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Search for the Causes of Schizophrenia pp 110–121Cite as

Are there specific risk factors for schizophrenia?

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Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to review the evidence as to whether we can identify specific risk factors for schizophrenia or if, alternatively, these risk factors are shared between schizophrenia and other disorders. The main focus will be a comparison between schizophrenia, on the hand, and bipolar affective disorder, on the other, since this has represented the accepted dichotomy of psychoses for more than a century. However, this dichotomy has also repeatedly been challenged, and therefore, it seems worthwhile to review similarities and discontinuities as far as risk factors are concerned. Recent genetic studies have rekindled this debate. For example, the paper by Cardno and colleagues [14] concluded that there is a degree of overlap in the genes contributing to schizophrenic, schizoaffective and manic syndromes, and they also concluded that their results support an overlap in environmental risk factors for the schizophrenic and manic syndromes. Their conclusion is, to some extent, supported by results from molecular genetic studies, although their conclusions were not left unchallenged [30].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Centre for Register-based Research, University of Aarhus, Denmark

    Preben Bo Mortensen

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  1. Preben Bo Mortensen
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department and Institute of Psychiatry - Faculty of Medicine, University of São Paulo, 3671, 05403-010, São Paulo - SP, Brazil

    Wagner F. Gattaz M.D. (Full Professor of Psychiatry & Director of the Laboratory of Neuroscience) (Full Professor of Psychiatry & Director of the Laboratory of Neuroscience)

  2. University of Heidelberg, 122120, 68072, Mannheim, Germany

    Heinz Häfner (Prof.em.of Psychiatry, Director em., Head) (Prof.em.of Psychiatry, Director em., Head)

  3. Central Institute of Mental Health, 122120, 68072, Mannheim, Germany

    Heinz Häfner (Prof.em.of Psychiatry, Director em., Head) (Prof.em.of Psychiatry, Director em., Head)

  4. Schizophrenia Research Unit, 122120, 68072, Mannheim, Germany

    Heinz Häfner (Prof.em.of Psychiatry, Director em., Head) (Prof.em.of Psychiatry, Director em., Head)

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© 2004 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Mortensen, P.B. (2004). Are there specific risk factors for schizophrenia?. In: Gattaz, W.F., Häfner, H. (eds) Search for the Causes of Schizophrenia. Steinkopff, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7985-1953-4_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7985-1953-4_7

  • Publisher Name: Steinkopff, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-62331-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-7985-1953-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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