Smoking fathers pass on damaged genes to kids

London: British researchers have found the men quite fond of smoking actually go on to pass damaged DNA to their children as fathers while raising risk of cancer among them.

Researchers at the University of Bradford found in their study that smoking harms the father`s DNA, and these damaged genes can be inherited by his children. This raises the risk of youngsters developing childhood cancers, particularly leukaemia, a newspaper reported. Because a fertile sperm cell takes three months to fully develop, fathers should kick the habit 12 weeks ahead of conceiving to avoid the risk, said Diana Anderson of the university of Bradford. "Smoking by fathers at the time around conception can lead to genetic changes in their children. These changes may raise the risk of developing cancer," she added. Meanwhile, scientists at the University of Glasgow have found that the men drinking lots of tea are far more likely to develop prostate cancer. They found that those who drank seven or more cups a day had a 50 percent higher risk of contracting the disease than men who had three or fewer cups. The warning comes after researchers tracked the health of over 6,000 men for over four decades. The latest findings contradict a previous research, which suggested that drinking tea lowers the risk of cancer, as well as heart disease, diabetes and Parkinson`s disease. IANS