Parental age Researchers at the Technical University of Munich were intrigued by the association and investigated the link between a parent's age and the child's risk of developing Alzheimer's. Led by Dr Lars Bertram, the team studied 206 patients with Alzheimer's disease. The researchers studied the incidence of the disease in each of the subjects' families to establish how likely it was that the sufferers' genes were responsible for the condition. People who had several relatives with Alzheimer's were deemed to have a higher genetic risk of developing the disease. Their fathers tended to be aged between 31 and 33 when they were born.
People having children later in life are therefore more likely to pass on flawed genes.
The Alzheimer's Disease Society welcomed the research, but was cautious about its significance when taken on its own. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.