Fed: Schizophrenia may start before birth, research suggests

AAP General News (Australia)
02-02-2000
Fed: Schizophrenia may start before birth, research suggests

Researchers say schizophrenia may be triggered before birth - years before the first
symptoms develop in puberty.

University of Melbourne Associate Professor SANDRA REES says studies of guinea pigs
and sheep have found depriving foetuses of oxygen and nutrients can produce brain damage.

And the brain damage resembles conditions in humans such as schizophrenia and cerebral palsy.

Professor REES says it may be that adverse events before birth trigger schizophrenia
later on in people with a genetic predisposition for the disorder.

She says the research also may shed more information on the development of cerebral
palsy and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

Professor REES says the research could also eventually lead to improvements to how
women are monitored during pregnancy.

AAP RTV jhm/sc/as/jn

KEYWORD: SCHIZOPHRENIA (BRISBANE)

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