X-Message-Number: 17863 From: Date: Wed, 7 Nov 2001 13:36:13 EST Subject: subject:heart disease/schizophrenia Damien Broderick said: >(I've also long been fond of the idea that schizophrenia might be due to a >[perhaps prionic] `slow virus'; commonplace sardonic suspicions about >psychiatrists do rise to mind...) I read an interesting article years ago, where 17 pairs of identical twins were studied... the significant factor in these twins were that one twin was schizophrenic, the other was not. Researchers discovered slight abnormalities in the hands of the schizophrenic twin, and postulated that there were prenatal problems with the fetus development in the 2nd trimester, when the brain, and hands, are simultaneously developing. There is a history of schizophrenia that runs in families, but it appears to be congenital, not directly genetic. Ie, if a woman is sick during the 2nd trimester, or if the fetus has problems with blood flow, oxygen, or nutrients during that time, it can cause schizophrenia. So, families that genetically are predisposed to difficult pregnancies are also unfortunately predisposed to schizophrenia- but not through direct genetic inheritance. Does anyone have any more information regarding this? The report I read was many years ago, more than ten, I believe. best, Mike Donahue Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=17863