There is no question that psychiatric problems can be inherited--we know this from studies comparing identical twins with fraternal twins. Identical twins are genetically the same, meaning that they share 100 percent of their DNA, whereas nonidentical (fraternal) twins share only 50 percent of their genes. Studies looking at the concordance rate of schizophrenia--that is, how commonly both siblings develop the same disorder--have found a concordance rate of 10 percent in nonidentical twins, versus 40 percent in identical twins. This implies that genetics plays a significant role in schizophrenia. But what is that role? Answering that question has been devilishly hard, and the latest landmark study found that we are much further away from identifying such genes than we ever thought.
Dr. Daniel J. Carlat, Unhinged: The Trouble With Psychiatry, 2010
Dr. Daniel J. Carlat, Unhinged: The Trouble With Psychiatry, 2010
No comments:
Post a Comment