A Reason to Delay Becoming a Father

http://frank.itlab.us/photo_essays/wrapper.php?nephila_2002_dna.html

Since today is father's day, Sunday June 17, 2012,  I found this article to be interesting. The study that was done indicated that how old a man is when he has kids may affect the lifespans of his grandchildren. It was concluded that men who were older when they kids, resulted in longer telomeres in their kids and grandkids. It has been found that in comparison to people with shorter telomeres, people with longer telomeres have a lower risk of dying over a given time period.

The results of the research showed that the length of the telomeres of the children increased with each year that a man delayed having children. This result was still true when the researchers took into account factors that could affect telomere length, such as children's birth order, body mass index, household income and age at which the blood samples were taken. The effect of longer telomeres was found to be additive over generations.

Some studies have showed that those with shorter telomere length have a higher risk of dying of infectious diseases and cardiovascular disease. However, more research is needed to show whether those with longer telomeres suffer from fewer health problems.