Vitamin D deficiency in newborns is linked to schizophrenia



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Danish researchers have warned that newborns were suffering from a vitamin D deficiency, which made them 44% more likely to develop schizophrenia later in life.

The study, published in the journal Nature, examined the concentration of vitamin D in blood samples taken from 2,602 new babies collected between 1981 and 2000 and diagnosed with schizophrenia afterwards.

"Schizophrenia is a group of incomprehensible brain disorders and characterized by symptoms such as hallucinations, delusions and cognitive impairment," said Dr. John McGrath, a professor at the University of Queensland, Denmark.

Although McGrath acknowledged that schizophrenia has many genetic and environmental risk factors, many studies suggest vitamin D deficiency as the main cause.

Danish researchers estimate that vitamin D deficiency could account for about 8% of schizophrenia in Denmark. Another study conducted in 2016 linked vitamin D deficiency with schizophrenia, a disease affecting about 3.5 million people. people in the United States. According to the National Institutes of Health, almost 5% of people with schizophrenia die as a result of suicide.

The researchers pointed out that it was important to conduct randomized clinical trials on vitamin D supplementation in pregnant women with vitamin deficiency, in order to study the effects on children's brain development and the risk of neurological disorders such as autism and schizophrenia.

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