Fathers’ stress worsens offspring’s health

Stress causes negative changes in the genetic information that is passed on to offspring at conception. They then increase their risk of depression, diabetes, obesity and other problems.

We don’t just pass on our genetic information to our children at conception. Our DNA is influenced by a number of factors that affect the activity of individual genes throughout our lives. These are so-called epigenetic factors that influence biochemical reactions that can switch certain genes on or off. These epigenetic changes occur in all cells of the body, including eggs and sperm, and are therefore passed on to offspring at conception along with our genetic information.

Risk of depression, diabetes and obesity

One of the negative epigenetic factors that affect the activity of our genes is stress (among other reasons, it increases the risk of many diseases). However, research shows that it is the epigenetic changes caused by stress that are passed on to the child at conception and affect its physical and mental health.
Swiss scientist Isabelle Mansuy and her team, for example, studied the behaviour of mice exposed to various stressful stimuli over a long period of time. She then discovered epigenetic changes in them that led, for example, to the development of depression or disorders of glucose metabolism. However, these epigenetic changes were also present in the sperm – for example, differences in the concentration of five important microRNAs (ribonucleic acids that regulate the transcription of individual genes into proteins) – and were then passed on to their offspring at conception. The young mice also suffered increased rates of depression and glucose metabolism disorders, even though they did not experience any stress themselves.
A team of Chinese scientists from Shanghai University came to similar results. They confirmed that stress in mouse fathers leads to a high risk of diabetes and obesity in their offspring.
Maternal stress is also likely to transmit negative epigenetic changes at conception, but this is difficult to distinguish from effects during pregnancy, which is why studies like this usually work only with paternal effects.

What do we pass on to our children?

The conclusion is therefore clear: we can have good DNA, but if we are exposed to negative epigenetic influences during our lives (in addition to stress, for example, unhealthy diet, lack of exercise, smoking or polluted environment), negative changes occur in our genes, which we then pass on to our offspring.
For the health of our children, it is therefore not enough for the mother to take good care of herself during pregnancy. At the same time, both partners should make an effort to repair their DNA long before conception by trying to reverse the negative epigenetic changes that occur during life.
If they cannot avoid stress, they need to offset its impact on their DNA by regular exercise, a healthy diet and plenty of sleep, and by avoiding other negative epigenetic factors (such as smoking and excessive drinking).
Dietary supplements with epigenetic effects can also help, such as epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) from green tea, curcumin, pomegranate extract, rosemary extract or Baikal coneflower extract.