新奇事件簿 老来得子 不利初生儿健康（在线收听）

A study from Stanford University in the USA reports that babies of older fathers may be more likely to have health problems. Scientists studied data on 40,529,905 births in the USA between 2007 and 2016 to ascertain whether a father's age adversely affects his child's health. Researchers discovered that compared to babies born to fathers in the 25-to-34 age bracket, babies born to fathers over the age of 45 were at greater risk of being born with health problems. These included being born prematurely, having a low birth wieight or being admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit. The researchers added that babies born to older fathers were generally not as healthy as those conceived by younger fathers.

美国斯坦福大学一项研究表明男人们老来得子，孩子更有可能存在健康问题。科学家们对2007年到2016年间40,529,905例出生数据进行研究以查明父亲的年纪是否对他们孩子的健康有着不利的影响。研究人员发现和那些年龄在25到34岁之间的父亲的孩子相比，年龄在45岁及以上父亲所生的孩子出生便患健康问题的风险更大。其中包括早产、出生体重不足或是被送入新生儿重症监护室。研究人员还表示年纪较长的父亲所生的孩子通常不如那些年轻父亲的孩子健康。

One scientist said a lot more detailed research was needed to prove that older fathers conceive less-healthy babies. Dr Michael Eisenberg from the Stanford University School of Medicine said: "I think it's important to understand that the risks we are seeing are modest. So for an individual, the risk may not change much." He added that his team's data could show a trend that health departments in governments might want to be aware of. He said: "At a population level, there may be public health implications of men...waiting longer to conceive." Dr Eisenberg concluded that: "While the oldest father ever is 96, this research suggests that the risk to child and mother may increase if fathers conceive later."

一名科学家表示还需要更多大量的细节研究来证实年长父亲所生的孩子没那么健康。斯坦福医学院的迈克·埃森伯格表示：“我认为重要的是要理解我们所看的风险较小。因此对于个人而言，风险或许并没有什么改变。”他还说他的团队数据可以展现政府健康部门或许希望看到的一种趋势。他说：“从人口水平上来看，或许有公共健康暗示，男性当父亲所等待的时间更久。”埃森伯格总结到：“虽然最年长的父亲是96岁才有孩子，但该研究表明，如果父亲更晚生育，那么孩子和母亲所遭遇的风险或许会增加。”