Note: the average risk of schizophrenia in the population is about 1%, so this new research suggests that if your sibling gets it you have a 10% risk (90% chance of not getting it).
What is the risk of developing a mental disorder if a brother or sister has the condition? Now a large survey using data from all patients hospitalized in psychiatric wards in Israel, and their siblings, has given some answers: having a sibling with schizophrenia increases your risk of developing the condition by a factor of x10, with increased risks of developing bipolar disorder and other mental disorders. Similar increases are seen with siblings of patients with bipolar disorder.
This is the first study to assess risk of developing any psychiatric diagnosis in siblings of all patients hospitalized for any type of mental disorder in an entire population, and is presented at the ECNP neuroscience congress in Vienna.
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