Does one genetic glitch determine risk of both autism and schizophrenia?

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From their earliest descriptions, schizophrenia and autism have been inextricably linked.

Studies from the past several years show that the same genetic glitch — deletion of a stretch of DNA on chromosome 22 — raises the risk for both conditions. Up to 30 percent of individuals missing this region, called 22q11.2, develop a psychotic disorder — most commonly schizophrenia. And up to 50 percent are diagnosed with autism.

First, if all deletions of 22q11.2 were truly associated with schizophrenia (and not autism), as some contend, we would expect that a diagnosis of autism in childhood in these cases would be associated with an increased risk of schizophrenia later in life.

But there is no such association…[Researchers] found that those diagnosed with autism are no more likely to develop schizophrenia than those without autism.

There is increasing interest in conceptualizing what we now know as ‘autism’ and ‘schizophrenia’ from a dimensional rather than categorical perspective.

Although we believe that autism associated with 22q11.2 deletion is separate from schizophrenia linked to the genetic anomaly, seeking a better understanding of the similarities and differences between the two conditions is important.

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: Same DNA deletion paves paths to autism, schizophrenia

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