Genetic and physiological Factors Determining Risk for Schizophrenia
Genetic and physiological Factors Determining Risk for Schizophrenia
There is a strong contribution for genetic factors in determining risk for schizophrenia ( Sullivan et al. 2003 ), although most individuals who have been diagnosed with schizophrenia have no family history of psychosis( Mortensen et al. 2010 ). Liability is conferred by a spectrum of risk alleles, common and rare, with each allele contributing only a small fraction to the total population variance( Owen et al. 2010 ). The risk alleles identified to date are also associated with other mental disorders, including bipolar disorder, depression, and autism spectrum disorder ( Owen et al. 2010 ).
Pregnancy and birth complications with hypoxia and greater paternal age(Miller et al. 2011) are associated with a higher risk of schizophrenia for the developing fetus. In addition, other prenatal and perinatal adversities, including stress, infection, malnutrition, maternal diabetes, and other medical conditions, have been linked with schizophrenia ( Brown 2011 ). However, the vast majority of offspring with these risk factors do not develop schizophrenia.act
