Media Releases and Opportunities
» Go to news mainMedia opportunity: Dalhousie University study reveals how mental disorders are genetically connected to each other and why multiple diagnoses are the norm when it comes to mental illness
Psychiatric disorders can be caused by a range of genetic and environmental factors, making it difficult for doctors to determine someone's personal risk of developing these disorders. More than half of those diagnosed with one such disorder will be diagnosed with a second in their lifetime, while 50 per cent will have three diagnoses and about a third will develop four or more.
This can make treatment challenging, but a new analysis of 11 major psychiatric disorders offers new insight into why comorbidities are the norm rather than the exception when it comes to mental illness.
Researchers at Dalhousie University, along with colleagues from the U.S., U.K., the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany, examined how mental disorders are connected to each other and found that a substantial portion of the genetic underpinning appears to be shared between 11 of the disorders they studied.
The study, published in the journal Nature Genetics, found that subsets of disorders, including bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, anorexia nervosa and obsessive-compulsive disorder, and major depression and anxiety, share a common genetic architecture. For example, 70 per cent of the genetic signal associated with schizophrenia is also associated with bipolar disorder.
The discovery is important because it could help indicate what comorbidities a person might develop and inform existing and future treatment options.
Sandra Meier and Manuel Mattheisen, associate professors in the Department of Psychiatry at Dalhousie and co-authors of the study, are available to discuss the research and how it could be used to identify differences in genetic risk and why some people with certain genetic risk factors might develop one illness but not another.
- 30 -
Media contact:
Alison Auld
Senior Research Reporter
Communications, Marketing and Creative Services
Dalhousie University
Cell: 1-902-220-0491
Email: alison.auld@dal.ca
Recent News
- Media opportunity: Being involved in extracurricular activities really does matter when it comes to 'mattering': Dalhousie University research
- Media opportunity: Podcast by Dalhousie researcher and Halifax photographer looks at barriers to Nova Scotia's coastline, decreasing access to waterfronts and problems with litter, marine debris in public coastal areas
- Media opportunity: Dalhousie University researcher pioneers new cancer treatment ‑‑ cutting‑edge CAR‑T cell therapy
- Media opportunity: Research sheds light on the difficulty temporary foreign workers can face in securing permanent residency in P.E.I.
- Media opportunity: World's largest stores of unfrozen freshwater projected to warm and affect cold‑water habitats, geothermal energy resources and drinking water quality : Dalhousie University research
- Media release: Dalhousie University research reveals conservation benefits are doubled for reef sharks and rays in fully protected marine areas that also have strong fisheries management
- Media release: New program partners Dalhousie researcher and IWK Health to tackle violence against women
- Media opportunity: Dalhousie University researchers and an international team identify new strain of mpox virus in Africa that can spread through heterosexual sex and community contact
Comments
comments powered by Disqus