Hickory, NC – Autism and Schizophrenia may be related, according to Brooke Price’s article on EmaxHealth. Price was inspired to look into the issue when her 11-year-old son with autism started having hallucinations.
In Prince’s article she examines two different studies that show a correlation between Child Onset Schizophrenia and autism. In the first study pregnant mice were injected with the flu using using microarray technology. After birth the babies (called pinkies) showed indications of both the learning difference and the metal illness.
Prince quoted the researchers as saying “exposing a fetus on day 9 of pregnancy to the flu leads to alterations in a subset of genes in brains of exposed offspring, potentially leading to permanent changes in brain structure and function,” concluding that those changes align with both autism and Schizophrenia.
In the second referenced study Danish scientists looked at 698 children on the spectrum and found that 95% of them had a parent with Schizophrenia. According to Prince this study concluded that
“prenatal environmental factors and parental schizophrenia are associated with the risk of autism.”
Not all forms of autism pose a greater risk for Schizophrenia, only certain forms such as Pervasive developmental disorder (PDD). More research needs to be conducted before a clear link between the two disorders is found.
Source: Brooke Price on the EmaxHealth website: Autism and Schizophrenia, is there a connection?