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A recent study that included more than one million patients found that people with various psychiatric disorders have a lot in common genetically. The study was published this week, and its authors indicate that it is the largest of its kind. His results show that different psychiatric disorders do not necessarily have a completely different set of genetic traits. This discovery could be the key to creating personalized treatments.
The group of researchers included individuals from the United States, United Kingdom, China, Singapore, Japan and Australia according to Gizmodo. They named their work the brainstorming study. There were two groups of participants. The first consisted of 265,000 people diagnosed with one of the 25 brain disorders. These disorders included what we consider psychiatric disorders as well as some neurological disorders such as MS, epilepsy, stroke, migraine headaches and Alzheimer's disease. The other included 785,000 people who had none of these disorders. The genetic data of each group were collected and compared.
When the genetic data of people with neurological disorders were compared to those of other people in their group, there were no observable points in common. The same was true when the genetics of people with neurological disorders were compared to that of people with psychiatric disorders. However, when the researchers began to compare people with psychiatric disorders, the results were very different.
Massive genetic study finds many links between various psychiatric diseases https://t.co/j71lWw0rpy pic.twitter.com/V7eslaFLKb
– Gizmodo (@Gizmodo) June 22, 2018
Those with the most genetic overlap were those diagnosed with anorexia nervosa, schizophrenia or obsessive-compulsive disorder. People with schizophrenia have also shared similar genetic patterns with those diagnosed with other mental illnesses like depression. The same was true with those who live with depression compared to those who suffer from ADHD or bipolar disorder. The implication is that, for example, the genes that make an individual more susceptible to depression may affect the functioning of his brain in many ways and may also make them more susceptible to ADHD.
This study shows that the "lines" between the various psychiatric diagnoses can be much more fuzzy than previously thought. Lead author Brian Neale, who works as director of population genetics at the Stanley Center of the MIT Broad Institute and as a researcher at Harvard and Massachusetts General Hospital, has published this statement.
"This work is beginning to reshape our thinking about brain disorders, so if we can discover the genetic influences and patterns of overlap between different disorders, then we may be able to better understand the root causes of these diseases – and to potentially identify specific mechanisms appropriate for personalized treatments. "
Understanding the root causes could lead us to identify why and how psychiatric illness first appears, which could lead to more effective treatments.
Another interesting discovery from this study is the one that has already been explored – the link between mental health and physical health. For example, people who have had a stroke and people who have heart disease have a higher incidence of genes associated with depression than those who do not fall into any of these groups.
There also appears to be a link between educational attainment and the incidence of some psychiatric disorders, with individuals with higher education or being at higher risk being at higher risk for anorexia nervosa, spectrum disorder. autistic and bipolar disorder. Similarly, people with lower levels of education were at higher risk of developing ADHD, anxiety, and depression. This may not be due to genetics, however. It could suggest a link between "early cognitive performance and genetic risk for psychiatric and neurological brain disorders" according to the published study. If this is the case, then it is possible to reduce the risk of developing certain disorders by changing certain "life factors" at the beginning of life.
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