Fathers Over 40 at Higher Risk for Children with Bipolar Disorder

A Swedish study found a link between bipolar disorder and older fathers. The risk of having a bipolar child began to increase once a father was 40 years old. Fathers over 55 years were 37 percent more likely to have a bipolar child than were fathers in their 20s.

Between one and four percent of children have bipolar disorder, which is characterized by mood swings ranging from deep depression to euphoric mania.

Previous studies linked schizophrenia and autism to older fathers, with the age of mothers not being a factor.

Researchers from the Karolinska Institute analyzed data from 13,428 people with bipolar disorder who had been born between 1932 and 1991.

This study appears in the Archives of General Psychiatry.

Labels: bipolar_disorder, fathers, genetics