Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Do Older Men Have Less Intelligent Children?

From the Times of London - New research suggesting that the age of your father influences your IQ - the older he was when you were born, the worse you are likely to fare when tested - is the latest addition to growing evidence that it is not just maternal age that matters when it comes to starting a family. The longer a couple delay, the poorer the outcome for all concerned. ........

...........But less marked genetic mutations are thought to be a problem in older fathers as well, and the implications can be just as serious. Children born to men aged over 35 are more likely to have a cleft lip or palate, congenital heart defects, and to develop some forms of cancer, including leukaemia (a 50 per cent increase) and brain tumours (25 per cent increase).

The first part of this article explains why, as the oldest child in my family and therefore my father was younger at the time (see I can figure somethings out), I'm so much smarter than my younger sister and brother. Of course it doesn't explain why I'm also much better looking, not to mention humbler, then they are. Guess some of us are just more blessed than others :P

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