According to an article published in the New York Times, there are five psychiatric illnesses that share several genetic glitches, which are responsible for pushing the brain along a path toward mental illness. These psychiatric illnesses are bipolar disorder, autism, schizophrenia, major depression and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. There are other factors that also influence mental illness such as other genetic issues as well as environmental factors.
This study began in 2007 and included 60,000 people worldwide. Of these 60,000 people who were involved with the study, 33,332 were affected by mental illness and 27,888 that were not. Researchers examined the DNA from each participant searching for any variations. This study found four DNA areas that conferred a slight risk of psychiatric disorders. Two have been identified as genes that are part of the calcium channel. It is not clear what the other two genes are involved in or what they do.
I found this article to be interesting. The study that was preformed did produce good results however, I think further research is still required. Especially on the two genes that researchers are not sure of what their function is, maybe they are the key to creating a better treatment for psychiatric illnesses.
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