About 80% Risk Of Schizophrenia Is Due To Genes, Claims Study

A recent study has discovered that near-about 80 per cent of schizophrenia risk is linked with the genes inherited from parents.

Schizophrenia is a serious mental disorder that hinders a person's ability to behave, feel, and think in a normal manner.

As per previous studies, role of genes in increasing a person's risk of developing Schizophrenia was only about 50 to 80 per cent.

But, these new estimates say that genetics could be as much 79% responsible for causing Schizophrenia in a person.

"Our results show a substantial genetic component in liability to schizophrenia, with a heritability estimate of 79 per cent, and that the genetic effects seem to play a similar role in schizophrenia spectrum disorders," said Rikke Hilker from the University of Copenhagen.

Many factors such as DNA sequence, epigenetic DNA modifications, differences in gene expression, environmental factors and the complex interaction between these are thought to act in concert to influence the outcome of schizophrenia, the researchers said.

The study was published in the journal Biological Psychiatry.

The team assessed genetic liability in over 30,000 pairs of twins in Denmark born since 1870.

Researchers found that consistency of schizophrenia is 33 per cent in monozygotic or identical twins and seven per cent in dizygotic or fraternal twins.

The heritability was also estimated using a broader illness category, including related disorders on the schizophrenia spectrum.

The results showed a similar estimate of 73 per cent, indicating the importance of genetic factors across the full illness spectrum, the researchers said.

(With inputs from IANS)