the health of the offspring, but also the
father.
“We know the
nutritional, hormonal and psychological environment provided by the mother
permanently alters organ structure, cellular response and gene expression in
her offspring," says Joanna Kitlinska, associate professor at the
university.
"But
our study shows the same thing to be true with fathers...his lifestyle, and how
old he is, can be reflected in molecules that control gene function," she
says."In this way, a father can affect not only his immediate offspring
but future generations as well.
Joanna and
her team reviewed past research works that focused on how a man's lifestyle
could cause epigenetic changes in his sperm's DNA that could eventually affect
his kid's genome.
The findings
showed that if the father is alcoholic, newborn can be diagnosed with foetal
alcohol spectrum disorder (FASO), even though the mother has never consumed
alcohol.
Alcohol use
in fathers was also linked to decreased birth weight, marked reduction in
overall brain size and impaired cognitive function.
In addition,
the advanced age of a father can elevate the rates of schizophrenia, autism in
his children, the researchers said.
Also the
diet pattern of a man during his pre-adolescence can reduce or increase the
risk of cardiovascular death in his children and grand children.
Paternal
obesity has been linked to enlarged fat cells, changes in metabolic regulation,
diabetes, obesity and development of brain cancer. Further psychosocial stress
on the father can cause defective behavioral traits in his kids.
“The new
field of inherited paternal epigenetic needs to be organized into clinically
applicable recommendations and lifestyle alternations,” Kitlinska said adding, “
to really understand the epigenetic influence of a child we need to study the
interplay between maternal and paternal effects, as opposed to considering each
in isolation.
Further research
need to be done in this area as the scope of the research could be widening to accommodate
more participants.
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