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Summer Births Linked to Form of Schizophrenia |
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TUESDAY, Oct. 5 (HealthDayNews) -- People with a form of schizophrenia called deficit schizophrenia are more likely to have been born in summer.
That finding by Johns Hopkins University researchers appears in the October issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry.
People with deficit schizophrenia have "negative" symptoms such as lack of emotional response, apathy, blunted speech and expression, inability to experience pleasure, poor eye contact, and a lack of interest in socializing.
The researchers reviewed data on 1,594 people from nine studies.
"This pooled analysis of data from six countries in the northern hemisphere showed a significant association between deficit schizophrenia and summer birth," the study authors wrote. "Information on month of birth only, as opposed to day of birth, was available across studies, and our analysis found an increase in June/July. However, it is likely that a more seasonal pattern would have been apparent with more detailed information."
"Seasonal variations in infectious agents, sunlight exposure and vitamin D, and the availability of nutrients have been proposed as possible explanations for the seasonality of births in schizophrenia. However, to date, no specific agent has been identified," the authors concluded.
More information
The U.S. National Institute of Mental Health has more about schizophrenia.
(SOURCE: JAMA/Archives journals, news release, Oct. 4, 2004)
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