Study: Siblings of People With Schizophrenia 10 Times As Likely to Develop Disorder
Having a sibling with schizophrenia increases a person’s risk of developing the condition tenfold, a large survey in Israel has found.
Siblings of people with schizophrenia also are at increased risk of developing bipolar disorder and other mental disorders, and similar increases were seen in siblings of people with bipolar disorder.
The findings were presented at the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology Congress in Vienna, Austria, this month.
A research team examined the rates of mental disorders in the families of 6111 Israeli patients hospitalized with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or depression. They were compared to a group of 74,000 controls, matched by age and gender, from the Israeli Population Registry.
After comparing the relative rates of mental disorders, the researchers also found:
- The risk of suffering from schizoaffective disorder is 6 to 8 times higher in siblings of people with schizophrenia than in the general population.
- Siblings of people with schizophrenia have a 7 to 20 times greater risk of suffering from bipolar disorder, compared with the general population.
- Siblings of people with bipolar disorder have a 4 times greater chance of suffering from bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or other psychiatric disorder.
“These results are important clinically, as they encourage mental health workers to be aware of the increased risk of psychiatric disorders in siblings of patients,” said lead researcher Mark Weiser, MD.
“These results can also be used by researchers studying the genetic underpinnings of mental disorders, as they indicate that the same genes might be associated with increased risk for various psychiatric disorders.”
– Terri Airov
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